Atlanta Flood…Relief

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Atlanta Flood…Relief

Posted using ShareThis

This week my 9-month-old son, Malcolm, and I will be participating in two different conferences. I know what you're thinking, "Taking a 9-month-old to a conference? What's wrong with you?" Well, they're both webcasts so we'll both be participating from our living room!

One is called "The Nines" which begins tomorrow at 9:00 am (get it? 09-09-09 at 09:09). The list of church leaders speaking at this event is too long to list here, but trust me, it's a powerhouse group of people. How will so many speakers get a chance to speak? Easy. They each get 9 minutes, naturally! I believe registration is still open for this event, if you have time to participate in even a portion of it.

The other is called "The Forum" and is the result of a partnership between LifeChurch.tv, Southeastern University, and 316 Networks. It is a two-day webcast conference with talks from loads of leaders from ministries, new organizations, and businesses.

So be sure to follow me on Twitter and join the conversation if you're participating in either of these events.

Tonight I was out with some new friends talking about the virtues of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites when I said this sentence, "I have the feeling Twitter is here for the long run. I think it will really start to break big soon."

Booting up my computer I see this article pop up on Tech Crunch: Why Don't Teens Tweet? We Asked Over 10,000 of Them.

The article is good. You should definitely open it in another window and read it. But the conclusion of the articles is

-SPOILER ALERT!-

"Most teens don’t use Twitter because it doesn’t enable them to do anything they can’t already do elsewhere, which is the same reason most adults don’t use Twitter. It has nothing to do with any teen-specific concerns like texting plans or safety. It comes down to something more simple: delivering value beyond Facebook and MySpace — a competitive moat that Facebook is bridging one move at a time, from the Everyone button to the acquisition of FriendFeed to the centrality of the stream itself."

Which tells us that...

1. Twitter Does Not Offer Anything Sufficiently Unique

Immediately the thought came to mind, "How do people describe Twitter to the non-twitter user?" Almost universally I've heard, "It's like updating your Facebook status, but you only get 140 characters to do it."

And the crazy thing is, Twitter seems to be aware of this fact, as evidenced by the Twitter App on Facebook that lets you update your Facebook status via Twitter. So it's no longer "like" updating your Facebook status; it IS updating your Facebook status.

If the marketplace really views Twitter in this way, then as much as it pains me to say it as an avid Twitter evangelist, I'm afraid Twitter needs a course correction before it finds itself marooned on the shores of the ever-growing borders of Facebooklandia.

But if it becomes marooned like FriendFeed did, the Twitter bosses probably wouldn't mind too much considering Twitter would go for far more than the $50 million FriendFeed cost to Facebook.

2. Businesses ♥ Twitter... and are Confused by Facebook

You see, Facebook isn't all a bed of roses though. As far as I can tell Twitter has given brands something that Facebook has yet to deliver: a reliable means to connect businesses with their consumer base.

You might say, "But Facebook has pages!" To which I say, You're right, but the pages interface is weak and pages offer little means to connect with users without coming across as spammy.

Consider this:


Zappos
Twitter - 1.2 million followers
Facebook Page - 2,200 fans

Google
Twitter - 1.4 million followers
Facebook Page - 37,000 fans

Southwest Airlines
Twitter - 530,000 followers
Facebook Page - 76,000 fans

Twitter offers businesses a relatively easy means to connect with a passionate base and Facebook does not. If Facebook wants to put the death nail in Twitter it must become more business-friendly.

3. The Twitter Business Model Still Not Clear
Last year Facebook brought in $300 million in revenue, but Twitter has only recently developed a revenue stream and stands to post only $4 million profits. (By comparison, DigitalWorshiper.com has produced precisely $0 since Q1 2008.)

This does not indicate that Twitter lacks a bright future; it just means the future is not clear for Twitter yet and right now, Facebook is laying the financial smack-down.

So is Twitter on the ropes? Probably not yet, but I think Twitter will need more than five smooth stones to take down the Facebook Goliath.

I've always said that the greatest invention of my life will probably be the development of widespread wireless electricity. Imagine no more batteries (or constantly recharged batteries). Imagine your iPod never running out of juice. Imagine your laptop being truly wireless all the time.

Eric Giler, CEO of WiTricity may have the solution.



As for that "bundle of wires" beneath your desk; wireless electricity will really only get rid of about 3-5 of the wires (monitor, CPU, and peripherals), but the vision for mobile devices is brilliant!

My next big idea? Contact lenses with a HUD that gives you information on demand. Or even does something like this.

5. Create a Christian Alternative for Every Facet of Life

A long time ago, there were Christians in the world. Do not be alarmed! They were in the world, but they were not of the world. We modern Christians have learned the dangers of being of the world so well that we have taken ourselves out of the world completely. Let's run down the list shall we?

We work at Christian businesses,
watch Christian movies,
listen to Christian music,
hang out at Christian coffee shops,
go to a Christian mechanic,
shop at Christian stores,
eat at Christian restaurants (shout-out, Chick-fil-a!),
read Christian books,
wear Christian clothes,
only drink things Christians should drink,
only say words Christians should say,
have Christian friends,
work out at Christian gyms,
visit Christian websites,
listen to Christian podcasts,
show our kids Christian television (while we watch Lost),
attend Christian day cares (assuming your mother is a heathen and thus, works. (totally joking there.))
go to Christian schools (or for the truly pious, homeschool)
go to Christian colleges,
play in church sports leagues
go to Christian dances creative movement classes,

But there is one place that we have not been able to successfully Christianize, and I think you know where I'm going with this. Why do we have to commute every morning with the world? Isn't that a temptation to sin? I mean, how am I supposed to be Christlike when everyone is cutting me off in traffic? Can't they see my Christian bumper sticker and know that I'm really in a hurry because Jesus needs me to get somewhere soon no matter how many pedestrians have to be hospitalized? I'm on a mission from God!

That's why I propose Christian highways. It would be like the HOV lane, but instead of having to have another person in the car, you have to have at least 5 Christian bumper stickers and a minimum of 2 must make a joke about people going to hell.

I propose we call it the HOmM lane for "Heaven on my Mind." Or maybe the "Fastlane to the Father." That way we can be a witness to the lost people around us and never have to interact with them again!


This is part 5 of the 5 part series "5 Ways to Avoid Sharing the Gospel Ever Again." In order to dispel any confusion out there, these posts were satirical. I have nothing against any of the Christian cultural things we do, we just need to step outside the bubble sometimes when we're not on mission trip in a foreign country and notice that there is a dying world all around us.

I know what you're thinking, "He spent a month 'changing' the design only to land back right where he started?" Well, that's kind of the case, but I fixed some of the coding that was giving the template problems before and I kind of like this template the best of those that I've found, so I'm sticking with it.

Let me know if it ever freaks out and I'll try to stay on top of it.

(Image source - Flickr user Carlos.Guerrera)