The Web Deacon has announced an exciting new feature to add value to its organizational web sites. Member Networking will enable church members, families and friends to communicate among themselves in a family-friendly environment that lets your group decide who and what becomes part of the service.

UPDATE: Member Networking is now a reality. Go here for more information.

So-called social networking sites have become enormously popular in recent years. They provide personal web sites and rapid communication among users, who can post news, messages, photos and other information freely. However, they have also raised concerns over content and child safety, rising to the level of congressional hearings in Winter and Spring 2006. Many of the sites offer little or no supervision for young participants, and parents cannot easily supervise their children's online communications.

Member Networking from The Web Deacon will provide most of the same tools, but it will enable the church or other organization to set the standards. Members will have age-appropriate permissions, and parents will have access to the sites of persons under an age set by the organization.

Naturally this comes at a price. Public social networking sites are generally free; they derive their income from advertising, much of which is of questionable value and questionable taste. The Web Deacon's member networking services will be inexpensive, but in order to operate without an advertising base they will not be free. The good news (you all remember The Good News) is that the church or organization can choose to control its own advertising or to work through TWD to use national advertising from a filtered source.

The details of this service will be available in Spring 2007. We hope to hear from you; early expressions of interest and suggestions for a great online experience will be appreciated while system design and configuration is in progress. Please Contact Us and tell us what you would like to see in a member networking system.

Finally, churches that pre-order the service will be grandfathered with current pricing, and we will give them a permanent discount of five percent below actual published fees in perpetuity. Ask your representative for more information.