Weblogs and Spirituality the Escalating

Weblogs and Spirituality

The escalating uncertainty of economic systems, resulting lack of trust in financial, political and government entities globally have many people re-evaluating not only their purpose in life, but who they are.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had the same effect, yet the global economic downturn in 2008 is causing a much more fundamental, pragmatic, and in many cases, immediate -reordering of beliefs. With so much skepticism, lack of trust, and fear of the future, more people are turning to Christianity to seek answers and guidance through these very difficult times. The intent of this paper is to provide insights into how social networking in general and blogs specifically can be used to communicate and provide examples of how God's love transforms lives. Arguably the greatest need today is for Christians, whether they be in the clergy, mission work or on careers God has guided them into, to share how God's love is the panacea to the panic increasingly felt today. Social networking in general and blogs specifically need to have an authentic and real voice to be trustworthy. The world is hungry for credibility, trust and peace. God's love and His guidance is the answer, and through the use of social networking and blogs, more people can be reached for His glory than ever before. The strength of God is what's needed in the world today; even the most educated financial planners have no idea of how the complex economic challenges facing the world today are going to be resolved. Yet the one constant, God's love and the strength He provides, is the foundation the world needs to live in hope and not fear. The intent of this paper is to first describe the many platforms of social networking, explaining how blogs are an integral part of this framework. Next, the factors responsible for the growth of blogs are discussed, and specifically how these factors are aligning perfectly with sharing God's love and peace. Third, the use of blogs as a means to evangelize and spread God's word is discussed. Allegorical to the Gospels and St. Augustine's Confessions, blogging today is about testimonials and discussions of how faith is transforming the lives of those believers who are bloggers as well.

Social Networking as a New Foundation for Spreading God's Word

The collections of technologies and applications that together comprise Web 2.0 have as their foundation the nurturing of collaborative, real-time and often highly interactive communication. Included in these technologies are blogs, both written and video-based. The exponential growth of Web 2.0 technologies is ironically traceable to how disconnected people feel, and how increasingly difficult it is to trust others (Cohen, 2008, 16-17). Our society continues to look for reasons to trust in others, and is invariably disappointed, because the only true source of trust is God. In Proverbs 29:25 it is said that" Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." The fascination with social networking in general and blogs specifically is based on this point. Fearing man, many turn to the Internet and these collections of technologies hoping to connect with others and somehow alleviate the pain of loneliness and fear. What people are hungry for is someone to trust, and with the exponential growth of the Internet in general and social networking including blogging specifically, we as Christians have a fertile opportunity to accomplish great tasks for the glory of God. As with any social network, whether organized in a local community or around the world via the Internet, there is a social hierarchy that emerges. The growing importance of social networks in people's lives is that they are looking for guidance and insight into how to managing their fears and the uncertainty the world faces today. Psalm 40:4 says that" Blessed is the man who makes the Lord His trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods." Social networking is dominated by strong personalities that seek attention and adulation. Given how difficult times are today many people look to those that concentrate on self-promotion and self-righteousness and their self-proclaimed expertise as the sources of guidance they need. In the end however many people online searching for assurance and guidance find these online celebrities may be even more lost than they are. Clearly the opportunities to bring the love of God into these people's lives so they can experience a true foundation for peace and not have to seek out people who seek to be trusted and followed yet in the end are no closer to bringing the love to God to them as they are on their own. There is an urgent need to capitalize on the technologies discussed here to illuminate the love of God to others, on a global scale. It is unprecedented in terms of opportunity to spread God's message, yet must be approached through humility, honesty and truth. The Lord delights in honesty and the cornerstone of any social networking strategy, including any blogs written must embrace this value and even to the point of candor, make it abundantly clear what the true intentions are. Proverbs 16:11 states that "Honest scales and balances are from the Lord; all the weights in the bag are of his making" and in the 21st century let's add the weights and bags of reputation, specifically in social networking and blogging are the Lord's. With these concepts serving as the foundation of this discussion of social networking technologies, it's imperative to realize that the greatest missing component of these is trust. Christian bloggers are bringing much-needed voices to the social networking landscape (Rupp, Smith, 2002, 30, 31). The social networking conversation (Bernoff, Charlene Li, 2008, et.al.) is enriched by the voice of Christian bloggers, yet many more are needed to break through the noise level that dominates all forms of social media today.

