The recent Parliament Webinar, “Interfaith Social Media: Interfaith Leadership in the Digital World” with Frank Fredericks provoked many questions during the webinar. Frank has kindly taken time to answer many of the questions that we did not have time to answer during the webinar itself:

		Wednesday, May 9, 2012 10:00am U.S. Central Time

This webinar will explore how to think about social media.  Using the frameworks of Marshall McLuhan, marketing theory, and media hook, we will explore how to leverage these technologies tactically, to comprise an effective overall strategy in interfaith and religious work.  #socialinterfaith

Frank Fredericks is the founder of World Faith, Çöñár Records, and Co-Founder of Religious Freedom USA. After graduating from NYU, Frank worked in the music industry, managing artists such as Lady Gaga. In 2006, he founded World Faith. a youth-led interfaith organization active in ten countries. As an active blogger, Frank has contributed to the Huffington Post, Washington Post, and Sojourners. Frank has been interviewed on Good Morning America, NPR, New York Magazine, and various international media outlets, and is an IFYC Fellow Alumnus, Soliya Fellow, and YouthActionNet Fellow.

Frank also works as an independent Online Marketing and PR Consultant, consulting non-profits, corporations, foundations, recording artists, and political campaigns on web issues ranging from viral video and social networks to SEO and advertising. He resides in New York, New York, where he still performs as a professional musician with local artists.

Title: Interfaith Social Media:  Interfaith Leadership in the Digital World

Date: Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM CDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees:

Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees: Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/567335422

This webinar will be recorded and will be available on our website after the event.

Click here to see more webinars and recordings of previous webinars

by Omar Sacirbey
from the Washington Post

Jean Younis won’t be wearing an Easter bonnet at church this Sunday. Instead, the office manager at Bonita Valley Adventist Church in National City, Calif., will don an Islamic headscarf to support the family and friends of Shaima Alawadi, the Iraqi immigrant and mother of five who died March 24, three days after being beaten in her home in El Cajon, Calif.

“I do expect a reaction, but that’s the point. It needs to be discussed,” said Younis, 59, who predicted that most church members would be supportive or respectfully inquisitive.

She is one of many non-Muslim women to post photos of themselves wearing a headscarf on “One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi,” a recently created Facebook Page that had nearly 10,000 likes on Monday (April 2) and hundreds of photos. Others posting on the page have identified themselves as Catholics, Quakers, Mennonites, Jews, Pagans, and atheists.

Click here to read the full article

by Elizabeth Drescher
from Religion Dispatches

Over the past couple years, religionistas of all sorts have attempted to navigate a new media landscape in which old constructions of religious authority, identity, and practice are changing almost by the minute. This surely marks the beginning something of a Second Coming of religion in digitally-integrated form.

As we wait and watch this holiday season for, among other things, news of the much-anticipated Facebook IPO—perhaps the only miracle story compelling enough to capture our attention in these economic dark times—it seems worthwhile to take a look at some trends in social media (ordered pretty much as they came into my head) that are reshaping religion and spirituality:

Click here to read the full article

By Shahira Amin
From CNN

A group in Cairo is using a Facebook page to unite Egypt’s different religions at a local coffeehouse in the upper-class suburb of Maadi.

Over a cappuccino and a muffin, an orthodox Christian, a liberal Muslim and an ultra-conservative Islamist discuss their differing ideologies in the hopes of changing stereotypes.

They are known as the Salafyo Costa group, and they say one of their aims is to change the public perception of the Salafists, a puritanical branch of Islam that dictates only the followers of the prophet Mohammed practice the correct Islam. Salafists are often perceived as terrorists, the group says.

As Egyptians come to the end of the first round of voting in the country’s historic elections, Islamist parties appear headed for a decisive majority in the first freely elected parliament since the ouster of former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

So far, the Freedom and Justice Party operated by the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest and best-organized political movement, has won nearly 40% of the vote, followed by the ultraconservative Salafist parties with another 25%.

Click here to read the full article

by Lauren Santerre

Click here, copy-cut-paste, press the “like” button on Facebook. Chances are, you may know the reference for these short phrases. We have entered the technological revolution. Some of us have come along with angst, confusion and maybe even a bit of dread. Others of us choose to dive right in, so much so that we read every new article about the latest technology.

I probably fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, realizing that to avoid technology is impractical, while striving not to lose valuable face-to-face time with family and friends. Regardless of where we may fall along the spectrum of technological acceptance, the new age of social media and visual communication may be used for enhancing the world in which we live, work, and play. This, to be sure, includes interfaith work.

In addition to the power of connection, media images and stories have the power to teach us lessons. How many times has someone tried to explain a concept or idea, and you think to yourself, “Say what?” Perhaps frustrated or in his/her enthusiasm, the person draws you a picture or shows you an illustration and you say, “Oh I see.”

