There has been discussion about the value of MySpace or Facebook and whether Christians should avoid it, dive in, let their kids use it, etc.
Regardless of whether MySpace and Facebook are good for Christians to participate in, it is most important to note that the leaders we (at Campus Crusade for Christ) want to reach with the gospel are there. So we need to be there, too. To avoid this aspect of students’ world is to avoid our core duty to go and tell people about Jesus! One way CCCI is using Facebook to do this is by advertising EveryStudent.com on Facebook. Prior to the Facebook debacle last week, when they added “MiniFeeds” to each person’s profile, 80% of U.S. university students had a Facebook page and logged in about once a day. Advertising there is relatively inexpensive, but highly focused on our the people we want to visit EveryStudent.com.
Two weeks ago we developed a plan to draw 1 million visitors each month to EveryStudent.com for the next few months. Foundational to this plan was Facebook advertising. With students leaving Facebook in droves, our plan is now in jeopardy. Is this what spiritual sabotage looks like?
Or is this a unique opportunity God created?
Right now we are considering how to use Facebook’s disaster for the gospel’s good. Maybe we’ll run ads like this: “Facebook publishes all your secrets. God doesn’t.”
We also need to watch closely to see who emerges next as the university student social network of choice, assuming Facebook continues to implode.
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There’s been another response to the mini-feed mishap. Mark has given a humble apology and asked for forgiveness. There have even been a couple of “We forgive you, Mark” kind of groups formed. He sounds like a Christian.
He also just created a group where he’ll donate $10,000 to Habitat for Humanity.
Not sure of *where* you were thinking of “Facebook publishes all your secrets, God doesn’t”. Maybe a different type of ad that supports (rather than potentially alienates) Facebook might have better long-term mileage for us.
I also wasn’t aware of people leaving in droves. Most of the people we’re connected with would say, “where else would we go?”
Maybe something like: “Facebook connects us socially. God connects you spiritually.” or “Imagine if Facebook could let you connect to each other at a heart-level like God can? (then again, maybe that’s not such a good idea.)” or “Facebook allows you to make fast friends; God allows you to be real friends.” or “Instead of ‘Facebook’, what if there were ‘Heartbook’ ? or “Let Facebooks start your friendships. Let God deepen them.”
Okay, you get the idea…let’s set ourselves up for a longterm leveraging of Facebook.
Scott…