Did the Christians Get it Right? or not?
19 September, 2008, 12:39 am
I have spent the last couple of hours over at gospelr. This new web service is alot like twitter. While I was interacting with the community, one user actually said:
So there is no denying that this is a twitter copycat – even the users see this. The real concern I have is whether this a valid use of my time and the time of other web marketers.
Anyone interested in developing genuine connections with people through the internet needs to ask: is this service going to help me meet my goals?
Gospelr is a Christian twitter. The faq’s page states that “Gospelr is a ministry-microblogging service (like Twitter) for the Christian Community.”
My first thought is why does the Christian community need a twitter? What is wrong with Christians using twitter?
Then I think if you want to develop relationships with people who are Christians, gospelr is a great place to do that.
So with my initial skepticism on the table, let me give you a run down of the service.
Pros of gospler
First off, this is a very well done site. Replies come back highlighted, so it is much easier to follow the conversation than twitter is. You can scan down the public timeline and see replies immediately. Great idea kudos to the creator.
The layout is nicer and more user friendly than twitter, though they took what was good about twitter and built on it.
It uses twitter and allows you to cross post. This is important. Who wants to update a hundred times? Update gospelr and let it do the work for you. Nice addition.
My personal favorite is the auto refresh. When interacting on the page, the page auto refreshes every 30 seconds or so. This way you can see what’s new right now. This is simply astonishing! Something I wish twitter had done from the get go!
Cons of Gospelr
There is really only one con, but it is pretty drastic, and I am sorry if it shocks or offends, but this is destined to become another online Christian ghetto like godtube.
A necessary disclaimer is that I am training to be a preacher, so look away if you must. But I am bothered when I look around and it seems as if God added “thou shalt not be original” and “thou shalt copy what others have done and make it just for Christians” to the ten commandments.
There is a great line from Kingdom of Heaven starring Orlando Bloom. Actually, it is the theme of the whole movie. “What kind of man is he who does not seek to make his world a better place?“ Not only is this inspirational, it sums up pretty much the entire ministry of Jesus. The creator of Gospelr is clearly brilliant. And I can tell he is trying to do that.
Looking at some of his other work I can tell he has a basket load of talent. And I am sure he is happy with what he is doing.
But I would love to see a guy like that use his talent to build things everyone can use. To really make the world better. And not concentrate too much on just the Christians.
So the conclusion of the matter?
It is still in Beta, so anything could happen. And if anything I am certain the quality of the site will increase. But the mission of the site to be a place for Christians to interact may prevent the average user from enjoying the great functionality it will have.
If you are a Christian and want to find other Christians on the internet, Gospelr is essential. Use it, and use it often. I feel it will serve you well.
If you are not a Christian, and do not wish to develop relationships online with Christians, Gospelr will be a complete waste of your time. Stick with twitter, and ask them to hire this guy.
NB.
If you would like to read more about my thoughts on the tendency of Christians to develop their own communities, I would love to have you interact on this post.
- Social Networking 101 – Why Should I twitter
- Increase Traffic with Twitter
- Using Metatags to Drive Better Traffic
- Amen to Darren on the Twitter Post
- Post in Many Social Nets From one New Service!
Thanks for the post. I agree with you on a lot of the matters. I am not a huge fan of online christian culture but actually had to have a small chance to chat with Gospelr creator and go back and forth with ideas.
I posted about it if you’d like to read my opinions. But to sum it up, I want to be a Roaring Lamb.
I won’t be using it because I’m on twitter all the time, I use twitterfon and twinkle on my iPod touch so I don’t need another UI to post to my twitter account. I also have tweetdeck on my desktop.
This is an interesting question. Reviewing the pros and cons that Jared presents, the answer is not that obvious. I can see a use for the christian twitter – the same as with any other social group such as health, culture, photos, etc – since the people one meets will have similar interests. Unfortunately, places like this people go to tell what they know as true rather than listen and learn from each other. I really cannot come up with a definite yes or definite no.
I can see what you mean about being another twitter, but I can also see the good points of having a Christian twitter as well.
I mean it says in the bible how we should meet and fellowship with one another, being as we are God’s people and have to keep each other encouraged and strong in our faith. That is something that doesn’t happen much on twitter, in fact, hardly at all.
I would rather post, “I am having a bad day,” in an environment where I know someone will be there to encourage and lift me up
I think you’re dead on Jared. Its just another Christian ghetto, which will inevitably produce a community of Christians who are clueless as to what their faith actually requires of them – to be salt and light, engage and interact with the world God has created for his glory, and not just huddle together closing off the world from the life we’ve been given.
Jared,
Great post (as well a great blog). I spent 12 years as a pastor to teenagers and parents, that was until 18 months ago. I realized as God moved me out of the local church pastor gig that indeed much more ministry could happen out in community, neighborhoods, marketplace, etc.
As I’m sure you know, everywhere we look there’s a “christian” version of almost everything. Just go to walmart and check out the music section and it’s genre breakdown. I think, though theyre intentions are pure, that stuff like Gosplr are directly linked to “why” the influence of Christianity is in decline fast. God never intended for Christianity itself to be a subculture or “ghetto” as Chris puts it. We were never supposed to have a Christian vs. Secular way of life.
For that reason it bugs me, no it offends me, that people think that even on the Web we’ve got to have sites like Gosplr literally segregating themselves from the evil
attacks of the satanic users at Twitter (sarcasm).
It’s not a good idea in my opinion! It’s their way of doing the great commission. However, the great commission is about making disciples. It’s not about current disciples huddling up in a bubble by themselves away from the very places Jesus would be hanging himself if he were among us today.
Yes, I’m a proud user of Twitter (bartlewis) and I’m also a follower of Jesus.
Bart Lewis, missionary to family culture and coach
http://www.parentsgeeksandgod.com