Social Networking For The Faithful

Subscribe to BusinessWeek

Anyone who wants to join Xianz, a Christian social network, needs to abide by a set of rules that read more Ten Commandments than terms of use. Rule No. 2, for instance, bars cursing and "derogatory words." The next one bans name-calling: "You may express your disagreement with someone's point-of-view, but personal attacks'are prohibited."



Compared with the relatively permissive atmosphere of such leading social networks as News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace, the ground rules make Xianz sound downright restrictive, liable to drive away many of the teenage and twentysomething audiences flocking to social networks these days.



On the contrary. Xianz is among a bevy of new religion-affiliated sites that are drawing the faithful from across the Web in growing numbers. Year-old Xianz, which bills itself as the faith-based MySpace, has grown to 500,000 unique visitors and has 35,000 registered members, says co-founder Bob Hutchins. Shmooze, a site catering to the global Jewish community and others interested in the Jewish faith and culture, and its affiliated social networks have 200,000 members, according to Chief Executive Reuven Koret. Naseeb, a social network focused on the Muslim community, has more than 300,000 registered members.



Kindler, Gentler Networks

The few hundred thousand members on any one religious network can't compare with MySpace's 100-million-plus members. But the proliferation of these sites, many with a few thousand to a few hundred thousand members, shows they're gaining traction. A Google (GOOG) search for "religious social networks" returns 48 million links and hundreds of sites. Many of the names are plays on MySpace or Friendster: Christianster, MyGodlyPlace, and Jewster.



And for many members, part of the appeal of these online communities is that they're a sort of anti-MySpace, with stringent rules on out-of-bounds behavior. Allison Boyle, 18, has both a MySpace page and a Xianz page. But she prefers meeting new people on Xianz because she says MySpace lacks appropriate boundaries. "The people on MySpace seem drawn to the fact that explicit things are not off-limits," she says in a chat room conversation with a reporter. "A certain percentage of MySpace guys have a half-naked girl as a backdrop'or they curse nonstop and talk about things that could be considered pornographic."



Xianz's Hutchins, a faith-based marketing veteran, says that he saw an increasing need for religious sites--and their stricter codes of conduct--as well-known social networks grew bigger and pushed out the boundaries of acceptable behavior. "There were a lot of issues with some other online social networks," says Hutchins, adding that he and his partner thought "what if we could provide a safe environment where people didn't have to worry about those things?"



Avoiding Sexual Predators

Such "things" include reports of sexually predatory behavior toward minors. On May 14, attorneys general from eight states sent a letter to MySpace pushing the company to do more to keep predators from the site. The prosecutors said an investigation turned up thousands of known sexual predators on MySpace and asked MySpace to hand over information on the users. MySpace said it is prohibited by law from turning over the information, but that it has recently implemented software dedicated to identifying and removing predators from online communities [see BusinessWeek, 4/23/07, "The Marshal of MySpace"].



Of course Xianz and other religious networks can't guarantee sexual predators, pedophiles, and con artists won't try to exploit their sites. However, they believe the religious affiliation and the tone it sets for user interaction can be a deterrent. Xianz even appoints monitors who notify staff of inappropriate content and members whose behavior doesn't jibe with the rules. Dreamwebspace.com, a network developed by Christian game maker Left Behind Games (LFBG), has "live monitoring" and profanity filters it says let it weed out inappropriate material.







However safe the religious sites may be, some critics say they can give users a false sense of security and can't shield kids from the untamed World Wide Web just a few keystrokes away. Greg Horton, a former evangelical pastor from Oklahoma who now writes for Christian publications, lets his 12-year-old daughter use MySpace. He reckons that she'll eventually stumble on the inappropriate content permeating the Web anyway. He would rather help her navigate it with her own moral compass and learn how to protect herself from miscreants. "I understand the parental desire to protect children, but I think it is misdirected," he says. "The proliferation of wireless service and Internet connections at any place has made it virtually impossible for a parent to restrict their child's Internet usage."



How best to handle kids' participation in social networks is the subject of spirited debate on religious sites. Horton's blog, "the parish," includes a discussion of whether MySpace is worse than on the Christian chat rooms on Yahoo! (YHOO). But other blogs describe MySpace and other social networks as "unclean" places. Wayoflife.org, a self-described Fundamental Baptist blog, says MySpace and other social networks have an anything-goes atmosphere that glorifies bad behavior. One commenter, who identified himself as a researcher for Christian ministries, wrote, "Warn your readers strongly because what I have seen is a spiritual death trap to those who a[re] new in the Lord, teenagers who are easily impressionable, and the undiscerning."



Finding Common Ground

Of course, many people who choose religious social networks aren't in it for safety. They'd simply rather socialize with like-minded people. "One of the most important factors [for competing social networks] is that MySpace is too big and too wild," says Shmooze's Koret. "There is something special about being in a place where you can at least have a comfort level, where people share certain values or a certain heritage."



Shmooze, Yiddish for a heart-to-heart or casual chat, lets users do many of the things general social networks do. Members can post pictures, create groups, build blogs and discussion boards, and amass friends. In some ways, the move to religious social networks is part of a larger trend toward niche social networks [see BusinessWeek, 3/14/07, "Social Networking Goes Niche"]. Some people, particularly after they move from college to the work world, seek more intimate networks where they can keep in touch with smaller groups of friends or meet new people in the same profession or who share their interest in a particular hobby.



Religious social networks are additionally appealing for older people who are seeking not just to date around, but to settle down. Koret says he sees people on the site who want to find others who share their religion because they eventually want to start families and raise them in that tradition. "When people are finished with college and settling down, the issues of Jewish identity'that maybe weren't so important in an earlier part of your life, are more important," Koret says.



A Faith-Based Mating Ritual

Naseeb.com proudly highlights stories of Muslims who found each other on the network and later married [naseeb means destiny in Arabic and other languages]. "I saw the woman of my dreams," writes Pedro, a Muslim man from Fresno, Calif., who joined Naseeb to meet a future wife who shared his religious values. "Without Naseeb, we would never have found each other." Such sites have become particularly important for some Muslims whose beliefs bar dating around.



Some religious social networks are even more explicit when it comes to their role in dating. Koolanoo, a social network for the Jewish community, is known for an ad, posted on YouTube, featuring an attractive, blond bikini model who loses her top after diving in a pool. The model is "saved" from exposure when a guy, noticing that both he and the woman are wearing a necklace with the Star of David, jumps in to "help" cover her up.



Though all the religious networks hope to appeal to a particular faith community, the degree to which they emphasize religious morals can differ greatly. Koolanoo's sexually suggestive ad wouldn't make it on Xianz, while the Xianz discussion board on cars might not fly on sites focused more exclusively on religious beliefs.



What the sites have in common, though, is that their appeal isn't making friends through friends of friends--the name of the game on many traditional networks. It's making friends through shared values. "It's for people of faith who want to meet other people of the same lifestyle," says Hutchins.