I have to wonder if there is anything lost in translation?  Or ,  HOW MUCH is being lost (I think quite a bit gets lost,  and I also think there are SOME interesting EXTENSIONS/add-ons  to be found as well.  )  But this CNN piece (2 minutes and 44 seconds is in no way a “treatment”…it is a ,  like I say in the title,  a “novelty” piece;  a “clever twist”……but there are certainly many more sophisticated, complex questions to ask about the Face to face community that was always the image.  Question is,  where can online “augment” and where can it POSE as a “convenience” that requires very little of the participant.   I think that people can certainly get “into” many aspects of a shared online experience.   But when does the “observation” and “participation” get changed when comparing ftf embodied community and a “substitute” ONLINE one? 

I’m all for finding the ways to add-on and extend,  but I amwary of “replacement” which is talked about or hinted-at in the video clip (see link below)

Online churches are growing in popularity. HLN talks to one pastor about community and communion in cyberspace.

#/video/tech/2009/11/08/westhoven.online.church.cnn