Understanding Web 2.0 and its' Role in God's Service

The concepts of Web 2.0 and their impacts on social networking have specifically led to entirely new approaches and processes by which people, companies, and nations communicate with one another. It has the potential to create entirely new communities of believers online, with growth and adoption rates surpassing televisions' global reach that occurred in the last century. The totality of Web 2.0 as the foundation for greater collaborative communication, sharing and healing is illustrated in the collection of applications, tools and technologies that comprise this area, with social networking being a vital part. Table 1, Web 2.0 Applications, provides an overview of these collections of technologies, which has been assembled based on analyses completed by Forrester Research (Bernoff, Li, 2008, et.al.). Included the framework of social networking are blogs; mash-ups, which are the combining of two or more Web-based applications; peer-to-peer networking, which is illustrated by the popularity of Twitter, FriendFeed and other micro-blogging sites; the use of Real Simple Syndication (RSS), which is invaluable for delivering real-time updates of content to those that are following a given ministry website or blog; Social Media which is the term used for referring to these collections of technologies. In addition, social networking sites are those that allow users to create their own online networks. Examples of these included LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, and others that promote the development of online communities by having users connect with each other. Blogging is often the catalyst to users connecting with each other on these social networking platforms. Tagging is the use of HTML technologies for making web pages easily accessible and recallable. This area has significant growth potential for spreading Gods' Word as key blog entries can be added to sites such as Digg to gain greater search of key ministry terms by Google and other search engine indexing technologies. The final technology mentioned are Wikis, which are useful for organizing collaborative content. Wikis would be ideal for use in organizing testimonies and sharing what God has done in a person's life.

Taken together the applications in Table 1 are evidence of the dynamics industry thought leaders Tim O'Reilly, founder and publisher of O'Reilly Books, and John Battelle, author and former design engineer lead at Google summarized in their definition of Web 2.0. Figure 1, Web 2.0 Explained, illustrates the underlying concepts that O'Reilly and Battelle found to be the catalysts of social networking's growth.

Web 2.0 Applications

Applications

Descriptions

Blogs

The term blog is short for Web Log, which is a website where short, journal-like entries are made. Blog entries range from being fact-based and informative to being highly opinionated views of the bloggers.

Online diary or journal entry on the Internet, which primarily supports text, photo (photoblog), video (vlog), and audio (podcast) formats

Google, AOL, and Yahoo offer free blogging platforms

Mash-up

Web service that gathers related content from more than one source

IBM's mash-up applications enable project managers to match team resources with a map to identify the geographical locations of the resources

Peer-to-Peer Networking technique for effectively sharing music, audio, and text files

Napster and Gnutella are popular peer-to-peer networks

Real Simple Syndication (RSS)

Feed-based technology that, with the aid of an RSS reader, enables users to subscribe to newly released content such as text, Web pages, sound files, photos, and video

RSS feed may contain the full content, for example a podcast, or simply a link to the content

Social Media

Encompasses all online tools (blogs, podcasts, Wikis, social networks, vlogs) and Web sites enabling people to share content, such as text, audio, picture s, and videos

Popular social media sites include YouTube (video) and Flickr (photos)

Social Networking

Web sites that permit users to create online networks and communicate with friends and colleagues

Social networking sites include MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, and Friends Reunited, and business networking sites include LinkedIn and Ryze

Tagging

Allows users to bookmark or rate online content to share their recommendations with other online users

Typically used by publishers of media sites attempting to benefit from users' recommendations

Popularized by sites such as Digg and del.icio.us, which enable users to publish, categorize, and share their bookmarks

Wikis

Enables users to create and edit the content of a Web site, leveraging the expertise of online users

Consumer Wikis enable users to comment on content, in addition to editing content

Wikipedia, a community Wiki encyclopedia, includes approximately 1.3 million English-language articles

Sources: (Bernoff, Li. 2008, et.al.)

Figure 1:

Web 2.0 Explained

Inherent in the user dynamics of the map completed by O'Reilly and Battelle are the catalyst of why social networking is such a fertile platform for spreading word of God's love and peace to the world. Ironically the foundations of social networking as defined by O'Reilly and Battelle are identical to the needs that churches fulfill. The "architecture of participation" that is mentioned by O'Reilly in his definition of Web 2.0 (Weinberger, 2007, 19) exactly parallels the needs that any church fulfill as well. In addition, the harnessing of collective intelligence is also a shared attribute. Focusing on the Core Competencies as shown in Figure 1, the parallels to the needs fellowship meet are clear. The parallels between the Web 2.0 platform and the fundamental unmet needs that Gods' church fulfills are also illustrated in how both have the potential to bring an entirely new level of participation. Social networks are in fact becoming the new church for many people globally, having become the new communities many rely on to stay connected to the outside world.

The greatest paradox of social networking is in fact the appearance of a high degree of connectedness and coherence, yet in reality, people have never been more disconnected and lacking in trust of each other and institutions. The framework of social networking presented in this section illustrates how blogs can't be considered in isolation anymore, especially when considering the combined effects of all social media strategies to further God's Word. The following sections discuss blog's popularity and the significant potential Christian blogging has, in conjunction with other areas of social networking.

