November 2006

I frequently encounter people who are skeptical at best, fearful at worst, when it comes to using the Internet.  That’s understandable and it’s not particularly noteworthy.  If you're reading this, you may not be one of them. But for others of us, new media technologies can be intimidating.  We all wonder, for example, what Internet transparency really means for our lives.  Will every detail of our personal worlds, from our searches to our medical histories, from our preferences to our mortgages, be accessible to someone, someday through online means?

So, many of us hang back.  We’re waiting, watching, wondering, thinking.  Maybe Internet technology won’t be so overwhelming someday, we reason.  We use cryptic passwords; we put up initials as user names, we write dark blogs behind firewalls.   We guard our Internet presence with filters and privacy shields.  We moderate comments.  We’re being prudent; we’re being careful.  We’re protecting ourselves.

There have been many research studies conducted on the diffusion of new innovations that reveal a predictable adoption pattern made up of layers of adopters.   There are those who lead the pack, those who start mid-stream and those who end up making up the laggards.  The laggards usually record the highest levels of resistance (read: fear).

I'm wondering if Christians realize that the Internet is the broadcasting opportunity of our generation.  Have I under- stated?  Maybe I mean of all time.

As a Christian in a postmodern culture, I’ve got all the Good News that’s fit to print, stream, podcast, vlog, etc.  But am I?  Am I pursuing the Internet as a medium with the passion due a mouthpiece that will one day be the instant information distributor for the whole planet and likely, if predictions are accurate, be attached to my body, on the walls of my office, in my grocery store, airport, and flashing over the moving marquees down the freeway I drive?

I’m convicted that I’ve been too utilitarian, using the Internet simply to look up maps, check bank balances and receive emails.  Maybe we could just sidestep all this new Internet technology.  Or maybe Web 2.0 is like a necessary evil that we just have to put up with.    After all, social bookmarking sites are filled with “bad” stuff.  Why would we go there?    Hey wait a minute…….Wouldn’t social networking sites be kind of a ready-made venue to set up shop – a modern day Corinth might be able to use some good news?

In an online web article, Dr. Jack Hayford, President of the Foursquare Church used this directive:   “We have a cultural mandate, an apostolic directive that commissions us to use "all possible means," a phrase meaning, "If you would 'reach the world,' communicate in ways it can understand."      I Corinthians 9:22   I’m taking that directive seriously in a new way as we migrate online and explore new means of communication.

Think of it like this: Ever watch the old, original, earliest TV shows or movies and think wow, wish I’d been around back then; wish I was in on the ground floor before the competition to participate got so fierce?  Well, basically, this dwarfs that.  The Internet is not a locally contained opportunity, not even a nationally contained opportunity.  The Internet provides the global opportunity for Christians to speak to the world.

Of course, there’s a lot of bad stuff cluttering up the Internet.   Yes, it’s a mash-up of profundity and noise with a good helping of some really dangerous side dishes.  Yes, we should be conscientious and prudent, especially with our children.  Yes, there are caveats. 

But, now remind me again why Christians shouldn’t be right in the middle of it?   Because if the Technological Revolution ends up paralleling the Renaissance, (well, dwarfing it) it would sure be a miscalculation for the Church to be judgmental, apathetic, aloof or afraid when it comes to using the Web for our purposes.  

The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.   Proverbs 16:9

"Infinite Walk" photo courtesy of HRKVC.  Wisdom courtesy of the Holy Bible.

Giving thanks for the steps, the journey and for all my blogging partners. 

Yesterday, I received an email from Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist working with the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington, D. C.  She let me know that Pew has just completed a national survey conducted in collaboration with the Exploratorium.  It benchmarks how the Internet fits into people's habits for gathering news and information about science. 

The report, compiled by John Horrigan, Associate Director & Pew researcher, finds that as a primary source for science information, the Internet is second only to television among the general population. For Americans with high-speed Internet connections at home, the Internet is as popular as TV for news and information about science. And for young adults with high-speed connections at home, the Internet is the most popular source for science news and information by a 44% to 32% margin over television.

Fully 40 million Americans use the Internet as their primary source of news and information about science and 87% of online users have at one time used the Internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept. 

