Catholic social media has an identity crisis

The Catholic Church is finally taking social media seriously.

Bishops are interviewing influencers. The Vatican held a summit for Catholic creators. Church leaders are asking the right questions about digital evangelization and how Catholics should engage online.

But…social media doesn’t exist anymore.

The platforms we’re strategizing about have fundamentally changed. What used to be a way to connect with your friends has now become a way to find things that you’re interested in. Customized algorithms have completely transformed the medium. Facebook in 2010 showed you what your friends posted. TikTok in 2025 shows you what an algorithm thinks you’ll watch. Instagram used to be photos from people you followed. Now it defaults to a “For You” page curated by engagement metrics.

Social media became interest media.

And as the Catholic Church has conversations about what it means to be Catholic on the internet, nobody’s talking about this fundamental shift that happened over the last couple decades.

Because right now, Catholic creators and consumers are confused about what they’re actually doing online.

From Social to Interest

The shift happened gradually, but it’s now complete. Most platforms still have a “Following” feed buried somewhere in the settings. But they default to the algorithm. Because the algorithm keeps you on the app longer.

The platforms are not about connection anymore. They are about content. They care less about connecting you to your friends and care more about feeding you entertainment and information, based on what keeps you scrolling.

This should change everything Catholic creators are doing and how Catholic consumers use the platforms.

The Creator Confusion

Catholic creators need to ask themselves a question: What kind of content am I creating?

There is a spectrum of content creation. On one side is entertainment and on the other side is information, with different degrees of “infotainment” in between.

Most successful Catholic creators are infotainment—they present information about the faith in an entertaining and creative way. And that’s fine. There’s absolutely room for that.

But creators need to know what they’re making.

An entertainment-focused creator is going to get high views but lower depth of engagement. People watch, they’re entertained, they scroll on. That’s the nature of entertainment content.

An information-focused creator is going to get lower overall views but higher quality engagement. Fewer people, but they’re actually learning something, actually changing how they think.

Neither is wrong. But you need to know which one you are because the metrics for success are completely different.

Chasing views is a bad metric if your goal is to teach theology. But it’s the right metric if your goal is to reach as many people as possible with basic Catholic visibility.

The problem is when creators don’t know which game they’re playing. When they’re trying to teach deep theology but measuring success by TikTok views. Or when they’re making entertainment content but expecting people to have their lives changed.

Take my own content for example. My X and Substack fall heavily on the information side. My podcast falls heavily on entertainment. They serve different purposes and I use different metrics to gauge their success.

Catholics shouldn’t shy away from entertainment. But they should be aware when they’re entertaining. Know what you’re doing and how to measure it.

What the Church Needs to Figure Out

The Vatican is holding summits. Bishops are interviewing Catholic creators. The Church is trying to figure out what to do with the “digital continent.”

But here’s what needs to happen first: We need to name what it actually is. It’s not social media anymore. It’s interest media. Entertainment and information delivered algorithmically.

Once we name it correctly, we can use it better.

Catholic creators can stop being confused about their metrics. Catholic consumers can stop expecting friendship from content consumption. And the Church can start having better conversations about what digital evangelization actually looks like in 2026 and beyond.

Until Catholics—creators and consumers alike—get clear on that, we’re just going to keep having the same confused conversations about whether priests should dance on TikTok.