'Rage bait' and 'Slop' as Cultural Symptoms

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they reflect on all that the year 2025 brought our way through the lens of the biggest trends in culture. These trends from across our nation and our globe provide a good picture of all that's happening culturally—where we've been and perhaps even where we're headed.

Episode Links

Today's conversation was sparked by Google's annual “Year in Search,” capturing the top searches from around the world in a number of categories. You can look through the top searches in the U.S. HERE. Dr. White also mentioned a blog that he wrote at the beginning of the year, reflecting on how much of it has indeed come to pass in 2025. You can read “Twelve Predictions for 2025” HERE.

Alexis then mentioned a recent article from the Pew Research Center on their “Striking findings from 2025.” Of the 12 findings they revealed, Dr. White named five that stood out to him, including how parents have seemed to throw in the towel when it comes to social media. There are three articles that you may be interested in reading related to this trend:

Emma Bazilian, “50% of Gen Z ‘Can't Live Without YouTube' and Other Stats That Will Make You Feel Old,” Adweek.

Jacob Dirnhuber, “Children Turn Backs on Traditional Careers in Favour of Internet Fame, Study Finds,” The Sun.

Tanith Carey, “Can Social Media School Make Your 16-Year-Old a Star?” The Telegraph.

The discussion inevitably turned to AI, as the widespread use of it is having a huge impact on our culture today. Oxford Dictionary's “Word of the Year” is “rage bait,” defined as "online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative or offensive.” And people are increasingly struggling to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake. However, Merriam-Webster selected their word of the year - “slop” - to refer to “creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content.” It's very telling, though, that both selections had to do with AI. This was also the topic of a recent Church & Culture Podcast - CCP174: On AI and the Church - which you can listen to HERE.

The discussion then turned to YouTube's end of the year recap and the significant impact that YouTube has on today's world. This was also the topic covered on the C&C Podcast related to the platform's 20th anniversary. You can find CCP149: On YouTube HERE. Dr. White even wrote about YouTube as it relates to the younger generations and the church in his book Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, which you can find on Amazon HERE.

YouVersion - a platform that has now reached more than one billion downloads of the Bible - also announced the 2025 verse of the year. Isaiah 41:10 was selected and “marks the fourth time in six years the verse has claimed the top spot, which is a testament to the enduring need for God's reassurance in uncertain times.” Indeed. Dr. White referenced a book written by Tim Alberta called The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, where he writes about the motivation of fear impacting American evangelicals that you might find insightful. And finally, he also mentioned an article from The Atlantic highlighting the effects of this fear seizing hold in our culture. You can read “Decivilization May Already Be Under Way“ HERE.

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