Ministers on MySpace

MySpace may be on its way to being "yesterday" in the minds of teens (at least according to some in the media), but it's still pretty hot.

NewYork-based hitwise.com rated MySpace the No. 1 site for the week ending Nov. 11, accounting for about 5 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic.  Alexa.com, another ratings site, put it in the No. 3 spot among U.S. websites.  Either way, MySpace has more than 100 million accounts with a demographic that is dominated by teens and people in their 20s.

Opinions about MySpace vary, with some youth pastors seeing it as a helpful ministry tool and others loudly condemning it as the work of the devil.

Certainly, MySpace does have the potential to get kids in trouble...but they're not the only ones.  I recently did some consulting with a church in the southeast that has dismissed its youth minister over some postings (about the church and its leadership, among other things) on his personal MySpace page.

Today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune carries a story about how some youth pastors view the popular web site.  As for me, I don't have a MySpace page...I'll just stick to blogging about youth ministry.  Seems safer.

Comments

[Talia]

Dear cool youth pastor guy,
My name is Talia. I came across your blog and I just wanted to thank you for the work that you do with youth. I know that my youth pastor has been a huge part in my walk with Christ. So many times I take him for granted and don’t tell them how much they have influenced my life. I would imagine many of your students feel the same way…thanks for investing in their lives! Your really making a difference