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Cyber Missionaries: Why? How?

By Shawn Cohen

The digital communications revolution and what you can do about it.

They called space the final frontier. MySpace might be giving the exosphere a run for its money. In January, for instance, 38 million people visited the maze of webpages that comprise MySpace. That’s over a million unique visitors a day.

Additionally, YouTube is the website that allows users to upload personal videos to the world. It’s where a nobody can be a somebody at the click of a button. And they are becoming somebody—100 million videos are watched a day on YouTube and the average video gets about 20 comments. Talk about feedback—a blog I launched in January hasn’t garnered that many yet.

The Blogosphere

Speaking of blogs, recent statistics show that there are 92 million bloggers out there. Who knows how many blogs actually exist since one blogger often retains more than one outlet to broadcast his or her information.

Remember the Trent Lott debacle a few years back, when he praised Strom Thurmond at the late senator’s birthday party? Some say the bloggers are the ones who first made a stink about it—not the journalists who were interviewing Senator Lott. Bloggers are saying something—and people are listening. Even the media is listening, which borders on the miraculous.

Who Is Gen Y?

Everyone knows that websites like FaceBook and MySpace are most popular among teens and twentysomethings, often called “Generation Y,” or “Gen Y” for short. For some time now marketers have been all abuzz about how to sell products to Gen Y. According to the experts, authenticity is what means the most to this upcoming generation—they want to know that other people are the real deal. If there’s anything fake, they want nothing to do with it.

This penchant for authenticity explains the interest Gen Y has in YouTube and blogs—the videos and comments are from real people, just like them. They’re people who aren’t Hollywood picture perfect yet they’re talking in front of a webcam and posting it to the world. They must be worth listening to.

This is where you and I come in.

Take the Gospel Where They Are!

As believers in Jesus Christ we have a message worth listening to. But who’s paying attention to it? Most teens are skeptical of Christianity and few today see it as having a positive influence on society. Although these trends are saddening, they’re reality. Yet they can change.

The place of influence today may not be on a street corner anymore but it is at Facebook or Blogspot. Or YouTube, even though many of us would rather face a firing squad than record ourselves and post the video online.

Yet that’s what people are listening to. That’s what the next generation is listening to. More importantly, MySpace is influencing how they think and look at life. Communicate your message—but do it in a way that will grab their attention. If this is your desire, YouTube might be the place to start.

Shawn is a freelance communications consultant living in San Antonio, TX. Apart from writing, he devotes his time to urban ministry, fellowshipping with God and other believers, and visiting his niece in far away Pennsylvania.



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