In October 2005 the first annual GodBlogCon conference (now called the Christian Web Conference) was held at Biola University, a gathering for Christian bloggers and other participants various forms of new media ministry. Out of that conference came a book, The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging and Podcasting for Christ. The book, which is edited by John Mark Reynolds and Roger Overton, contains chapters contributed by a number of different bloggers.
The topics covered range from how to start a blog, audio podcast or video podcast, to blogging on particular topics such as theology, apologetics, academic subjects, politics, bioethics and social justice. Chapters I found of particular interest included David Wayne’s chapter on theological blogging, Fred Sanders’s chapter on academics and new media, Jason Baker’s chapter on virtual classrooms, and Stephen Shields’s chapter on social justice, social relief and new media.
I usually try to avoid books which contain chapters contributed by different authors because I tend to get bogged down by the variability of content and themes within the book. This book was no exception, and it took me a long time to get through it. Although I am very interested in blogging and vlogging, most of the content failed to capture my imagination. I found Brian Bailey’s The Blogging Church much more helpful.