No, I'm not talking about a room filled with gadgets, gaming systems and technology designed to serve the youth in your church. I'm referring to a brand new alternative to spending time on Facebook or MySpace online.
Since today’s youth use the web extensively and have a voracious appetite for social media, some innovative individuals at FaithStreams Network have put together a new social networking service. Their YouthRoots.com site is designed to serve as a safe haven for young people looking for an alternative to free-for-all sites. YouthRoots acts as a digital youth room where kids who have faith-based world views can connect and hang out online. Additionally, congregations and their members can find one another electronically.
Their theory – "By providing an appropriate forum, you can give your church youth group all the benefits of interacting on the web, while keeping the hazards to a minimum. As importantly, YouthRoots.com creates a venue for youth leaders to use the online community to interact with, involve, and inspire deeper faith connections for members of their congregations and communities."
This might be the first time you've heard the words digital youth room but it will not be the last.
There are several controversial aspects that inherently surround such sites. Would it be a better idea not to separate Christians into their own social networks? (YouTube vs. GodTube) Should they spend online time populating Facebook and MySpace missionally? Are kids too vulnerable to do this?
Additionally, what makes up a safe haven? Who monitors it and with what are the criteria for concluding it's "safe"? I noticed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Faithstream's partners list. Many mainstream Christians would challenge how safe this is for their kids. What do you think?
Hey Cynthia,
Very interesting…… I have mixed opinions on this. I don’t believe it is bad that there be an online place where people of faith can get together, in-fact I think thats great. However, yes we do need to be careful that we don’t isolate ourselves and become out of touch with the world in which we live. Living missionally needs to be our daily walk……. I ask these questions though, is Myspace or Facebook the place to do that effectively?? Are we loosing the intimacy of relationship when we engage only in online friendships??
Lucas – I don’t think many are thinking of online relationships only, more along the lines of additional or extended relationships.
It seems one challenge the Church is facing involves not becoming a “fortified subculture” (Sally Morgenthaler’s term here). Being in the world and not of it is a particular challenge to youth.
Hey all…
Well i would like to put my two cents in. I do like the idea of having a safe haven, but i know that there are ways even unsafe people can bypass these safeguards. I think no matter what the online community, parental monitoring is the only way to ensure that a teen is doing appropriate things online and not getting into things they should not be getting into. I am all for this new community. What a great opportunity for people to express themselves. However, i would not JUST be a part of this community to segregate themselves or an alternative for facebook/myspace. I would want to see students use it for a gathering place some of the time, for encouragement, Christian centered chats, blogs etc. I think any online community needs to reflect that of real life, and this could be a part of that!
I’m always a little concerned anytime we “Christianize” an idea. Some things it makes sense to make a Christian alternative (such as dating sites and music). But if you look at the purpose of social networking sites such as Facebook/Myspace it is all about staying in touch with and making new friends. There are lots of reasons why it could be better for that to only occur in a “safe” place. But as mentioned in the post, what some define as safe, others won’t. Ultimately though I think it comes down to what your intentions are. I got myspace and ultimately facebook to be able to interact with my friends and to some degree to have another avenue for connecting with the kids in the student ministry and work with. We use these “secular” settings to connect and expose the youth’s broader network to our interaction and friendship (hopefully bringing them to church and Christ).
I may be rambling a bit, but I think this debate is similar to the one between Christian and Public schools. I would also agree that parents need to be a part of a child’s Internet experience and that the biggest downfall of myspace is the almost pornographic ads and constant spamming.