In an instant a picture or image can explain what it might take someone thirty or forty minutes to make clear. There is the old adage of “seeing is believing.” We get it when we see it. So, when we, as interfaith leaders, consider how to spread messages about cooperation, we need to remember both the power of connection and the power of education via social and technological media. We need to embrace the power of Facebook, Twitter, Email, YouTube and use that power for positive purposes. It is important, however, that we do not get so absorbed in the methodology that we forget the message and the people behind it.

At Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, the organization for which I work in Houston, Texas, we believe wholeheartedly in the mutual cooperation among people of faith to make our community and world a better place to live. One of the elements of our work is our youth program. Most recently, we convened our iFaith Youth Camp in late July.

In it, the campers spent 3 days learning about each other and many of the major world’s religions. We had more than 50 students from 9 faith traditions learning to work and serve together. One of our staff members, Iesa Galloway, was responsible for putting together the camp program with our youth council and came up with a fabulous idea: a way to engage with technology in order to impact the greater Houston community and interfaith movement as a whole.

The culminating activity of the camp was the filming and production of three 30-second PSA testimonials about the importance of interfaith work. We decided to use technology to get the students’ messages out to the public. Our friends at The Andulucia Center in Houston worked tirelessly with our students and in the production of the videos to bring their words and ideas to life. The videos will be broadcast on local TV stations beginning in August. We encourage people to vote on which video they like the best. These videos will give our youth a voice in the interfaith movement to be heard.

Remember the power of connection, tell your own story and embrace the wonder of technology.

Lauren Santerre is the Director of Interfaith Relations for the Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston

Bridging Babel: New Social Media and Interreligious Dialogue and Intercultural Understanding explores how social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube connect users with a culturally diverse audience, allowing for communication at an unprecedented level of speed and accessibility. This report was released by undergraduate fellows at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.

The undergraduate fellows conducted 39 in-depth interviews with scholars, religious and interfaith leaders and technology experts. They also conducted a survey at the 2009 World Parliament of Religions in Australia and online through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn social media outlets.

Michael Nelson, visiting professor of Internet studies in Georgetown’s communications, culture and technology program, served as faculty advisor on the project.

“Together we’re exploring a brand new field and creating the best available source of information on how – and how not to –use Web 2.0 tools like Facebook to bridge the barriers between people of different faiths,” Nelson said.

While the interviews showed a diverse range of opinions about how to use social media to foster interreligious dialogue, with some saying that only face-to-face dialogue is useful, the report notes that online interaction is the wave of the future.

“Interfaith understanding is about communication, and communication is increasingly about new social media,” notes center director Thomas Banchoff in the report. “If we want to support dialogue across religious divides on the world’s most pressing policy challenges, we need a better grasp of how technology connects people and mobilizes them for action.”

Click here to read the full article

Social Networks have become a major phenomenon this decade, picking up hundreds of millions of users around the world.  During the development of the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia, our planning Council has made use of a variety of social networks to spread the word about the importance of interreligious work.  Here’s how you can connect up:

• If you only join one online network, it should be PeaceNext.  Specially built for the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, PeaceNext is the premiere online site for the interreligious movement.  We’ve added over 500 members in the last week!  To join up for free, click here.
• There are also two Facebook entities associated with the Parliament.  Our Facebook Group was created specifically for the Melbourne Parliament and already includes more than 3500 members sharing photos, videos, conversation and more.  We also maintain a Facebook Fan Page for the Council with over 1000 members and access to our deep archives of photos and videos from prior events.  We have also recently created a Myspace Group.
• Last but not least, we invite you to Follow PWR2009 on Twitter for timely, spontaneous, and bite-sized updates on all things interreligious.

The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (CPWR) — the organization that administers our international Parliaments, Pre-Parliament Events, Partner Cities Network and more — has just launched a Facebook Fan Page.  The Page includes an interface with all of our YouTube and Flickr content, an RSS/Blog tab where you can read all of our blogs and Twitter posts, a discussion board, informative “Boxes,” a “Wall” for public bulletins and more.  We are happy to bring all of this information together in one location, and hope it will complement our home page as an introduction to the important interreligious work done at the Parliament.

Come on over, sign in to Facebook and become a fan: here!

With over 8000 participants from over 80 nations, you may wonder if any of your neighbors are attending the Melbourne Parliament. Fortunately, our Facebook Group offers a convenient Discussion Board where you can step in and introduce yourself.  Whether you’re from Canada or Cambodia or anywhere in between, feel free to speak up and make plans with other registrants from around the world.  The discussion can range from Pre-Parliament events to opportunities in Melbourne and beyond. To join the conversation, click here.