Jesse Rice

I greatly enjoyed reading this; it was thought provoking and yet entertaining as well. I loved the author's humorous and engaging style, and found his thoughts and analysis of social media, particularly Facebook, very helpful.
In the early chapters of the book I was sure I would give this five stars; I brought it back to four stars for two reasons. First, from what I can see, the book was published in 2009. Although much of what the author states in his book is as applicable now as it was show more then, the Facebook phenomenon has developed and become even more ubiquitous since that time. Even though less than ten years have passed since publication, in my opinion the publication of an updated version is warranted.
Second, the title of the book is misleading. Community is discussed in great detail, and as the author is a Christian, aspects of faith are mentioned. But I don't recall the word church even being used. There were not even references to community in the Christian context. This is fine in regards to the content of the book, however it turns the title into a misnomer. show less

I'm still firmly convinced that the impacts of the "digital revolution" on human identity & society are only now beginning to reveal themselves. Absolutely EVERYTHING from the arts to politics to religion to education are not simply "adapting" to these new technologies but are being fundamentally altered. It may even be more accurate to speak of digital "EVOLUTION" rather than "revolution." The impact of digital technology/media is certainly not my area of expertise...it's more of an ongoing show more curiosity.

Thus, a book like Rice's appeared to be "right down my alley," if you please; set to address the challenges of being the Church in a digital age. I think this book does two things remarkably well:
1) I think Rice addresses the alarmist trends that accompany all new technological breakthroughs; he does a good job dismantling the whole "Facebook is ruining humanity's ability to have meaningful relationships" argument.

2) The heart of Rice's argument is that social media platforms simply offer a DIFFERENT (which does not mean GOOD or BAD) way for humans to connect; it cannot and does not "replace" face-to-face association.

Overall, however, I was disappointed with the book's depth of analysis and the superficiality of the practical suggestions about how to effectively utilize the social capabilities digital media. I feel Rice spent too much time on illustrations of his points rather than their implications. Finally, there was almost no analysis of the missional role of the Church in the world of social media...rather than thinking about how the corporate Church can and should be a "presence" in the digital world, Rice focused exclusively on the role that Christian INDIVIDUALS should play in their personal worlds. Granted, it is important that Christians think about such issues, but, unwittingly, Rice has apparently "given in" to the hyper-individuality of the online world rather than speaking prophetically to it.

I suppose that my rating reflects not so much a flaw with this book as it reflects my very different expectations and interests (I WOULD say that the book's title is rather misleading). For a broad overview of the basic issues related to digital life in the 21st century, Rice is good place to turn. But for deep theological analysis of what this means to us as the Church...well...I'm still looking. show less

I couldn't figure out why this book was called The Church of facebook. It wasn't really about the Church. In fact I could have lived without the Christian references. It mostly felt like he threw them in just because he had to.

However this was an excellent book about facebook and how it is changing the way we relate to one another.

I enjoyed the stories at the beginning of each chapter, and how he related seemingly unrelated issues to facebook. Well done.

GREEN 9