Leaving Bebo

On his Liturgy blog the other day, Bosco Peter pointed out an article from his local newspaper which described the probable closing down of Bebo. He quoted the following from the article:

The site has lost members to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

Kaila Colbin, of Christchurch social media consultant Missing Link, compared Bebo to a party that people wanted to leave.

“You go to a party, everyone’s having a good time, but suddenly the momentum changes and someone says, `Let’s go to the pub’,” Colbin said. “And people start flowing out. And when people flow out, there is no way to recover that energy.

“The more you try, the more desperate you look and the more people want to leave.”

Bosco comments: Now reread the above, and instead of Bebo think “church” – your parish, diocese, whatever. Any echoes?

Check out the rest of what he has to say....it's quite thought-provoking!

Social Networking 101

Do you still think that there's no great value in being involved in sites like Facebook, My Space and the like? That they're just places where people waste time, and don't have anything real to do with each other? That they're not really the sort of thing churches should be getting involved in?

Well, check out this speedy little piece of teaching on Social Networks.



It's done simply, cleverly and with humour, and gives you an easy way to understand the value of Social Networking (which, it points out, isn't anything new - it just happens to take on a slightly different flavour on the Net).

The Online Generation

Don't know much about the Online Generation? Take a quarter hour out of your valuable time and check out the blog: Reaching the Online Generation.

If you're not much of a techno, you may find some of the language unfamiliar (even my geek of a son, to my surprise, didn't know what Twitter was), but persevere. In the middle of the Blackberries, Facebooks, MySpaces, online communities, there's a good deal of plain sense and a heart to reach people who won't be reached by the older methods of face-to-face, preaching, tracts and more.

If you or your church doesn't have a web presence of some sort, is it missing out on a way to preach the Gospel?

A note from RTOG: Who is God?' was one of the top three sentences googled in 2007, according to Google Zeitgeist. According to Alexa, the top two religious websites are Muslim, with BibleGateway coming in at a close third. The Online Generation is spiritual. They are seeking. And the church is the last place they would go to find spiritual fulfillment. This site is dedicated to those walking with The Online Generation and living lives of obedience to all the commands of Jesus Christ.

Here's Who Is list as published by Google Zeitgeist 2007:

1. who is god
2. who is who
3. who is lookup
4. who is jesus
5. who is it
6. who is buckethead
7. who is calling
8. who is keppler
9. who is this
10. who is satan

You have to smile at Satan's ranking....!