Explaining Blogs' Popularity

There is today an insatiable desire to get to the truth. Traditional media is in many cases seen as suspect and biased at best. The emergence of blogs is a result of the combined effects of a declining level of credibility traditional media has, the increased trust in bloggers' embracing and in some cases challenging freedom of speech, and appreciation of how fast news can be communicated in this new medium. The combined effects of these three factors are leading to dramatic growth in blogs. Blogs have become the most pervasive means of self-expression today online.

While many see blogging as new and unique, in fact the concept of blogging has been around for thousands of years, beginning with St. Augustine's Confession (St. Augustine, 1992) and progressing through the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

The growth of blogs has expanded beyond the U.S. To now include 81 different languages, across 66 nations encompassing six continents. In addition, bloggers on average generate close to one million posts per day. The aggregated statistics from (Technorati, 2008, et.al.) shown in Figure 2 quantify the pervasiveness of this medium.

Figure 2: Technorati's Assessment of the Blogosphere (Technorati, 2008)

In order to be successful in bringing God's message to the world through blogging, the importance of this specific aspect of social networking must also be taken into account. Figure 3, How Internet Users Perceive Blogs as Sources of Information illustrates how critical it is for any Christian blogger to strive for accuracy, genuineness, honesty and candor in writing about what their relationship to the Lord means to them. 71% of Internet users contacted in the Technorati study cited (Technorati, 2008) state that they take blogs more seriously for their primary source of information. A surprising 49% of Internet users who responded to the survey also see blogs as a valid media source vs. traditional media.

With how important it is to present a Christian blog with accuracy, honesty and sincerity, Proverbs 17:27 provide insightful guidance in this regard, "A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered." It is critical for any Christian blogger to realize that staying in peace and under control is critical for their blog to be taken seriously. As can be seen from Figure 3, there is ample opportunity to gain the trust of Internet users searching for insights on how to improve their lives through a relationship with God.

Figure 3: How Internet Users Perceive Blogs as Sources of Information

The majority of blogs are personal in nature, written by adults over 25, the majority of which are married, as can be seen in the data shown in Table 2, Demographics of U.S. Bloggers. Blogs that are less pedantic and more insightful and introspective about actual testimonies of how a person's relationship to God has progressed, faced challenges, and grown stronger is the type of content these specific bloggers respect. Throughout the research on blogging (Hamm, 2006, 46, 47), (Lukacs, 1997, 16, 17) and (Palmer, 2008) the need for immediacy, sincerity and most of all honesty, is critical for any blog to be respected and consistently read. Speaking out for God and about the realities of His love and its impact on our lives, how His answering prayers and giving us not escape from our challenges but a triumph over them is a critical message for these specific bloggers as well. The concentrating on bloggers as an audience is also very important, as a blogger will only be read by a broader population if they are first read and supported via links and comments from more established bloggers as well.

Table 2: Demographics of U.S. Bloggers

Demographics

Female

N=438)

Male

N=852)

Personal Blog

Professional Blog

Age

18-24 years old

Single

Employed full-time

Median Annual Investment

Median Annual Revenue

Blogs with advertising

Sell Through a Blog ad Network*

Have Affiliate ads*

Have Contextual ads*

Among those with advertising on their blogs

The concepts behind Web 2.0 are critical for any Christian looking to share their faith through blogging. Specifically in the area of video blogging or as it is sometimes called vlogs, the advent of GodTube (Miller, 2007, 11), a religious online video site modeled after YouTube, is emerging as one of the most popular variations of traditional blogging online. Videos of church services are increasingly being loaded onto GodTube as well (Biever, 2007, 24, 25) and (Davis, 2000).

In conjunction with video included in blogs, it is critical for Christian bloggers to consider how best they can use tagging technologies (mentioned in Table 1) including Digg and del.icio.us (Chopin, 2008, 552, 553) and also, when initially creating their blog sites, integrate in RSS Feeds. The concept of RSS Feeds is to make the task of staying up with content as it is produced as efficient as possible (Gurak, Antonijevic, 2008, 60). RSS Readers are available from a multitude of online sites including Google, Yahoo and others. It is critical for any Christian blogger to make their content available through RSS Feeds, as this is quickly becoming the means by which the majority if Internet users get information they are interested in. When a person subscribes to an RSS Feed, they get the real-time updates automatically. Combining video, RSS Feeds and also generating a consistent stream of content that includes not only praise, but plenty of testimony and discussion of how God has provided strength, and how in His presence there is peace, is crucial for transforming blogs into a meaningful outreach (Palmer, 2008). Blogging alone is not enough to reach Internet users who need to learn about the strength and love God provides. Combining video, RSS Feeds and easily accessible links to resources are critical. Figure 4, Web 2.0 Technologies' Impact on Blog Readership, quantitatively illustrates this point. This data is also from the Technorati study (2008, et.al.). Consistent with the underlying concepts of Web 2.0 and the need to invite interactivity, 84% of survey respondents note that they prefer having the option of commenting on articles and blog posts. 69% subscribe to an RSS Feed, and 68% watch videos online.

