Facebook, MyChurch.org, MySpace, Twitter, Web 2.0
What is going on with all the social networking sites?
Like the different divisions within the Protestant Reformation, some of the social networking identities are “throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” for the sake of “unity.”
Both MyChurch.org and MySpace have been making changes to be more like Facebook (or so it seems). Facebook is making changes to try and distance itself from the copy-cats (or so it seems). Then MyChurch.org goes and tries to copy the changes that Facebook is making (or so it seems).
MySpace has managed to implement some of Facebook’s features pretty well. I just hope they don’t go even further and try to copy facbook’s latest changes. This is what MyChurch.org is dong and it will probably backfire on them. I wonder, how many less people are logging onto Facebook since the new changes? The only time I log onto Facebook anymore is to check a post someone has left on my wall or to view my friends’ pictures. MyChurch.org is headed that direction. I find myself using MySpace more than I previously had been.
MyChurch had some neat things that set them apart from other social networking sites and these are some of the things they are getting throwing out. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
4marks.com, which is similar to Facebook, has not made the switch to the new Facebook format yet. Who knows, they may become my new social networking home. I do like their built-in poll feature. I stumbled upon 4marks a long time ago, but you had to pay a monthly fee to use many of its features. They have since opened it up and you can now use these features free of charge.
I would be interested to hear what features our readers like about their favorite social networking sites and what they dislike. Click here to take part in the discussion.
Below are some related links about Online Social Networking:
29 Sep 2008 Catholic Tech Tips
I have both myspace and facebook and use both to keep in touch with friends, some only use one or the other, but most have both too.
Have you heard of John654.com? It’s a new Catholic social network community. So far I’m giving it a shot and I like it.
I enjoy being able to listen to Catholic Talk radio they offer and if you are into Catholic music (which I admit I’m not) they have that option too. You can upload Catholic videos/pictures which is nice. I think the other Catholic sites offer the same things, but for whatever reason I like John654.
Out of all social network sites I prefer myspace. It is easier to navigate and it allows you to be more creative. I also love the new music feature they introduced last week.
Facebook is pretty blah and I don’t like the “new” facebook. Plus all the silly applications, which are now showing up on myspace, bug me. But I have an account because it seems more and more people over 30 prefer facebook.
What is going on with all the social networking sites?…
From MySpace to Facebook to MyChurch to 4marks…C-H-A-N-G-E! Perhaps Obama would be a better example than the Protestant Reformation ; )…
More people are discovering blogging, and I think ultimately the internet will reflect that. Wordpress is making moves to being a social networking platform.
Face it, why have a profile on Facebook.Myspace etc etc when you can accomplish the same thing with wordpress on your own site? Even Stblogs.com is a wordpress MU install I believe…
Thanks for posting that link. I had not heard of John654.com
Paul,
Most of the social networks have blog capabilities. In fact, MyChurch has a great blog structure. But one of the new changes they did was get rid of being able to subscribe to other bloggers’ blogs within the MyChurch community. You can still subscribe via rss feed though so at least they haven’t totally messed things up. I really like MyChurch, but they keep making these changes and it frustrates the heck out of me.
I agree that MySpace is horrible, which is another reason I like MyChurch so much!
You are correct in saying that StBlogs is Wordpress based. Blogs can’t be compared to social networks though. Blogs are just one piece of the puzzle of social networking. Just like Twitter once was by itself, but virtually every social networking site has implemented a similar feature. Hints why Ping.fm is so popular.
Look, all I’m asking is that these social networking sites ask themselves, “is this change necessary?” And even more importantly, “is it worth giving up one of our own unique features to be the same as one of the other social-sites?” I admit some changes are good, but I don’t get some of the recent changes that have been taking place among some of the social networking sites.
I guess I see social networking sites as a microcosm of the internet itself. Like remedial homepages.
The more focused they are, the more likely they are to be used for that purpose and allow people to do other things with their lives. LinkedIn is a great example. Or Facebook’s original intent.
But to try to be THE overall social network or being one of the 3 now for Catholics is only going to divide the client base and erode the genre as a whole.
You do bring up some points. People will eventually tire of all the new social-sites popping up (if they have not already done so) and ignore social networking altogether.
It is good to have Christian alternatives though, especially because of all the crap that is on the mainstream sites. PickAFig is a great example of a good Catholic alternative.
As always, thanks for your perspective : )
…Although sometimes we are blessed with new connections by way of sharing the information ;-)
Someone said recently that forums are outdated; I have to disagree – there are some purposes to which a forum works much better than a social networking site. Wikis, too have tremendous value in becoming a repository for information, better than a forum or social networking site.
To get caught up in one aspect of social sites and “Web 2.0″ is to get too caught up in one fad; to incessantly change to mimic the others caught up in the fad (as you observed these sites are doing in your post) is incredibly misguided.
[...] @ TechTipsforCatholicTeens put into words something that had been nagging at me for some time. It seems that social networking [...]
[...] @ TechTipsforCatholicTeens put into words something that had been nagging at me for some time. It seems that social networking [...]