Web+2.0+Travel-log

This is the first day of exploration in Web 2.0 to find Christian applications for use. I decided that I would start somewhere where I was relatively familiar- with Social communities that I explored last spring. So I began with MySpace. On your MySpace page you can save a Bible verse of the day- either to your profile, your iPod, cell phone or e-mail. You can choose NIV or KJV versions of the Bible text.

There are other applications within MySpace that Christians would also find useful. Groups, blogs, forums, videos, and music can all be selected by chosing "Christian". The groups can be browsed or subscribed to and are either private or public. Some Christian groups that I viewed were harshly dogmatic- and would not be a good place for seekers to find consolation or answers. But other groups were quite open and loving. Groups were places to enter & type in responses to various questions and ideas. They were somewhat like blogs, but more selective in their membership. The majority of the population on MySpace is teen or young adult, although there are a few baby boomers thrown in. Christian groups were listed under "religion" which included everything from fundamental Christianity to Mormons to Eastern Religions to Satanism & Wicca to Atheists. So MySpace members can just as easily access any of these other religions as they can Christian doctrine and advice. You will notice the photo on the left is a list of religious groups- there are a total of over 11,000 groups in this category. When you narrow it to specifically Christian groups the number drops to 149.

The photo on the right is an example of a Christian blog. I subscribed to the verse of the day blog and so receive a verse with a commentary and everyone's comments (blogs) written below it for that day. The list of blogs can be quite long (I cut them off here- except for one that you can see). Most of the time the blogs are very superficial- as is the one below- but there have been times that a person seriously wants an answer to a Bible question or something happening in their life that relates to the verse and others chime in to try an explain the verse or give Biblical advice.


 * [[image:MySpaceGroups_Religion.png]] || [[image:BibleBlog_MySpace.png width="316" height="410"]] ||
 * [[image:MySpaceChristianVideos.png]] || [[image:MySpace_Music.png]] ||

The forums are more like chat rooms where people can "chat live" about topics. There are many topics listed for the forums, but the top three are: music, love & relationships, and religion. Each of these has had over 3,000,000 hits. The other categories tend to be in the hundred thousands. So you can see that religion is in the top of the interest level for MySpace users. I did not get into a forum and chat.

Looking at the video section for Christian video was interesting. Many tended to be Christian music videos, but some were quieter videos that sought to convey a message. Several were about the end times and were subtle warnings to be ready as God's time was drawing near. Again the range of video topics out there is large and can have very worldly topics and sexual undertones. So people have to use their moral judgment when searching on MySpace to determine what is useful and what is detrimental to their Christian lives- just as one has to do in the world at large.

Finally, of 33 music genres listed in MySpace Christian music is 8th on the list in popularity. Much of it is what we would consider Christian hard rock, but there is also rap, hip-hop, pop, etc. You could log in to my page at http://www.myspace.com/skip_421 and check things out. You don't need to be a member to look at what is available on the site. If you were looking for a particular person's webpage you may need to be invited in by them, since many of the pages are private.

Day two of my travel journeys in Web 2.0
Today I looked at two more social communities in regards to Christian use: Facebook and Livejournal. These are both much more limited in what they have to offer than MySpace- but are also more closed communities. Facebook especially must be entered through an educational group (George Fox or Rogue Community College, etc) and there are places (like Photos) that are limited to friends or invitation only. The only Christian outlet I could find in Facebook was groups. When you type "Christian" into the group search it came up with 500 + groups. These were not specific to George Fox (although you could limit them in that way) but they were global or worldwide offerings on Facebook. Many were from other countries: England, Lebanon, Egypt. Some groups were put up by students and varied widely in opinion (pro-gay; anti-abortion; conservative Christian; Unitarian- to name a few) Students who enter these groups and blog with those discussing would need to critically evaluate what was being said. Much of the discussion was opinion and did not support Biblical views. There were some groups that were more established, however, and posted by organizations: Fellowship of Christian Athletes; Campus Ambassadors; InterVarsity for example. These listed the officers and campuses that were represented. Facebook also lists events under different categories- When I typed "Christian" specifically for George Fox nothing appeared, but globally there were quite a few Christian events (such as concerts, retreats, speakers, dinners, church group meetings- see lower right below for examples). This would be a good way for a Christian group on campus to advertize their meetings and events and try to get students who normally aren't involved in a church interested in trying them out. Several of the sites had students sharing prayer requests and concerns and others trying to answer them or offering to pray. For students who are into electronic connections and separated from their hometown church groups, I think this might be a good way to connect with other believers, if they could find a group that fit with their beliefs and they already had some church doctrine and background behind them.


 * [[image:facebook_ChristianGroups.png]] || [[image:facebook_IV.png]] ||
 * [[image:Facebook_CA.png]] || [[image:facebook_events.png]] ||

LiveJournal's only connection to Christiantity would be in its communities that are very like the groups in Facebook. When I typed in that I was interested in Christianity it came up with 387 communities. Some of which had not been updated in over a year. Others within several minutes. Here again the student developed groups varied widely in content and I would question whether many of them actually fit the "Christianity" label. This is not a place for a seeker to build a strong foundation; it would be easy to be misled or sidetracked. There did not appear to be many organizations that sponsored communities here. One thing to be cautious about in social communities is your reputation. As far as students go- schools, scholarship donors and possible employers all may check their MySpace (or similar) pages. There have been times when students have lost out on scholarships or jobs because of things posted on their page (drinking, drug use, sexually suggestive pictures) that may or may not even be true of them. Also, there have been many incidents of other students posting slanderous pages against a student and smearing their reputation with peers at school. Some recent articles also warn teachers and professors to beware of having a presence in MySpace for fear of becoming too intimate with students, becoming "buddies" rather than having a professional relationship. The preceding file lists several articles (pro and con) about social communities.
 * [[image:livejournal_Christiancomm.png]] || [[image:livejournal_Christianity.png]] ||

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