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Will the marriage of church and Internet click?

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godtube.jpgWith 82 out of the 128 million Internet users in the country conducting spiritual or religious matters online combined with the declining number of young people going to church have inspired some evangelists and Internet entrepreneurs to spread the “Word” online.

GodTube.com, CrossRoadMinistries.com, and RentAPriest.com are some of the startup sites addressing this matter. The big question now is: will it click?

According to an interesting article from Pittsburgh Tribune–Review, some local parishioners and church authorities say it won’t. After all, the church is its people.

“The Muslim, the Jew, the Christian – all believe that God has revealed himself to the community. To believe in God or worship apart from the community is a deficient approach to faith. Me sitting behind a computer trying to appeal to my desire to know God can be – at least – dangerous,” said Rev. James Wehner, director of the St. Paul Seminary, in the news article.

On the other hand, some so-called non-traditional church authorities believe it is OK to use the Internet as the medium for they claim that “methods change but the message does not”.

Originally posted on September 10, 2007 @ 9:37 am

Superpages.com develops Restaurant Reviews application for Facebook

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idearc.jpgSuperpages.com, a services of Idearc Media Corp., took another step in providing local content within a trusted social networking environment by launching a Restaurant Reviews application for Facebook. The new application allows Facebook users to read restaurant reviews, write reviews and allows others to learn more about the users’ favorite restaurants.

“Both local search and social networking are hot, so it makes sense to combine the two,” said Robyn Rose, vice president of marketing for Superpages.com. “Superpages.com continues to connect circles of trusted individuals through robust local search capabilities. We are excited to enable Facebook users with access to Superpages.com restaurant reviews while they are engaged with their social network.”

Originally posted on September 7, 2007 @ 9:48 am

Warner Brothers to launch animated virtual world T-Works

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Joining the web2.0 scene is Warner Bros. Entertainment with its announcement of the new animated virtual world T-works that will come in spring 2008.

This initiative is to bring Warner Brother’s cartoon characters out of the television and movies and into the online community for fans of all ages. It will feature WB’s originally produced online series, games, customizable and personalized tools, comic books, consumer products, sitewide reward system, and more.

“T-Works fits perfectly with our overall digital strategy of creating original content online, as well as developing compelling consumer destinations,” said Bruce Rosenblum, President, Warner Bros. Television Group. “T-Works will not only provide a great collaborative opportunity for projects that bridge a number of divisions at the company, but it will also be an invaluable resource in developing and incubating properties that may transcend their online roots and live in other media.”

“T-Works will offer original entertainment content, social interaction and an intimacy with our beloved and iconic characters like never before in an environment that’s safe and appropriate for all ages,” said Lisa Judson, President, Warner Bros. Animation. “People have literally grown up with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, and we’re building an innovative, creative, cutting-edge home where people of all ages can interact and play with our characters in a compelling entertainment environment.”

Know more about T-Works from WB’s official press release here.

Originally posted on September 7, 2007 @ 5:54 am

Multiply.com raises $16.6 million

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Multiply.comSocial networking slash multi-media sharing site Multiply.com raises $16.6 million in its second round of funding, following its first round of $6 million more than three years ago when it was first launched.

With a slow start in 2003, this Florida-based startup slowly but steadily grew its market at the start of this year. Allowing users to share photos, videos, blogs, music, and other media with their network and with the rest of the world, Multiply was reported to get over 10 million unique visitors in August.

VentureBeat describes Multiply as a social network for 30-somethings, but from my end (being an avid user of the service myself), I can see a lot of young professionals and college students (early twenties) actively participating in the multiply scene. And now with this relatively large amount of VC funding, Multiply aims to expand their borders and enhance Multiply’s platform for better user experience.

Originally posted on September 7, 2007 @ 6:16 am