Taking it seriously…
MSNBC is reporting a story about a girl who killed herself over what someone else wrote about her on MySpace. While this is disturbing in itself, it forced me to think about how seriously some people take their online persona. Whether it’s Facebook, MySpace, or some type of message board, these are public places of a sort that are meaningful to their users.
Many in the Church are hesitant to get involved in these types of environments because they have heard stories of the unsavory things that go on. They can point to stories such as this as an example of the bad things that can happen there. But yet…just think what a difference someone could have made by making a positive impact on this girl. The youth pastor at our church was at first reluctant to go into MySpace to reach the high schoolers at our church. After we discussed it, he decided to jump in and give it a try. He now tells me that it is a key part of his ministry.
We cannot be scared to go where the people are. If they are in MySpace, go there. If they are in Samaria, go there. If they are in Facebook, go there. If they are Gentiles, go there. If they are in Second Life, go there. We must not be afraid to find people where they are.
Survey on Internet Ministry
GospelCom has just deployed my survey on Internet Ministry. If you are a chuch, parachurch, or other ministry that uses the web, head on over to http://www.internetministryconference.org/survey/ and take our survey. Additionally, if you know of other ministries or churches that have deployed web sites, could you forward this survey to them as well?
This survey is part of my research project on “effective internet ministry”. Read more about that here.
Steal from the rich…
Ok, I know this is off topic, but I had to comment…
Warren Buffet has been recently quoted as saying that the estate tax should NOT be abolished. Yes, you read that correctly – he thinks that the government should take a large chunk of your money when you die. And you know what, I think I agree with him. There are a few reasons why I lean towards keeping the estate tax:
- We are not an aristocracy, we (ideally) are a meritocracy. People should have to earn their money, not inherit it.
- The gap between rich and poor continues to grow and cause division. The estate tax is one way to reduce this gap.
- Those who inherit money are much less likely to use it wisely.
Of course, the big argument I would have against it is that I don’t really want to give our government any more revenue because I am not sure I trust them to spend it wisely. . . Hey, I know! Just collect the money and give it to me, I will know what is best to do with it…
Web 2.0 Backlash
Is it just me, or is there more and more disillusionment with web 2.0? It seems like everywhere I look now, there are articles on how you can’t have real relationships with facebook, or how blogging is no longer the “in” thing? Here are a couple posts I’ve just noticed lately…
What do you think? Is the tide turning on the web 2.0 hype?
Building relationships by NOT building another online social network
I have been discussing how ministries should put their values into their web site. Our church, for example, values relationships. But how to show that online? In previous posts I suggested that blogs are useful way to build relationships, especially if comments are allowed. I also described how a church in Chilliwack, Canada, focused their web site on community.
When trying to develop a web site that is relational, many organizations automatically think they should build their own online social network. I am an alumni of three different universities, and all three of them have tried to get me to join their social network. Even a high school I attended wants me to link up.
In the physical world we don’t do this, so think of it this way…if you had a group of friends that you wanted to meet with regularly, you wouldn’t go build a coffeehouse. You would instead find a suitable place (such as a Starbucks, It’s a Grind, Denny’s, etc.) and arrange to meet there. In fact, many times meeting in a more public space allows you to be seen by others and attracts them to your organization. So why would an organization go through the expense of building their own social network when there are already several good social network sites out there? And if you have a ministry that wants to reach out to others around you, what better way to do it than to make your group visible to the public? Sites such as Facebook already provide tools for you to integrate your group into their site – so use them!
What do you think? Does your organization use Facebook or another social network site? Or are you contemplating building your own?
Effective men’s ministry
I meet with a group of guys once a week to discuss life, faith, and sports (hey, we’re men). Recently, we were having a discussion on how men’s ministries often (usually?) don’t have a very big impact. Men are focused on their work; they get their identity from their work. Trying to get a man to take extra time out of his week to attend a church event is harder than getting him to go shopping. And then when we do go to a men’s event, we’re expected to talk about “important” issues like family, relationships, and faith. Men just aren’t wired that way.
