It is the biggest worldwide phenomenon of the century so far. • It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users. • Television took 13 years to reach 50 million users. • It took four years for the Internet to reach 50 million users. • In three years, the iPod reached 50 million users. • Facebook added 100 million users in less than nine months! • If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's fourth-largest.  • One in eight couples who married last year met online. • Wikipedia has over 13 million articles. 78% of them are non-English.1 If for no other reason, we should care about the Internet because most everyone else does. Think of social media like you think of a foreign language. Any missionary worth their salt learns the language of the people they serve. Social media is quickly becoming the vernacular of our people, a type of language across the planet. The borders of this language are not marked by cultural barriers but birth certificates. Social media is the native language of most everyone under the age of 20. Thirty-year olds speak it fluently. Forty-year olds can pick it up quickly. Fifty-year olds struggle to distinguish "dig" from "del.icio.us." Interestingly, 60-somethings tend to get it. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is 55-65 year-old women. No matter where you find yourself in life and ministry, get involved with people. If they're on-line then that's where we need to have a presence. It can be a disorienting, uncomfortable process, but Love learns the language. Be Salt and Light especially if that means being on-line. Where is First United Methodist Church engaged in building on-line community? www.fumcwilliamstown.org [First United Methodist Church Homepage] www.discover-hope.net [Outreach and Compassion Ministry] www.leapaheadkids.org [FUMC Learning Center] www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=70662106231 [FUMC Facebook Page] www.facebook.com/ihsyouth [FUMC Youth Facebook Page] steve4040.wordpress.com [Pastor Steve's Blog] discoverhope.wordpress.com [Pastor Steve's On-Line Bible Study]
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