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I am reading a lot of reports that show myspace as having more subscribers, but that Facebook is fast becoming the social network of choice. I think a lot of this coincides with the emergence of web 2.0 as Facebook fits within the parameters of web 2.0 much better than Myspace.

For me, they are vastly different forums and they each serve separate purposes:

Facebook-

• clean and consistent feel so no surprises
• consistency leads to a generic sense of place with no real individualistic identity
• allows one to get info quick and run off to the next task
• better suited for networking with others than facilitating relationship building
• links very seamlessly with blogs such as blogger, typepad, etc.
• for whatever reason it has gained more respect and credibility from adults (adults are more inclined to link to a facebook profile page rather a myspace profile page
• can’t send links to friends advertising your facebook (friends need to search for your name and then have to be accepted by you before they can see your full page)

Myspace-

• very personalized - lots of creative freedom for background images, different layouts, fonts, etc.
• blogs and categories used by many that don’t want to maintain a blog and social networking account separately. includes notifications to friends on myspace of new posts and encourages feedback.
• more standardized for chatting and messaging. intended to be an experience and to allow us to live life connected with others though photos, bulletins, blog, im, polls/surveys, etc.
• can be used for advertising and promotion of events since direct URL access is available (i.e. www.myspace.com/mybirthdayparty)
• promotes a better sense of community because of the interaction

Because of certain relationships I have built in the past 3 years on myspace, I still maintain a blog and engage some agnostic and atheist friends in discussions. I say hello and offer encouragement to people around the world and they do the same for me. However, I found that over the course of this year I have spent much less time trying to stand and be technologically creative and captivating on myspace. I went back to the generic profile with a white background. In essence, my myspace profile is beginning to look similar to my facebook profile.

Facebook can be quite distracting to me at times with all the applications that can be added. I’ve been able to do away with most of those things. I’ve linked my facebook profile to this blog and have been networked to people though it. There is no myspace badge which allows that. I’ve noticed too that most pastors my age or younger are promoting their Facebook profiles so this allows me to network with other people that are planting churches or considering planting churches. That has been interesting for me However, I still find way less interaction with people through Facebook. It seems very informational and not so much relational. In a fast-paced world this makes sense and its simplicity is appreciated. It just seems a little impersonal.

So, in conclusion, I utilize Facebook to network with people and get glimpses of their daily lives and thoughts and they do the same towards me. I send updates and photos from my cell phone. I even just added a Facebook toolbar to Firefox so I can share my browsing experience with my Facebook network. Facebook is a great tool for this aspect of social networking. However, I still believe that there is a place for Myspace and the relationships that I can maintain and the new ones I can create through the more personal interaction through its way of social networking. I don’t think either will consolidate things to replace the other with one social networking platform that is the king of internet interaction. So for now, I’ll maintain the blog and Myspace and Facebook.

Anything you’d add to this or care to comment on?

I feel as if God spoke to me through a blog today. Sounds crazy, right? However, think about this. If God created everything and gave us the ability to utilize tremendous resources in the 21st century, why wouldn’t God use the internet to communicate to his people?

I follow several blogs that help challenge and stretch me as a leader. Today it was a post in Dave Ferguson’s blog that helped me regain a little more focus. Dave’s post was titled, “5 Leadership Lessons it Took A Long Time to Learn.” What do I want to take away from a blog post like that? Simple! I want to learn from Dave today before we even have our official launch service for Revolution Church Sacramento rather than learn way down the road after making unnecessary mistakes.

While sorting through some things in prayer last week, one of the things that weighed heavy on my mind was the issue of finances and how we are behind schedule in raising financial support for our church plant. I was trying to determine what negative impact this would have on our start. However, Dave clarified this for me in lesson #2 from his blog post, which is “Money Always Follows Vision.” As I feel pretty confident that God wants to do a new thing here in Sacramento that gets Christians (and non-Christians) into the community to display Christ’s love for those that need it I believe that God will make a way to fund this vision and I should just be faithful to the vision and not put my faith in money.

As a leader I will be the first to admit that I am not an expert. As much experience as I have in secular, corporate leadership I cannot claim leading a church of thousands on my resume as Pastor Dave Ferguson has done with Community Christian Church. Therefore, I choose to humble myself when possible to learn from experienced lead pastors like Dave Ferguson and seek God to find out how and when those lessons and principles can be applied into the ministry here in Sacramento. So, a big thanks to God for giving us the internet and thanks to Dave Ferguson and other pastors like him that take the time to share their valuable insight on their blogs in the hopes that it helps others like me avoid some of their mistakes