Keong Racun & Jesus is a Friend of Mine

I wanted to post this here because I am simply intrigued by what people really respond to on the internet nowadays. This simply video of two Indonesian teeny-boppers lip-syncing to a song about a poisonous snail has grabbed nearly 3 million views in just over a month. It really illustrates the power of Web 2.0, social media, etc.



And what is the effect. Well, I suppose it is an essentially trivial one. However, we may at least say that these two girls have endeared themselves to hundreds of thousands of people. Moreover, they've not hurt the popularity of the song - effectively making a locally known song an international hit.
Compare that with the infamous "Jesus is a Friend of Mine" (approaching 4 million hits on YouTube). In this case, another mega-viral video of a silly song. However, the effect has been basically negative from the perspective of God's Kingdom. The video inspires mockery of the performers, the song itself, and probably even of Jesus himself.



I guess in this I am just wondering if there is a way for followers of Christ to truly seize social media, Web 2.0, etc for the promotion of the Kingdom of God. I'm wondering how to call on young Christians especially to consider the fact that they have the potential for such tremendous impact (just ask Sinta and Jojo). To seek to utilize that potential fully for Christ's glory among the nations.
My generation is the one that has seen the internet develop from being essentially non-existent to what it is today -- all-consuming. It is easy for me to note the negatives. However, I doubt the Church has even begun to fully realize the potential. I can't quite put my finger on it myself, but I'm telling you -- Sinta and Jojo are on to something.

For more thoughts on this, I recommend checking out the Lausanne Advance Paper on Kingdom Stewardship that has a very helpful section on Web 2.0 and what it means for the global Church.