Figure 4: Web 2.0 Technologies' Impact on Blog Readership

The Web-based technologies that blogs are based on is very stable today, and the main providers of these applications including Blogger, Google Blog, WordPress and others have all included links to support video and RSS Feeds. In addition, just this year there are links for Twitter feeds as well. What this translates into for the Christian blogger is the opportunity to have their testimonies and written work published in multiple locations simultaneously. In addition, the use of videos within a blog significantly increases reader loyalty as well.

It's interesting to consider that the majority of blogs are related to personal and lifestyle topics, with a close second being technology. According to Technorati (2008, et.al.) and the survey cited, 19% of blogs are about religion and spirituality. What is one of the most crucial aspects of a blog is the subject chosen and the approach taken to discuss it (Hamm, 2006, 46, 47, 48). According to the Technorati survey (2008, et.al) the average blogger writes about an average of five topics. Figure 5 shows the distribution of blog topics that bloggers responding to their survey mentioned. Multiple responses were allowed, hence the percentages averaging above 100%.

Figure 5: Blogger's Subject Areas of Coverage

The need for Christian bloggers to have a concerted, coordinated approach to making the most of their testimony for the Lord is critical. Galatians 6:10 states that, "So then, as we have opportunity, let's do what is good toward all men and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith," and this can be accomplished by creating blogs that are rich in content, illustrating the love, mercy and redemptive spirit of God.

Realizing Blogs' Christian Potential

For any blog to be successful, it must emanate from the essence of who a person is so that is resonates with authenticity, honesty and sincerity. Even if a blogger is writing about small victories the Lord has provided, it's in the depth and passion of emotions are far more important than the relative magnitude of the event. Writing with the heart of a servant is far more important, and the best Christian bloggers concentrate on using their blogs to minister to others. Matthew 24:46 reminds use that "Blessed is that servant whom his Lord finds doing so when he comes." This is exactly what a blogger writing to bring others to Christ needs to make as their mission. To be doing the work of the Lord by using all these Web 2.0 tools together in a concerted effort to convince and show the world why God's love is the most crucial possession worth pursuing.

Too often a blogger will begin writing a blog and then abandon it. This actually harms the reputation of the blogger as it says they have lost their passion for the subject. Or any Christian to step up and write a blog to the glory of God, they must become completely committed to the task. To abandon a blog is to abandon the mission of bringing God's love into this world. Having a constant reminder of Luke 9:62 which states, "But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God," and this is a critical verse for any Christian blogger to keep in mind. Even if there is just a single reader or RSS feed enabled from a website glorying God, the website must continue. Persistence and perseverance are critical in making sure the blog is a strong witness for the Lord.

Third, too often Christian bloggers don't disclose enough about their own trials and how God has helped them overcome them. This goes beyond just putting a testimony on a blog; this is an ongoing dialogue of how the blogger is struggling to stay in a relationship with God and how they face down challenges to stay connected to Him. For any blogger to make a lasting contribution to the glory of God, it is critical that their blog be a continual testimony of how God has brought them through trials and faithfully gives strength. Praying that the Holy Spirit provide guidance and that the blog reflect what God's will is for each entry is important, because the Holy Spirit can support our testimony. As is said in Romans 9:1, "I am telling you the truth as a Christian man -- it is no falsehood, for my conscience enlightened, as it is, by the Holy Spirit adds its testimony to mine" and this is crucial for the success of any blog specifically created to bring praise to God and also attract believers to him. Christian bloggers need to realize that taking their lives and turning it into an opportunity for God to reflect His glory out onto the world is a great way to show how much a person loves God. Understanding this and not being afraid of what others think is also crucial, and this transcends from blogs, to videos, to the promoting of RSS Feeds and also the use of all Web 2.0 technologies. As is written in 2 Timothy 1:8, "Therefore don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God."

Christian bloggers need to celebrate daily the gifts of being able to write and bring glory to God. Just as bloggers in the secular world see themselves as non-conformists, Christian bloggers must also embrace this view of themselves as revolutionaries for Christ.

As is said in Romans 12:2, "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God," and bloggers need to realize that part of their mission is the fulfillment of this verse. It is in giving others in the world to opportunity to renew their mind, find God, and experience His love, grace, forgiveness, kindness and mercies. Bloggers need to realize that this is also another call for exceptional persistence and focus.