In conjunction with the diffusion of the Internet globally, comes the penetration of online means of information gathering in our everyday lives.  Ultimately, we are being transformed by the Internet at every societal level.  Our challenge as both individual Christians and corporately as the Church is to avail ourselves to use online means for evangelism, preaching, discipling, teaching & scholarship, etc.

The Digital Sanctuary has repeatedly highlighted the appeal of Apple's iPod line for Christians who want access to either the Bible or worship music via the portabilility of an mp3 player.   Apple has obviously ruled the field for five solid years - indeed, virtually invented it - even as media players have grown from mere tunes to photos and video, and evolved from hard drives to flash memory.

With Microsoft's Zune just hitting the market, questions arise as to whether the new technology will threaten Apple's hegemony over the digital media player marketplace.  As far as I can tell, Zune will be an interesting competitor for Apple but the chances of us all replacing our iPods is slim. 

There is, however, a particular kind of threat Zune may be able to launch 'David and Goliath style' against Apple and that's it's wireless sharing capacity. By supporting wi-fi technology, Zune will allow sharing music/photos wirelessly with other Zune players. 

My guess is we'll know if Zune's killer app will threaten the iPod early on.  Although it's obvious wi-fi is the future,  and ultimately convergent media will be our standard, I think Apple had us with "Hello, hello".

The Mobile Web is gaining momentum.  Oxford University is offering their first class in user generated content & Web 2.0.

According to Nielsen/Netratings (Aug 2006) user-generated content sites, platforms for photo sharing, video sharing and blogging, comprised five out of the top 10 fastest growing Web brands in July 2006.

With the rise of MySpace, YouTube and other Web 2.0 sites, traditional value chains are facing disruption. As is often highlighted in this blog, this disruption causes both threats and opportunities.

• Understanding the new world of Content covering movies, music, news, blogging and podcasting
• Operational issues: Threats, opportunities, legal, social issues, trust, copyright etc
• Social factors, community building and user interaction
• Web 2.0 and Mobile Web 2.0
• The impact of convergence

Ajit Jaokar, mobile telecoms specialist and author (including the Mobile Web 2.0 book above) will head the class.  Here's his company site: Futuretext.   Go ahead, say it…"I know she wants to go."  Yeah, yeah.

Just a reminder that our friends at IEC are an incredible resource when it comes to exploring ideas for Internet evangelism.  The stated purpose of the coalition is to stimulate and accelerate web evangelism within the worldwide body of Christ. Part of their mission includes encouraging collaborative efforts and to connect partners and resources for more extensive and effective Internet outreach. 

The IEC has also enhanced their communication by producing a monthly e-newsletter and establishing a website which identifies resources created through IEC efforts. The newsletter, available through the IEC link in the right sidebar, shares relevant information about the web and web evangelism.  I encourage you to wander their site for ideas and inspiration.

Online capabilities continue to spread at an amazing rate and are now demonstrating how archaic it will soon feel to be "desktop confined".  The newest mobile innovation, TracNet, a system that allows passengers to access the Internet from a vehicle's video screens, launched less than 6 weeks ago. TracNet brings the Internet to the pre-installed screens in any mobile unit including your car, truck, RV or boat.  And wouldn't you know, I've been wondering if I can get podcasts on my boat? 

It also turns the entire vehicle into a wireless hot spot, so passengers can use their laptops to go online.  You can click here for an excellent streamed video preview at CNET reviews.

The point of hightlighting mobile technology advances in this blog is that there is mounting evidence that our culture, our lifestyles and our societies, in general, as we currently know them are undergoing the kind of transformations that will make many of our traditional social institutions in need of dramatic reform.

There's a lot being said about revolution these days.  Although it's an overused term, it's possibly an under- statement to say that the Internet is about to revolutionize our world.  No really.  This time it's not just hype about a new-fangled software application. 

Today's Internet addressing scheme, called IPv4, is based on '70s technology and will soon reach capacity at about 4.3 billion Web site addresses.  That's more than a few bloggers out there.

The Internet is run on a protocol system. You use an IP (Internet Protocol) address every time you access the Net.  It's basically your virtual fingerprint, like a calling card marking where you go.   It's amazing that the Internet can keep track of such things.  IPv4 is about to step aside on a world-wide scale to make way for IPv6. 

