(RNS) Here’s something everyone can “like”: Social media fosters community, even for those who don’t have a home.
A new study finds social media like Twitter and Facebook tear down economic and geographic barriers to help homeless people connect to their families and support networks.
The study was conducted by Art Jipson, a sociologist and criminologist at the University of Dayton, a Catholic school. Jipson says the findings present a new potential for Catholic social teaching.
“Catholic social teaching expresses a concern about ‘a communal, social nature’ where ‘we are called to reach out and build relationships of love and justice,’ ” Jipson said.
He cites “Rerum Novarum,” Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical on the duties of government and citizens in creating a just society, as the context and foundation of his work.
Jipson’s study, “Shall I Paint You a Protest: Marxist Analysis of Social Media,” was presented Aug. 17 at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Denver.
He found that homeless people leverage free services like Facebook and Twitter to find food, shelter and job services, and to keep up with family and friends. All they need is a smart phone or public library with Internet access.
“People think of Facebook as this billion-dollar entity with stock offerings that sells gobs of advertising,” Jipson said. “But, on Facebook, the ‘least of our brothers,’ as it says in the Bible, have equal access to all of Facebook’s offerings and establish a sense of belonging that is based on more than possessions.”
For the study, Jipson spoke with 14 homeless people about their social media usage.
“Why can’t I be on Facebook?” asked one subject in the study. “I have as much right to that as anyone else.”
