« Previous post
Next post »

April 5, 2007

Well, Now We Have GodTube

Michael Arrington

76 comments »

We wrote about the YouTube clones for pornography, so to even out our karma level we need to mention GodTube, a YouTube like Flash video sharing site focusing on using “technology to connect Christians for the purpose of encouraging and advancing the Gospel worldwide.” So when they say God, they specifically mean Jesus Christ and Christianity and not just any God that someone might believe in.

Don’t try to upload non-Christian video to the site. GodTube relies on the “vigilance” of members to quickly flag inappropriate content. That, combined with their “proprietary technology” helps them enforce their community standards.

I think niche social networks and other services like this are great - it gives people who share beliefs and lifestyles a place to hang out. I think JesusTube would have been a better name choice, though, given that this is restricted to the Christian God. See also a discussion of MyChurch, a “Facebook for Christians” on the TechCrunch Forums.

Lovely video below that uses a banana to prove the existence of God.

Update: Well, there’s IslamTube as well, so not everyone is left out. Thanks DizzyThinks.

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 12:43 am and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Trackbacks/Pings (Trackback URL)

  1. Götzenbilder at web adventures

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:25 am

  2. Blogs4biz

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:32 am

  3. coRank

    April 5th, 2007 at 3:54 am

  4. Scott-O-Rama » The Banana: An Atheist’s Worst Nightmare?

    April 5th, 2007 at 5:47 am

  5. Velkommen til GodTube @ teknotum

    April 5th, 2007 at 6:57 am

  6. Matt: matts_blog

    April 5th, 2007 at 7:25 am


  7. April 5th, 2007 at 11:58 am

  8. College Marketing 4.0

    April 6th, 2007 at 2:05 am

  9. return to pearse

    April 6th, 2007 at 9:18 am

  10. TecnoPod

    April 7th, 2007 at 10:29 am

  11. existenzminimum.net

    April 10th, 2007 at 12:10 pm

  12. God 2.0 Online This Easter

    March 21st, 2008 at 6:27 am

  13. Rajd.info » Blog Archive » God 2.0 Online This Easter

    March 23rd, 2008 at 8:29 am

  14. Terbaik.Net » Blog Archive » God 2.0 Online This Easter

    March 24th, 2008 at 12:04 am

  15. Terbaik.Net » Blog Archive » God 2.0 Online This Easter

    March 24th, 2008 at 12:04 am

Comments

RSS feed for comments on this post.

  1. Geoffrey

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:47 am

    There is no such thing as God, but a god-dammed hell of a lot of ways to make money off of people who do!

  2. Search Engine WEB

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:53 am

    http://www.godtube.com/view_vi.....45a912eeaf

    Their ‘Christian’ version of the MAC vrs PC parody will be a global winner with all Geeks regardless of faith :-D

    It is probably these types of videos that will bring non relgious people to their site

  3. Aditi

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:54 am

    Just came across this Gospel Tube (http://www.gospeltube.com/), a christanity spreading/sharing (?) youtube derivative. People can see first hand accounts of great messages from people who care most about spreading the word of God or find videos that could be a blessing to someone who is going through difficult times. With all this, I wonder what next- Buddhism, Church of Scientology…?

  4. Aditi

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:57 am

    oopsie! Here’s the link again. :)

    http://www.gospeltube.com

  5. Geoffrey

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:59 am

    Someone going through difficult times is more likely to get support from TechCrunch than the Church of Scientology. Shit, did I say that? I’ll never work in this town again….I’m just kidding….Give me the stress test already!

  6. Razvan Antonescu

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:59 am

    Some time ago, here were presented some smart guys that had 2 dating sites. One (very) adult and one christian. I won’t be surprised too see that again in this case. Just look at how many money christian groups invest in propaganda and god marketing. It would be a shame to not get a piece of that pie :D

  7. Marshall Kirkpatrick

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:59 am

    I don’t know, I always think of monkeys when it comes to eating bananas. Sounds like great natural selection or whatever, to me.

    By the way, has anyone seen if this one is up there yet?
    http://www.eveningservice.com/Video

  8. Pyo

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:05 am

    I am surprised not to see http://www.techChurch.com online, how to reach God through a popular blog :)

  9. nakke

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:07 am

    This blog is fun, god must’ve made it that way! Hallelujah.

  10. Geoffrey

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:10 am

    TechCrunch is irreducibly-complex. There is no way that this blog evolved. It clearly implies intelligent design from a divine creator! :)

  11. Yohay

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:29 am

    I just wonder how exactly do you “Broadcast HIM”?

