Facebook is becoming noticeably 'cleaner', what with its ban of half-naked photos on the feed and policies on breast-feeding. It has even banned some classical art, which many say is not even as obscene as some celebrity selfies these days.
But Facegloria is a different story. The website, which originated from an evangelical church in Brazil, is literally church on social network. The user interface is very similar to the social media giant it is clearly based on. The rules and terms of use, however, spell stark differences.
Washington Post reports that members cannot use swear words on Facegloria. The feed is full of family pictures and albums of church events. Biblical memes and passages also crowd the Facegloria feed. If you hit like on Facebook, you give an "Amen"on Facegloria. Gospel music is also played on its side bars.
Web designer and one of Facegloria's founders, Atilla Barros, said that the idea of a cuss-free, nudeless, and non-violent social network appealed to Brazilian Christians. Social network in general, not just Facebook, is criticized for its purported propagation of wild millennial culture.
"We want to be morally and technically better than Facebook. We want all Brazilian Evangelicals to shift to Facegloria." Barros added. The site has over 600 banned words, and monitors who look into anything that violates Biblical principles. Apparently, hate posts are not welcome on the site, which does not allow members to speak ill of church leaders.
While the site is popular, attracting 100,000 members on its first month, it needs a lot of work and manpower to ensure that its rules are being followed. Some users troll the site, posting things like, "There is probably no God...". The posts have not been removed or responded to.
The site's terms on what's allowed and not allowed in Biblical standards also needs to be clarified. Will a picture of two same-sex friends embracing be banned? How about a status regarding marijuana? The site has yet to fully discuss specific terms of use.
Recently, evangelism has grown in Brazil, with over 40 million identifying as evangelical Christians. Barros said he hopes to have 10 million Facegloria users in two years. The Facegloria team is also looking into expanding its audience with the use of smartphones.
Amen to Facegloria?
