Using social media to the glory of God is an issue exercising many Christians around the world today. Some Christians choose to use 
Facebook, others are put off by the ease with which unhelpful and ungodly posts, photos and videos can creep into their newsfeed. However, a group of evangelical Christians in Brazil have come up with another alternative – Facegloria – a Christian equivalent of Facebook.
It is estimated that 42 million of Brazil’s population of 202 million are evangelical Christians, and the Gospel continues to spread into communities that were previously nominally Catholic.
Facegloria, which drew in 100,000 users within its first month, was set up by web designer, Atilla Barros and three Christian colleagues, all working for the mayor’s office in Ferraz de Vasconcelos, near to Brazil’s financial capital of Sao Paolo. Their start-up fund was $16,000, some o
f which came from the mayor’s own pocket, and much of the work in developing and monitoring the site is being done by volunteers whose aim is to see all evangelical Brazilians switching from Facebook to Facegloria. Swearing is banned, as are any photos or videos with violent or erotic content. Volunteer staff monitor posts for content, but thus far, the site’s users are not challenging the rules.
According to the mayor of Ferraz de Vasconcelos, Acir dos Santos, the aim is to take the Facegloria concept global. They have bought the Faceglory domain in English and a number of other languages, and intent to launch a worldwide challenge to the social media domination of Facebook and Twitter.
(source: The Daily Telegraph and AFP)