How does the medium (Internet) change the message (ministry)

In preparing for my course on Internet ministry next semester, I am seeing the need to cover the topic of how the medium affects the message.  The question is not “DOES the Internet change the message of our ministry”, it is “HOW does the message change when it is communicated via the Internet?” This is, of course, classic Marshall McLuhan and “the medium is the message“.

I was thinking about this yet again today while I was working out and listening to my iPod. I was listening to some old Daniel Amos, and the song “Here I Am” came on. The song, written originally in 1983, asks the question: does the use of recorded media (“preserved performance”) change the relationship between artist and his or her audience? Some sample lyrics:

Here I am, here I am, driving to the studio with all of our equipment
Here I am, here I am, singing in the microphone while the tape is rolling
Here I am, here I am, at the photo session smiling at the camera
There you are, there you are, getting out your money purchasing the record
Here we are, here we are, by way of stereo making minimal contact

Is this a substitute, is this me
Well I can’t see you and I’m out of your reach
Here I am (crying)

To listen to the song, go to YouTube here. For a full listing of the lyrics, go to danielamos.com here.

This brings up the idea of “live” vs. “preserved” performance and the effects this has on both the artist and the presenter (more on this in the book put out by John Mark Reynolds and Roger Overton).  And this got me thinking yet again about how the use of the Internet changes our message, whether or not we want it to.  For example, when we post a blog entry, we are told we must keep it short or no one will bother to read it. To work under this condition, many authors will try to create a “quick hit” post about something that really does require more depth. (After all, to a blogger, every thought or idea looks like a blog post, as every problem looks like a nail…).  And what about using video to “video-cast” (or “vcast” or “vlog” or ?) a church service? Won’t this lead many to view the service as they do television? Just sit back and do the couch potato. This leads to a very different experience than attending a worship service.

So am I saying that ministries should abandon the Internet because the way that they will be used may lead to a changing of the message? No.  But I do think it is very important for those of us who want to minister online to have an understanding of how the Internet changes our ministry’s message and to use this knowledge to help us with our decision-making about how to use it.  This is the conclusion that Shane Hipps comes to in his book The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture. And this is also what the students in my class (and any good course that is teaching Internet ministry) will be learning.  

Tags: daniel amos, john mark reynolds, Marshall McLuhan, medium is the message, Shane Hipps

Crowdsourcing

Computerworld recently ran a cover page story on how businesses are using crowdsourcing to more quickly develop products and get feedback from target groups. Crowdsourcing is a method of using the Internet to allow multitudes of people to quickly give input to your organization via Internet-based software tools. Crowdsourcing can be used to get input from your customers on products, to do brainstorming from a larger group of people, or to simply increase customer loyalty by giving them a place where they can feel a part of your company. In a separate article written a couple of months ago, it is put this way:

Also compelling is the increasingly popular notion among companies desperate to stay competitive that the best, most direct and possibly cheapest sources of innovation lie outside the corporate walls, among customers and other previously hidden sources of talent.

One example of crowdsourcing given is Dell’s Ideastorm, where people can suggest ideas and then promote or demote the ideas. Dell examines the most popular ideas and, in some cases, implements them!

So how can this be used in Internet ministry? Would your church or organization have enough guts to give people the ability to give you suggestions? Would you be willing to think “outside the box” sometimes? Is there anyone doing this?

Tags: crowdsourcing

Lifecasting:

Lifecasting is the practice of making your whole life available via the Internet. This used to be done by attaching a camera to your PC and then uploading everything to the Internet as it happens. A somewhat newer trend is using a cellphone video camera. By having the camera on a mobile device, people can now truly take the camera everywhere and broadcast everything that happens. But are people really doing this? Yes: check out qik.com to see what people are showing.

Just as cellphone cameras have made the availability of pictures from any event available (no matter how obscure, unplanned, or accidental), now cellphone video cameras have done the same for video. David Brin wrote of the Transparent Society and I believe that his vision is coming to be. In his book, he envisioned that all parts of public life would be recorded and used to enhance public safety (as well as to allow us to do things like check on our children, preview traffic conditions, etc.). While he didn’t necessarily include the idea of mobile phones and the Internet as part of this, what is happening today is eerily close to what he foresaw.  One of the overarching ideas in his book is that we are much better off in a world where the public has control over the cameras than  where the government has control.

Let’s look at this from a ministry perspective now. How can lifecasting be used to promote Jesus? How can it be used to encourage people to come to our churches or participate in our organizations? I’m not sure. If we live streamed our services and events? If we hooked up our pastors 24/7 to a camera?! I’m not sure if I want to know what anyone is doing all the time; and I sure do not want everyone to know what I am doing all the time! What do you think?

Tags: lifecasting, transparent society

Second Life as practice for real life?

Interesting article in the OC Register today. The article discusses how a researcher at UCI is using Second Life as a virtual “testing ground” for software that controls a rapid transit system. She is able to use Second Life to simulate something that will eventually be used in real life. I previously mentioned in this blog that Christians should be in Second Life as both a way to reach others who are there as well as for the experience of using virtual worlds for spreading the gospel. This story made wonder if it would also work the other way: can we use Second Life as a way to “test out” different methods of our work (marketing projects, youth activities, acts of charity, etc.) that can then translate back into the real world? I’m not sure, but there may be certain circumstances where this may be profitable.

Tags: second life