{"id":4737,"date":"2011-07-25T20:40:28","date_gmt":"2011-07-26T00:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=4737"},"modified":"2011-07-30T23:18:23","modified_gmt":"2011-07-31T03:18:23","slug":"is-facebook-turning-into-faithbook-jesus-beats-harry-potter-justin-bieber-lady-gaga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/07\/is-facebook-turning-into-faithbook-jesus-beats-harry-potter-justin-bieber-lady-gaga","title":{"rendered":"Is Facebook turning into “Faith”book? Jesus beats Harry Potter, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ash Greyson<\/strong>
\nBeliefnet Managing Editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Move over Lady Gaga! Sorry, Justin Bieber! Nice try, Harry Potter! According to Allfacebook.com, a website that tracks Facebook traffic and interactions, six of the top 20 most engaging Facebook pages are related to faith.<\/p>\n

The new Harry Potter film just set the all-time record for weekend ticket sales, but in the week of its release, the film was still outpaced on Facebook by the pages \u201cJesus Daily\u201d and \u201cThe Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n

How could that be? Dr. Aaron Tabor, who posts Facebook\u2019s Jesus Daily says, \u201cPeople turn to God when they have problems in life, not Harry Potter’s fictional wand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pastor Mark Brown from Australia \u2013 who started posting daily Scripture readings on Facebook, calling his site simply \u201cThe Bible,\u201d says, \u201cFaith is personal, so it is a good fit with Facebook, plus with the state of the economy people I believe are reaching out to God for help.\u201d<\/p>\n

A surprise presence on Facebook is the prominent Evangelical leader Joyce Meyer \u2013 whose page just recently made it into the top 20. She says the explanation is simple:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people are looking for answers and encouragement, and really just want to hear from God. Faith-based social media, like Facebook, give them a way to connect with people who are looking for the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this non-threatening, interactive environment, they are encouraged and grow in their relationship with God. It\u2019s amazing how powerful a Scripture or brief, positive word can be in the middle of a busy day or during a hard time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another faith page with surprising popularity on Facebook is the Spanish-language \u201cDios Es Beuno!\u201d which means simply \u201cGod Is Good!\u201d Owner Hermes Carvajal explains its appeal simply:<\/p>\n

\u201cHuman beings like to build tabernacles of comfort around them.\u201d He says he started the Facebook page as an outreach — with no idea of how popular it would become.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just Christian-oriented pages that are doing well. Islam claims two of the top six spots. \u201cI\u2019m a Muslim & I\u2019m Proud\u201d has seen explosive growth of late and is on pace to overtake \u201cIloveAllaah,\u201d the other Islamic page on the list.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for \u201cIm a Muslim & Im Proud,\u201d explains, \u201cReligion plays an important role in everyone\u2019s life. Facebook pages are good to spread religious views.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Facebook has been known to arbitrarily take down pages that receive complaints, the owner of “Im a Muslim & Im Proud” says \u201cso far the content\/material we posted was never censored by Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part,\u201d he said, \u201cis to manage the comment sections. Sometime non-Muslims give a lot of anti-Islamic comments and abuse Muslims religious views.\u201d<\/p>\n

Censorship has been an issue for Australian Pastor Brown of \u201cThe Bible.\u201d He also hosts the page \u201cJesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is the most seasoned of the bunch, but even he has been shocked by the response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recall when the page was a couple of thousand members posting something like, ‘I have a bold vision to see this page with 1 million fans. What a statement that would make to the world! I invite you to share this page with your friends.\u2019\u201d recalls Brown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hopeful, but I remember thinking it was a wild vision! I worked the page very hard for a long time. For me, it was like caring for a baby. It needed constant attention. So although its size, how active it is and the speed at which it is growing blows me away, it was no accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked hard at it — and most importantly, God is good!<\/p>\n

Asked why he thinks six of the top 20 Facebook pages are faith-based, Brown observes:<\/p>\n

\u201cFacebook is a social network and the key word is ‘social’. It works best when people are personally involved, have a personal stake in the page or the theme\/brand of the page. Faith is personal, so it is a good fit with Facebook, which we see it the success of the faith-based pages.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus with the state of the economy, people — I believe — are reaching out to God for help. And God will provide!\u201d<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE to read entire article<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ash Greyson Beliefnet Managing Editor Move over Lady Gaga! Sorry, Justin Bieber! Nice try, Harry Potter! According to Allfacebook.com, a website that tracks Facebook traffic and interactions, six of the top 20 most engaging Facebook pages are related to faith. The new Harry Potter film just set the all-time record for weekend ticket sales,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[184,8,1],"tags":[149,1220,1083,320,1218,1219,1217],"class_list":["post-4737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","category-news","category-uncategorized","tag-facebook","tag-faithbook","tag-harry-potter","tag-joyce-meyer","tag-justin-bieber","tag-lady-gaga","tag-social-media"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Facebook turning into "Faith"book? 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