ECBChurch.org 2.0
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Web 2.0 Upgrades at ECBChurch.org
ECBChurch on twitter.com/ecbchurch
In an effort to allow your visit to ecbchurch.org a more interactive experience and to keep up to date with relevant web technology, the website will be undergoing some minor and major updates to bring on a supporting and active social community. Some of these changes have already taken place, while some will be established in the months to come. The hope of the website is to allow easier access so that people will be able extend their social interaction with other ECBC members all seven days of the week, and to open dialogue for discussions and questions both about the faith, and events happening with our members.
In the last decade, ECBC has in one form or another had an online community presence with the popular internet media of the day. In 2002, the English congregation moved from sending email lists weekly, to establish a fruitful MSN community where members visited the group weekly to interact with contests and messageboards. In early 2005, programmer David Arndt helped to launch ECBC's first website which transformed into web forums integrated into various parts of the website. In April 2008, upon receiving responsibilities of the website on Arndt's departure to study in Vancouver, Lincoln Ho continued the digital transformation by reformatting the homepage to a more news oriented feel, bringing news of the English congregation to the forefront such as the process of hiring the English pastor, baby arrivals, baptisms and testimonies, and vision team presentations.
MSN Community in 2004
In the last few years, it has been nearly impossible to ignore public interaction with what are coined as web 2.0 technologies, which bring on a more personalized and social interaction with the internet. Blogger in 2004, Youtube in 2005 and Myspace in 2006 were the big pioneers of transforming the net from individual personal webpages like geocities, into easy to use and more visited interfaces. Facebook began its large-scale growth in Canada in early 2007, while Twitter really took in early 2009. Anyone going online simply cannot ignore the impact these sites have had in our lives, in pop-culture, in politics, and in religious organizations. Tangle.com, formerly Godtube, and other video media sites multiplied themselves by being able to interact with viewers, and allowing viewers to implement and share these interactions on their sites by embedding them on their blogs or linking them from their Facebook pages. Major news media outlets, governments, and public figures understand the impact of web 2.0 on their public presence and have included other sites like DIGG and del.icio.us as links to get their medium across. Churches are now starting to see the outreach potential with online media, and have started to go online with their first websites or Facebook groups.
With ECBCs English site, we're also moving ahead to keep up with our offline presence as relevant today with our online presence. Past experience with ealier sites like the MSN groups have given insight to the moderators of the ECBChurch.org site that consistent updates and visitor interaction are key to maintaining a flourishing online community. In turn, online communities help to bring a sense of belonging to participants, and also increase offline participation in various social events and gatherings. The only request of visitors nowadays is that the process of visiting a page and interacting is as easy as possible. In turn, the moderators in the past have established log-ins and usernames for safety and to allow that interaction to take place. ECBChurch's 2.0 transformation continues this by allowing less barriers between the user and the website by allowing existing interaction from other sites, and integrating with our own.
Children's Site
Current interactive presence on the English website includes a 'Share on Facebook' and 'Email this page' link at the bottom of every page. New interactions in the past year have included updates of the site via our Facebook 'fan page' as well as a Twitter widget following mentions of ECBChurch or Yegchurches. This week, the website began using Facebook Connect, a new stage in transformation by allowing new interaction directly on individual news event pages like this one through their own Facebook profile login, and bypassing the need to login to our existing PHPbb message forums. Allowing comment posts will encourage participation to the site and offer comment posters an opportunity to share on their own Facebook wall, with people they know, who may have never visited the website. Links to ECBCs website through Twitter bit.ly links have allowed a much more accurate representation of actual visits to the website which is not inflated by robot visits.
As a future vision, the designers are currently testing a method of allowing individual fellowship leaders to update their own events and pages through the same Facebook connect technology. This will also allow those moderators to control the comments or events posted on their own pages. In addition, there may also be opportunity to generate a new pulse to the forums through Facebook Connect and Twitter so visitors will be able to ask and answer questions, while sharing photos and videos of their experiences with the church community.
Questions with Lincoln Ho (Website Maintenance)
Facebook fan page allows visitors to post on its wall.
Q: Can I post on the Facebook fanpage wall about my fellowship events?
A: Yes! Anyone who is a fan can post on its wall. In fact you can post photos and videos of your events too. Think of the Facebook fan page as person on Facebook that you can share with.
Q: How does the Twitter feed on the website work? How come my tweets don't show up?
A: The Twitter widget on the website searches up by hashtag mentions on Twitter. Hashtags (the # sign) help to trend topics on Twitter and can be clicked on if a hashtag is present. For our feed, if you would like your Tweet on the website, put in #ecbchurch in your tweet and it will show up usually within the same minute. They expire off the feed after 10 days. ECBChurch is both a Twitter profile and a trending topic.
Q: What is #yegchurches or @yegchurches?
A: #yegchurches is a trend started by us in hopes of getting all the Christian churches and denominations on the same trend topic in Edmonton. Ideally, it would be a forum in which different churches can share their events like an Easter passion play, or special events on the topic. Events like #Breakforth or #rocktheriver are not specifically #ecbchurch related, so external events fit better under the #yegchurches feed, and benefit those outside our church as well. If #yegchurches gains popularity, we may phase it out of our website feed.
@yegchurches means that your tweet is directed or in response to the yegchurches profile. Yegchurches is both a Twitter profile and a trending topic.
Twitter widget in real time.
Q: Doesn't making the comments more easily accessible allow more spam or offensive postings?
A: No. Comment postings on any page send a notification to the moderators of the Facebook Connect comments. Comments posted should adhere to real life interaction with other members of the church in public. Offensive comments or spam postings will be deleted, usually within 24 hours. Reoffending users may be blacklisted after receiving warnings by moderators.
Q: What about safety?
A: Individuals already have privacy settings on each of their own individual Facebook profiles and Twitter profiles. Essentially, by using other technologies on our pages, it adheres to the responsibility of the user and their own internet use as if it were any other site on the internet. People should understand how the privacy settings of their own profiles work. Using real names and real profile photos on other webpages, including online churches, have actually increased benefits for the churches and allowed trust and transparency of participants as they are not simple usernames, but real people. Generally, when people see names and faces, the posts and comments reflect a stronger sense of respect than when the users are aliases or anonymous. As another option for those who still do not feel comfortable with this, users can post anonymously as well.
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