Concerning the popular year one Rational Sheep posts
Apparently, readers like news talk! More than tech issues and entertainment?
AT SEA 3.0 — Just over a year ago, when I closed GetReligion.org and turned my attention to Rational Sheep, I thought that I was going to spend less time focusing on topics that Americans were tired of (the news media for example). This would allow me to focus on subjects that, if you look at the numbers, people care about quite a bit — such as entertainment, social media, technology, etc.
Apparently there are two online Americas — at least.
Take sports, for example. Ordinary America loves sports. You can sense this on local news, in surviving newspapers, in bars and on the radio. You can see passion about sports in social media — if you choose to follow the kind of folks who care about sports.
I care about sports. During the 20 years of GetReligion.org, I wrote lots of stuff about religion “ghosts” in the mainstream news coverage of sports. You know, like Rational Sheep posts such as “Once again, it's time to ponder God's role in the Super Bowl.” These sports-related GetReligion.org posts drew waves of silence and very few clicks. I kept writing them, because I assumed the numbers about Americans being interested in sports were, well, accurate.
But, apparently the America that is really invested in online news and commentary platforms is not that interested in sports. Or maybe, “sports” for this online America is “politics.”
Or maybe the issue is religion? Maybe people who are truly interested in religious faith and traditions are not that interested in the things that create heat in ordinary America, such as sports and entertainment? Perhaps I am a unicorn, in that I am truly interested in all of these things — religion, entertainment, technology, news, sports, business, etc.
I bring this up as a prelude to this post listing the most popular Rational Sheep items during year one. Popular, of course, means clicks and traffic.
It’s really quite shocking. Apparently, lots of my readers are really interested in cultural “signals” from the world of religion news. You know, like the old GetReligion.org world. Who knew?
That made me think about the promises that I made in this chunk of the Rational Sheep overture.
… This new Substack project will not, as with the 20-year run with the GetReligion blog (massive archive is right here), be criticism focusing on journalism. That said, many “signals” appear in news and that will require discussing the journalism age in which we live (see my Religion & Liberty essay, “The Evolving Religion of Journalism”). My weekly “Crossroads” podcasts with Lutheran Public Radio will continue and readers will be able to access them through this Substack feed.
Also, let me stress that this will not be a political blog. However, it’s impossible to talk about mass-culture issues ranging from Disney culture to social-media addictions without raising “culture wars” issues that many will insist are about politics, as opposed to morality, doctrine and faith.
This will not be a newsletter that focuses on reviewing movies, television, popular music, video games and other forms of entertainment. But many important signals — even most — are linked to coverage of the entertainment industry.
So what were the most popular posts here in year one?
Six items in the Top 10 were basically GetReligion.org posts. Only one (item No. 4) focused on an issue linked to digital-tech culture — the hot-button “signal” topic that inspired the creation of this Substack project.
Scan these items, please.
(1) Crossroads -- Exploring the ongoing Wheaton College wars
These fights are about doctrine, culture and politics, but doctrine comes first
(2) Crossroads -- Young men are flocking into pews
But the New York Times says these marriage-hungry guys are joining "bad" churches
(3) The great P.D. James didn't write today's headlines
But, with "The Children of Men," the novelist offered a scary take on the (near) future
(4) Think about it: "Magic" tech can short-circuit learning wisdom
Andy Crouch on a challenge that religious leaders have to face -- right now
(5) Why did Amazon Prime butcher Frank Capra's classic?
I am genuinely curious and rather depressed about this mess
(6) Crossroads -- Episcopalians own the cathedral of DC culture
Thus, journalists who cover Beltway life applauded Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
(7) 1994 flashback: Why journalists love the Episcopal Church
Sex, politics, vestments, architecture, urban addresses -- PECUSA has it all
(8) Crossroads -- AP says conservative Catholics are growing too fast
This is causing pain for "spirit of Vatican II' progressives, which means that this trend is big, big news
(9) Religious garb in public places, Part II
Life changed when a nun returned to her habit after many years in "ordinary" clothing
(10) A few moments with Sir Anthony Hopkins ...
Talking to Catholic students at one of the "most beautiful places" he had ever seen
The next 10?
Frankly, a few of these next items — just over half — are precisely the kinds of topics that I thought would hook readers interested in “signals” from mass culture, or whatever passes for mass culture in our niche-digital age. Yes, the original overture fits into that category.
(11) Conan O'Brien: Ultimately, "We don't matter"
(12) Terry Mattingly’s Rational Sheep
(13) Why mountain people live (and worship) near rivers
(14) Yes, lots of colleges are closing these days
(15) Open doors into the bedrooms of kids
(16) Flashback -- American Xmas is "fake," so deal with it
(17) Crossroads: God, Providence and the Trump bullet
(18) What did Al Pacino see when he almost died?
(19) In praise of brilliant, silly clay creatures
Now for the year one information that, well, unnerves me a bit.
Readers need to go pretty far down into the Rational Sheep “clicks” list to find some of the posts that — to me — represented the most crucial “faith, family and digital culture” issues that we faced in year one. I’m talking about the explosion of news, including some major political developments, about smartphones and mental-health trends among children.
Like what?
What changed when parents gave their 10-year-old her first iPad?
I continue to work my way through the much-discussed book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt.
Or further down in the “clicks” list there was this:
Jonathan Haidt's warnings for spiritual leaders
It’s time for a new semester at New York University, which means Jonathan Haidt has (for the most part) finished his summer-long blitz of public appearances and media gigs promoting “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Finally, there was the post that — for me — was the “must read” material of the whole year. I am referring to the extended faith and community quotes from my interview with Jonathan “The Anxious Generation” Haidt.
What about entertainment?
I’ll end with this. There was good news and some bad news in the “clicks” list. For example, here is another relatively unpopular post to which I dedicated a lot of time and hard work. This was a major cinema “signal” from year one:
Readers: What do you think is going on?
Am I simply colliding with (a) the interests of readers who have followed my religion-beat work for years or (b) is this news/politics trend linked to the priorities of the Substack world? Maybe, (c) the tech-culture issues that matter the most to me disturb many parents, pastors, teachers and counselors? That would be sobering.
What think ye?
FIRST IMAGE: Uncredited graphic from MedicalNewsToday.com
What posts here interest you the most? The GR style podcast posts?
Speaking for myself, and borrowing from Mark's comment, I'm definitely a square peg myself. I was drawn to this site because I had been reading "Get Religion" for years. I'm still reading some of your co-authors from there, mostly on "Religion Unplugged," and the "Roys Report." I was an honors graduate from both high school and college, and some thought I would end up a professor. Unfortunately for that future, I didn't get along that well with the Big Men in the Brotherhood. Eventually I ended up working for 40 years as a remodeling contractor--old-style...doing most of the work myself, rather than running around bidding work and having others do the work. (A huge plus for being self-employed--no office politics!) I'm not an entrepreneur, but more of a craftsman and technician. Now I'm retired. I'm also what some call a "None" or what Josh Packard (author of "Church Refugees) labeled a "Done." Actually, some of us prefer the term "free-range Christian." And when you stopped writing at "Get Religion" I came here.