An Interesting Blog Post on Beliefnet the largest Religion and Spirituality online community
I found the demographics interesting especially the age range.
Second Life is beginning to attract a diverse cross-section of businesses and organizations, including banks, retailers, news organizations and non-profit groups.
Debra Mason, director of the Center for Religion and the Professions at MU, mentioned that the center has a presence on the virtual reality Web site.
Rebecca Phillips, vice president of social networking for Beliefnet, spoke about how social networking sites have changed religious communities. With 3 million users, Beliefnet is the largest religion and spirituality Web site in the country. Phillips said Beliefnet has a liberal definition of social networking.
“It’s not just about users connecting to other users, but users connecting to the content,” she said. “If you want to express yourself on a page, that’s social networking.”
Phillips said Beliefnet allows members to connect to people with similar beliefs using message boards, blogs and prayer circles. Prayer circles allow users to request prayers for loved ones or share their thoughts with people who have posted prayers.
“On Beliefnet, a lot of our users are lost socially,” she said. “They can find members of the same community. I’ve been astounded by the amount of real friendships that start on Beliefnet.”
Phillips also debunked some of the myths concerning social networking, particularly that all users are teenagers or young adults. She noted that the demographic of Beliefnet users is typically 30- to 50-year-old women.
Additional information:
Phillips also highlighted the active political discuss on the Beliefnet Community. She noted that some of the posts are heated opinions and not always in best taste. However, the Web site doesn’t have to do a lot of policing of offensive posts because the most dedicated users handle most situations within the online community.
Phillips said that some of the site’s members expressed concern over the recent acquisition of Beliefnet by News Corp, which incorporated the site into the Fox division. The site provided a forum for members to discuss their response to the acquisition.
