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Reformation and Media: How printing and social media are changing the world
On October 31, 2025, experts in Hameln discussed the media revolutions of printing and social media, their influence on society and the church.
Reformation and Media: How printing and social media are changing the world
Last Friday, an exciting Reformation reception took place in the Martin Luther Church in Hameln, which attracted many interested citizens. Superintendent Dr. Stephan Vasel opened the event with a look at the profound changes that printing and social media are bringing about in our society. Vasel emphasized how crucial the printing press was to the educational movement and the dissemination of Reformation texts. Between 1454 and 1500, an impressive 12 million books were printed, causing a veritable media revolution. But there was also a dark side: the printing press ushered in one of the most brutal phases in history, which manifested itself in the systematic persecution of witches, greatly fueled by works such as Heinrich Kramer's “Hexenhammer” from the late 1480s.
The book itself, as we now know, became a key factor in the organized witch hunt that persecuted around 90,000 people between 1450 and 1750 and cost the lives of around 45,000 people. A study by the Santa Fe Institute shows that the printing press greatly increased the intensity and spread of these persecutions. The sudden, brutal wave of witch hunts was much more pronounced during this period than in previous centuries, and the manual Malleus maleficarum provided clear instructions on witch hunts.
The challenge of social media
As part of the event, Pastor Anne Mirjam Walter spoke about the relevance of the church for younger generations aged 14 to 45. She based her arguments on a current EKD study and presented the digital project “BASIS:KIRCHE”, which includes reports on YouTube. One of the biggest challenges is that viewers often click away from religious topics, a phenomenon driven by social media algorithms. The solution could lie in subtly placing messages such as “love thy neighbor” to capture the interest of the young target audience.
A further aspect of the reception was the discussion about the role of artificial intelligence in community management. The importance of taking active action against hate comments was emphasized. Dewezet editor-in-chief Thomas Thimm emphasized that 2007 marked a turning point in the media landscape with the introduction of the iPhone. Nevertheless, the media is facing new challenges today: AI fakes pose threats such as fake news or voices that must be taken seriously.
Criticism of social media
A pointed part of the discussion was how to deal with hate speech, where Thimm suggested rethinking the comment functions. This could lead to tech companies heavily controlling the platforms and imposing penalties. The call for source criticism was a central message in Thimm's speech, in which he advocated that trust in trained journalists remains crucial - after all, "medium is not the same as journalism". The event interested many people, and the visitors exchanged ideas enthusiastically about the topics raised at bar tables, because a lot is up to us here: How do we shape our media world today and in the future?