Critical Friend

Can I be your “critical friend”?

In the book, Mediating Religion: Conversations in Media, Culture and Religion, Heidi Campbell (“Approaches to Religious Research in Computer-mediated Communication”) describes a “critical friend” thus:

religious leaders who affirm the opportunities provided by the Internet while also being cautious and careful about the possible negative repercussions.

Wow! That was a mouthful. What does she really mean? Does your website reflect what you believe? Who is writing theological material? Has your site become too consumeristic in selling seminars, books, tapes, t-shirts, etc.? Do you look more like Barnes and Nobel than a house of worship?

The Internet is a significant means of communication. Don’t let statements such as this frighten you from this technology. It’s by far the most effective communicator for those 25 years-old and under. A two-year old study calculates at least 70% of the people in North America use the Internet. Hedi Campbell's comment is avowing why I ask church clients to write their own text for their website. This is your voice, not mine. Just make sure that Johnny-June, your local volunteer, who’s running your site or sending copy to a web designer either KNOWS the church theology and mission OR has trusted authority OR runs what he/she wrote by someone who does (maybe the pastor?)

I tend to believe this “critical friend” should also advise you about tech trends. Do you really need animation or video? Do you need someone blogging on a regular basis? (If so, refer back to the paragraph before this). Would creating a group on Facebook be an advantage? Do we hop on Twitter? The answer may be yes in all cases because each one is a source your viewership WILL USE or it could be -- maybe, or no.

Know the audience/congregation you reach. Know the audience/congregation you want to reach. Know or learn the vehicle to get their attention. Then, know what you’re saying reflects what you mean. If you need a friend?....I'm here.

A Thousand Words???...

What would you pick? A three-to-five page paper describing God’s connection to us or Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel (on right).

In an article for The Alban Institute, Lynne M. Baab expresses how your church website can communicate your church vision. Photos of people seem more invitational than buildings to a limit. People looking directly into the camera could overwhelm site visitors versus those with people engaged in activities. The trend is to select imagery, not people, to symbolize the congregation; their values and mission, pictures that convey grace or redemption.

This task is not for the faint of heart and should you wish to undertake this assignment, a small committee working with a selection process would be best not only for your church to arrive at the appropriate imagery, but to cut down on cost in your website design as designers and developers may charge you for that perfect shot that conveys your warm, inviting congregation who is full of grace and devotion.

Take the time to read the article as it brings out many great points to consider as you live with and adapt your church’s website. http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=5906

I hope you picked Michelangelo over the paper.
Peace--

I thought I loved my iPhone

I recently viewed a YouTube video of the latest concept in cell phones. Nokia is developing a phone with the concept name of Morph. http://tiny.cc/bmD0j


It may look like a regular cell phone but trust me, take the time to watch the first 40 seconds of this video and watch the phone morph!

Morph is a concept demonstrating some of the possibilities in nanotechnologies that might enable future communication devices. If you don’t know about nanotechnology or any of its concepts, watching this 6 minute video will allow you to see what the future holds in store. It’s pretty incredible just to watch a few seconds as the illustrated character morphs her phone(makes it change shape), places a call and then raps it around her arm!

You can also view the Nokia 888 http://tiny.cc/jbQnu (3:41) to watch the young female interacting with her nano- phone.

About half-way through the previously mentioned Morph concept piece, the introduction to another new idea was presented: nano-materials that can be produced to enable solar energy on a larger scale to where future buildings could be covered by solar cells. This material would allow specific chemical compounds to be pulled from the air to create energy for the building. This is because nanotechnology allows control of physical properties at a nanostructure level with single-molecular precision. WoW!!.....

                   …and I thought I loved my iPhone.

Flip Out

Search engine giant Google is announcing its new Fast Flip that will allow you to browse through news sites like flipping through a magazine. It’s going to help you see things even faster! (read the article: http://tiny.cc/LV30n )

Can we cram information faster? Will we think faster? Articulate faster? Will flipping and crunching high-speeding connections make us soar?

Let’s see:

How did we soar in the past seven days?

