I opened TikTok today, and the current impressions for the #exvangelical hashtag stand at 985M views. It is on track to surpass 1 billion impressions in September 2022. I wrote about it on Twitter, where the hashtag started - and the rest of the thread is below:

Blake Chastain @brchastain

#exvangelical is on track to hit 1 billion impressions next month on TikTok. Regardless of what one thinks about the term & whether it’s cringe or not on a given day, the tag’s durability over several years across multiple platforms shows its value as a robust counterpublic POV.

Regardless of what one thinks about the term & whether it’s cringe or not on a given day, the tag’s durability over several years across multiple platforms shows its value as a robust counterpublic POV.

Whether you use the term ex-evangelical, post-evangelical, ex-Christian, or whatever, it has been proven over and over that there are people who have left white/led evangelicalism and have things to say. From all manner of perspectives. With all manner of trajectories.

So yeah, if you’ve been Extremely Online for the past 6 years you may have had your fill. But there are folks discovering things in their own time all over the place. And they can join an ongoing conversation, if they wish, from the phone already in their hand. That’s kinda neat.

I'm well aware of some of the conflicts that can and have happened in some of these spaces. They are not immune to the same shortcomings of other online cultures or communities. All the same: new spaces have been created, and long-running conversations find new participants.

And bear in mind: much of this is still ad-hoc, organic, and relatively small & young in comparison to the evangelical public that has been cultivated by white evangelicalism for over a century, and which #exvangelical and a constellation of other hashtags help counter.

There's still so much to do to challenge the systems and institutions of white evangelicalism. #exvangelical is just one part. As an identity, it may be temporary or liminal or partial. As a method of identifying & speaking to an audience, it's something else.

Share

View this on TikTok:

@brchastain_#exvangelical is on track to hit 1B impressions next month. Wild. #deconstruction #fyp

Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser

Be sure to subscribe, at $4, $6, or $8/month to receive ad-free podcast feeds & more. I donate 25% of net proceeds to White Homework & The Religious Exemption Accountability Project. Free tiers are also available.

📱#exvangelical approaches 1B impressions