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Finding Real Joy in a Digital World

So I advise everyone to enjoy life. A person on this earth can't do anything better than eat, drink, and be glad. Then they will enjoy their work. They'll be happy all the days of the life God has given them on earth. — Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NIRV)

What’s the Difference Between Joy and Happiness?

Have you ever felt a deep sense of contentment after a walk in the park or a laugh with friends? That’s joy. 

Happiness often depends on circumstances—it rises and falls with what’s happening around us. Joy, on the other hand, comes from within. It is connected to meaning, gratitude, relationships, and faith.

Researcher and author Christina Crook* has asked both students and adults to recall times of joy. Their answers are remarkably consistent: sharing a meal with friends, playing sport, enjoying nature, or gathering for board games. These experiences tend to be creative, relational, and caring.

Interestingly, social media and digital devices rarely appear in people’s answers. Why is that?

The Technology Trap

We are designed to find joy in activities that are meaningful and connected to others. But digital technology is designed for something else: keeping us online for as long as possible. The algorithms that shape our feeds don’t know our true goals; instead, they draw us in with the promise of comfort and convenience.

Yet the result is often the opposite. Instead of feeling refreshed, we can feel restless, anxious, or distracted—caught in a cycle of comparison, endless scrolling, or FOMO (fear of missing out). Finding Real Joy Philosopher Albert Borgmann identifies four hallmarks of activities that nurture joy:

• They engage us fully – Activities like cooking or playing an instrument require both mind and body.
• They involve skill and effort – Joy often comes through what Borgmann calls a “good burden”—the effort we put in.
• They connect us with others – A BBQ at the park or a shared project strengthens relationships.
• They are rooted in the real world – Surfing with friends or gathering around a campfire fosters lasting joy. 

Christina Crook suggests practising JOMO—the Joy of Missing Out. This means choosing to use devices as tools, not constant companions, and investing instead in people and experiences that truly enrich our lives.

The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that joy itself is a gift from God. The passage is not encouraging overindulgence, but a grateful embrace of life’s good gifts.

A Challenge for This Week

What joyful activity will you and your children choose—one that builds connection, creativity, and gratitude—instead of more screen time?

*Christina Crook is the author of The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World and harbinger of the global #JOMO movement.

Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life: A Philosophical Inquiry (University of Chicago Press, 1984).