Shifting Digital Environments
The world is changing very quickly. Traditional social media no longer provides the stability and community it once did. This is only going to get worse.
The development of AI profiles and increasingly predatory algorithms poses a genuine threat to the hearts and minds of everyone who interacts with them. Their designers’ intentions are directly opposed to the contemplative life. They stir up the passions, influence our beliefs and actions, and harvest our attention for profit.
There is a genuine need for spiritual sanctuary in this kairos moment, so we are upgrading The Virtual Chapel to meet that need. Our new social media platform will provide sanctuary to anyone with an internet connection, free of charge as always.
Private social media services like the one we are using are typically better in every way, except for two major problems: they are expensive and disconnected from the rest of the world.
Our hope is to solve both problems with one idea.
Bringing like minded communities together into a single account will allow us to share the costs and ensure we do not become isolated silos at the same time.
In order to make these abstract concepts more relatable, we find it helpful to use the metaphor of an actual church building. The Virtual Chapel is renting a new church building and subletting spaces to other groups who are also looking for a workable social media alternative.
Think of it like renting out the church basement, kitchen and spare rooms, metaphorically speaking. Many local churches do this as a way to build community and help pay the bills at the same time. Just like a local country parish hosting an AA group in the basement – except we have an unlimited number of basements to share, creating an ecosystem of beautiful and inspiring content in a user friendly app or web browser.
Our community believes very strongly in the wisdom of collaboration and mutual support. Our intention is to lift up as many people as possible with this project. We are grateful so many others have already come forward to lift us up at the same time.
Getting Involved
If you resonate with this idea, you are welcome to sign up for free. It works a lot like Facebook, except there aren’t any ads, unwanted features, or fake profiles. It has interest groups, a customizable newsfeed for all your scrolling needs, and a built-in messenger. All you need to provide is an email address, and that is only to keep out bots and trolls (what a relief).
We’re doing a soft launch over the summer as some of the other communities set themselves up behind the scenes. I’m inviting all you lovely people on my email list to come and check things out before our hard launch in September. The more people posting and commenting the better! So if you want to help the cause without any financial contribution, you are invited to participate and respond to other people’s comments. I’m in there responding to people everyday, and would love the chance to connect with you as well!
Click HERE to get started!
If you are interested in hosting a space within our new network, now is a great time to get in on the ground floor! Join a supportive and collaborative network of online community leaders and content creators by signing up for one of the excellent deals we’re offering HERE.