With China leading the way, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) will be implemented over the next 2 years.  As the global transmission standard, IPv6 will expand the capabilities of the Internet beyond what we can accurately describe at this time.  By dramatically increasing the Net's functionality, the opportunities it will soon afford us will dwarf what we are able to currently accomplish.

Here's the exact data: IPv6 will be able to simultaneously manage a number of addresses equal to 34 followed by 27 zeros. 

The new system will enable whole new ways to live and work.   It can assign a unique Internet address to anything electronic or for that matter, otherwise.   It can tie in sensors in our homes, vehicles, workplaces and even to our bodies.  Sound like a prophesy being fulfilled?  Yes, likely.  And so it's not really a surprise that China will get there first.

Prepare for a heafty read.  Sometimes comments are so helpful they have to be made into posts.  There is simply no replacement for a timely word, in this case delivered by a reliable expert.  Anthony Coppedge is a church media consultant, author and all around self-described techno-geek.   He recently commented on a Social Bookmarking post at The Digital Sanctuary.

Although Anthony describes his comments as "his 3 cents worth" I think what he actually contributed is a 'valuable' set of reflections on the leveraging of technology by the Church.  You won't find flashy images and links in this lengthy post, simply excellent advice.  I'm moving Anthony from the comment section to this post with his permission:

1) The use of technology should be embraced by churches. Period. To this end, the social networking tools are all viable options for expanding the reach and, simultaneously, increasing the touch points for people in the church and community.

2) Like anything else, technology is not inherently good or evil.  What you do with it and, more importantly, how you control and manage it is the key.  Just like the BBS systems of old and the not-so-distant forums of even a couple of years ago, the technology shifts have caused us to consider how we leverage them, what we allow, how we moderate and when we pull the plug and move on.  As with any social gathering, moderation of the conversations and distribution of information in an accurate and timely fashion is the main consideration.

Consider this: a Sunday School class that starts out as an “age appropriate, life-journey applicable Bible study group” is in and of itself a great thing. But witness the nearly endless list of churches that have canned Sunday School because it fosters a clique-ish, us-four-and-no-more environment AND makes it hard to control due to intra-church politics, and it’s not uncommon to see home teams/cell groups replacing this outdated model.

In the same way, social networking (forums are the most obvious example because they’ve been around, matured and shown consistent patterns) must also be moderated and given focus and direction or it will end up being the same few people dominating the conversations and - here’s the kicker - the direction of the topics and the “accepted response types”. Said another way, they’re harder to manage because they’re relatively anonymous and easy to manipulate.

3) Privacy, security and copyright. Social networking opportunities - especially via technology - create many, many opportunities for scams, phishing, stalking and other difficult to monitor activities. Yes, the uber-geeks are better protected, but the average user is not - especially when it’s a “religious site” or “church group” network where trust is assumed more quickly.

Furthermore, the tools are faster and more capable of enabling gossip, false accusations and leadership destruction.

Finally, churches that assume CCLI or CVLI licenses cover them for the up-and-downloading of content are, the VAST majority of the time, breaking copyright law left and right. YouTube and others like it are having to really crack down on illegal uploads and are even starting to use encryption to help foil these efforts.

Sadly, most churches don’t care if they break copyright. I had a pastor (you would know him - he blogs and is VERY Well known) at a conference show a video that had a Coldplay song as the sound track. My friend asked him if he had permission to use that song and the pastor smiled slyly and said “No, I didn’t. I knew you’d ask me that.” The pastor KNEW it was illegal and didn’t care. And he’s an example many churches look up to, so they’ll emulate his behavior thinking it’s OK.

The implications of leveraging technology should not stop us from making the most of the tools. However, we must educate ourselves, act with vigilance to protect our social network members and use Biblical ethics to conduct ourselves in the sharing of information, ideas and content.

I was delighted to republish this informative overview because I've been to Anthony's site many times and welcome an opportunity to highlight it.  The newest Creative Synergy Podcast he offers can be linked here. 

I am challenged by his thought provoking appeal to educate the Church about what we can and can't use. Although the rules "in church" seem clearer, the same applies to blogging.  I always try to credit every source and link I can, but I'm not sure of all the rules. 

Unlike many of my blogging colleagues, I haven't added Creative Commons just because I haven't taken the time to educate myself and don't want to sign up for something I haven't explored adequately.  On the other hand, maybe I should sign up in order to educate myself.  Bloggers, please comment and help in layterms.