Women seem to be able to do this much more easily – get a few women together and they are discussing their more intimate problems within ten minutes. For men, this does not happen naturally. Instead, we get together and talk about the things that give us identity: our jobs, hobbies, sports. In order to get men to share deeply, there needs to be an atmosphere of trust and friendship, and that takes time. And, once that sharing has begun, it is often time for the meeting to end and the atmosphere of trust and friendship is forgotten until next time…if there is a next time.
So I began thinking: how can a men’s group keep the momentum going between meetings? And of course, me being me, I began thinking: how can technology help this to happen? What if there was a web site that was designed as a supplement to men’s small group meetings? Many men spend at least part of their day on the computer: answering email, reading web sites. They also spend time in their car listening to their MP3 player. So what if a web technology was designed that would allow men’s groups to share things online, have email discussions, and included podcasts for their MP3 players? Would this be a way to bridge the time between meetings and allow men to keep their emotional bond? What would this look like? Does anyone know of a site that does this?
A relational web presence
I talked in an earlier post about how a web site needs to reflect the values of the organization and that for a ministry one of the core values is relationships. That post discussed how blogging can be one way to create relationships via the web. But what other ways can a web presence show the value of relationships?
I went to the Internet Ministry Conference in September and attended a session called “Local Church and Community Outreach”. The speakers (Brent Purves and Cam Hall) presented a web presence that had been developed for the Southside Life church in Chilliwack, BC, Canada that was put together with a focus on community and relationships. When you go to their church web site, you will immediately notice a couple of things. First, that this is a site about people. There are stories about people filling the entire page. And second, that this is a site about the local community. You can find links to employment, weather, and movie times right there on the church’s main page. This is an interesting strategy: someone visiting this site will get to know church members before they get to know anything about the church.
I really like this strategy. I think too many times churches build web sites that focus on everything BUT the people. A church home page that has a picture of the building tells me nothing about who goes there. What do you think – is this a good strategy? Maybe it goes to the deeper issue: what is the purpose of a church web site?
Google gone wrong?
Over at his blog, Bob Cringely is calling out Google for its perceived arrogance. He states that they are beginning to act like Microsoft and more and more small businesses are paying the price. One specific accusation that he makes is that Google has tweaked their AdWords algorithms so that someone buying words for a very specific purpose may end up having their ad placed on pages that do not serve their purpose.
How does this relate to effective Internet ministry? One strategy that ministries can use to draw potential supporters or members to their web presence is through AdWords. For example, a church may want to advertise with the words “church” and then their community name or description. But if they cannot be sure that their term can be targeted to their region, they will end up having to pay for clicks from people outside their area. I would like to know more about this possible problem – has anyone had experience with this?
Blogging tips
Over at the LifeChurch blog this week, Bobby and Craig have just finished up a series on tips and techniques for blogging. This is good stuff and I will definitely take some of their advice. I generally find that blogging takes me a lot longer than I expect – I sit down to write something and thirty minutes later I am still on the first paragraph rewriting it for the third time. I am trying to get back to regular blogging and I think that their ideas will help.
One of their posts was called “Why Blog?” and I think it gives an insight into how technology can be relational. This is something of great interest to me because I am in the middle of helping our church “re-create” their web presence strategy. As I work through this process, I am beginning to understand the importance of how a web presence communicates the values of the church. One of the key values of my church is “relationships”. Blogging is one of the key ways that a web presence can build relationships IF it is done correctly. The tone of the blog, allowing comments, and interacting with other bloggers is one big way to be relational online.
What other ways can a web presence be relational? I’ll post more on this next time.
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Welcome to the Lessons From Babel blog
This blog is where I share the latest thoughts on the world of technology and faith. Feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment. To find out more about me, my company, and this web site, or to see what resources are available on this site, click on the images right below this.
- Dave Bourgeois
