Daniel O’Leary’s passionate plea (“Missing the point”, 25 January) for awareness of the spiritual dangers of digital media needs to be heard. However, all concerned with spiritual development should grasp first of all what is usually happening to us in what Richard Rohr calls the first “half” of life. Deeply uncertain of our own value, we typically seek reassurance in the respect of others. That is the need that all media exploit in a wilderness of celebrity competitions and “friendship” networks – our need for our social context to approve us.Pursuit of that approval, online and offline, is what the gospels call “worldliness”, and perceived failure often lies at the root of depression and addiction. “Fear of missing