As the Internet continues to grow and develop (I sometimes describe it like a child, the first decade of the Internet being somewhat of an infant/toddler phase and the last few years seeing a transition into more of a childhood phase – with many more phases to come) and on some levels mature, there are many exciting opportunities and advantages for the Church. One of these is the Social Networking space.

So, what is Social Networking and what's all the hype about? On the most basic level SN's are the network of connections between people. They exist all around you. You are involved in social networks: your neighbors, your family and at church (for example you know Jason who knows someone you don't, Clint - and Jason can introduce you to Clint). There are a number of internet sites and technologies (platforms) that try to assist with the organization, faciliatation and interaction of these connections (like Facebook, MySpace and MyChurch). See more on Wikipedia.

Social Networking platforms can be used many different ways, they can be more for entertainment in the case of MySpace (though there's lots of trash out there too) or more for productivity in the case of LinkedIn. Many millions are being invested in collaboration tools for group productivity (new social networking platforms, Googel Apps making a run at displacing Microsoft, BaseCamp for project management, Wiki's for knowledge repositories etc.) and this will benefit Churches and Christian organizations.

Areas of value-add for the church include:

• Community building - drawing people together and assisting interaction offering some interesting advantages for both the church (as a community of believers) and for members (of the local – and potentially global – church body).
• Communication - everything from a spontaneous lunch after church on Sunday (could be 2 friends, 10 small group members or the whole worship team) to official church announcements.
• Engagement - social networks are a great tool to chat-up a church work day and say "hey your going to be there, right?" to 500 people.

Social Networks are highly interactive - much more so than most church websites. As the space and technology continue to improve and mature, I anticipate many applications for Christian organizations.

To see some examples of how other groups are using social networking today, you can take a look at these links (free log in required):

• Mars Hill Church on Facebook
• United Method Church
• The Heights Baptist Church Young Professionals
• The Salvation Army on MyChurch.org
• The Intersection on Ning (started by my amazing wife)

In other posts we'll continue to discuss social networking as we explore the exciting areas that ministry and the Internet intersect.