A Congressman cried out at the President, “You lie!”; a incredible highly-praised tennis pro lashed out at a innocent line judge wanting to cram a ball down her throat; and a rapper stole a moment of glory from a deserving teenage country singer to be disrespectful and rude.

Are we cramming so much information in to our brains that the only processing, judgment and discernment we can muster creates over-loaded and short circuited verbal meltdowns?

If we can flip faster, will we be able to flip out faster?

Where are Your Fingers Walking?

“Let’s your fingers do the walking.” That was the slogan for Yellow Pages for many years. Yellow pages? Do you still use the Yellow Pages to find things; businesses or churches or doctors? Or do you use the search engine on your computer?

A new thick Yellow Pages book lands on my doorstep about once a year. Then another and another until I have 4 or 5 yellow-paged books from different companies to clutter my phone book cubby hole on my desk where the Yellow Pages are supposed to live. Do you know what all of these “yellow pages” have in common? You can’t find what you’re looking for. At least, that is my experience. I get frustrated locating the right subject heading to eventually find a phone number that is disconnected or a business that lists their web address where I in turn, go to my computer and type in the URL to learn about their business. In truth, my fingers walked right off the yellowed-page to my keyboard.

My new strategy is paying off; I now toss those yellow paged books in my recycle bin and begin my searches on the Internet. It pays off almost every time. I might only find a phone number from the Online Yellow Pages that has popped up in the search engine, but I FIND something. If you spend much time with me, you know this is one of my mantra’s …..How are people going to find you if you don’t let them know you are there?

Where do your fingers walk? If you only use the Yellow Pages or Encyclopedia Britannica as your resource, you’re an exception. Today’s fingers are running over keyboards and smooth-lined hand-held objects to locate everything imaginable. Search engines are really incredible pieces of technology. Once you obtain your URL (your domain), and use the proper tagging, your site will begin to populate the search results and fingers can walk right to your door to learn about whatever you’ve published at any given hour of any given day. My June 23rd blog, “Hide It Under a Bushel, No! I’m Gonna Let It Shine!” emphasizes the importance of being part of the web community.

It is one of my quests in life, to see every church have a web presence. It’s why I revisit this subject. I will continue to beat this drum as the message is so critical. Why do you think Microsoft launched Bing, their new search engine? It’s how people find things. Can they find you?

A Marking of Time

Today, September 2, 2009, the Internet turns 40. Can you believe it? Didn’t we just learn about this mystical cyber entity? Back in 1969 when two very bulky computers passed meaningless test data through a 15 foot gray cable, did those present known the scope of what they were unleashing?

The Internet as we know it today didn’t kick into gear until 1990, but I still say, “Wow!” I didn’t own a computer until 1996, a Macintosh Apple. I was very much a fledgling on the Windows PC the winter of 1997-98 after taking my first job as a church secretary. I barely knew how to stumble my way through WORD and Microsoft Publisher. And here we are eleven years later with me owning my own web design business and blogging.

I read a brief article out of New York stating the idealism of open access and free-flowing information that was the birthing idea of the Internet is eroding due to security needs against viruses and credit card transactions; purchases being taxed where unregulated times were without taxation of any sort. The article bemoaned the restrictions that are beginning to harness the Internet. For the most part, the Internet remains our wild frontier where laws are scarce and your personal protection is left up to you. Laws or no laws, I enjoy the place. I’ve educated myself to be able to roam around out there in cyber-land. You should do the same.

The greatest barrier between the generations of today is the knowledge to fluently use technology. I don’t believe there’s a specific age marker to throw down as a gauntlet. Suffice it to say, it’s the haves and have-nots or applicably the knows and knows not; a teeter-totter marker of those who Email, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, text, YouTube, etc. and those who do not. It’s not important you use and interact with all those methods. It is important you know what each of those terms mean. It is important to reach out and learn to function with today’s tools in order to be an effective communicator.

Stealing from a current acronym WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?), I think he’d allow folks to put him up on YouTube . I think he might be on Facebook. He’d definitely have a cell phone to text all the disciples to meet him at the shore in Galilee. Because when you think about it, Jesus used unconventional means to effectively communicate his message 2000 years ago. Hmm, how’d that turn out for him?