  12. LOL

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:31 am

    A banana is proof of God’s existence because…

    1. It is easily held within the hand
    2. Has a tip which you can easily peel it back from
    3. Fits perfectly into your mouth.

    Extending their logic, I can think of something every male has that looks and has the characteristics of a banana…but is not a banana.

    I always knew God wanted us all to get BJs… thanks for the proof! :)

  13. Kyle

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:31 am

    If for some reason, you’d like to know within about 50 feet where the video takes place, you can click the link.

    http://maps.google.com/maps/ms.....&msa=0

  14. John Butler

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:31 am

    Lol, you gotta love their creationism v evolution ‘argument’.

    http://www.godtube.com/view_vi.....deed13799b

    If chewbacca is a wookie, you must acquit!

  15. Jonathan

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:38 am

    I’m getting a bit tired of all these youtube spin offs that basically infringe on trademarks like this. Sure, come up with your own site but use some originality with the name!

  16. Neil

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:51 am

    Hilarious. Wild bananas are filled with large, hard seeds, making them inedible. Dessert bananas have been bred selectively to eliminate the seeds, but that makes them infertile. They can therefore only reproduce by taking cuttings. To all intents and purposes, edible-banana trees are clones, genetically engineered by humans.

    So did The Creator design the banana for human consumption, or did humans design the banana for human consumption?

  17. steven

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:55 am

    since no one has pointed this out, i might as well…

    the man sitting on the right is none other than 80s sitcom star kirk cameron (of ‘growing pains’ fame): http://kirkcameron.com/

    here’s the religious “training course” he helps advertise:
    http://www.wayofthemaster.com/

  18. Ali

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:57 am

    So if someone were to just talk about God from any other religious point of view, and not the Prophet Jesus, the video would get flagged I assume?

    Stupid people!

  19. Ben Werdmuller

    April 5th, 2007 at 1:58 am

    I now await the imminent launch of god.alicio.us - or maybe the best URL for a Christian bookmarking site would be god.save.us?

  20. pr0xy k1ll3r

    April 5th, 2007 at 3:22 am

    *yawn* old stuff..

    Hey Mike, you been getting Chad Hurley’s Spam comment on all your posts?

  21. Nick

    April 5th, 2007 at 3:52 am

    they’re just preaching to the converted.

  22. Gerard McGarry

    April 5th, 2007 at 5:05 am

    Yup, I’m definitely wondering about BuddhaTube now…

  23. Disclose.tv

    April 5th, 2007 at 6:04 am

    The ones who want to know want is behind religion and other mysteries should visit http://www.disclose.tv - mystery and secret videos reveiled…

  24. grspec

    April 5th, 2007 at 6:07 am

    What I want to know is were is AtheistTube!!!!

  25. Dan Dickinson

    April 5th, 2007 at 6:28 am

    Wouldn’t calling your website “God Tube” qualify as taking the lord’s name in vain? Just askin’.

  26. Marshall Kirkpatrick

    April 5th, 2007 at 6:58 am

    See also http://zencast.tv

  27. Whats Funny!

    April 5th, 2007 at 7:19 am

    After watching this video……………you could use all the same arguments for a PENIS…yes thats right think about it! :)

    “it fits perfectively into (her) hand” … oh yes it does

  28. Classic @27

    April 5th, 2007 at 7:23 am

    hahah classic @27

    “pull the tab, the contents dont squirt in your face…………….how gracefully it fits into your hand, point at the top for ease of entry, just the right shape for the human mouth, its chewy & easy to digest and its even curved towards your face to make the process so much easier”

    hahahahhah fantastic! :) :)

  29. Cory

    April 5th, 2007 at 7:29 am

    Here is my perspective on this and a few points made in the comments, and I am a Christian…

    1) I for one am sick of Christian “marketing”. There is a mistaken notion in Christian culture that if we just do what is successful in secular culture (like copy YouTube with GodTube), we will be more relevant to non Christians and reach lost people for Christ. Christianity is first and foremost about relationships: the relationship each individual has with God through Christ, and the relationships people have with each other. I believe that people want genuine relationships and open and honest discussions about matters of faith, and sites like GodTube do nothing to foster that sort of thing.

    2) The name “GodTube” makes sense to me, but then again, I am a Christian. I believe there is one true God, so when I hear GodTube, I assume that it is talking about the God in which I believe. I can see, however, why that might be confusing or contentious to non Christians.

    3) It is remarkable to me, the level to which this site copies the interface of YouTube. I do not believe copyright and/or patent infringement honors God in any way.

    4) I find “Baby Got Bible” offensive because it is soooooo lame…
    http://www.godtube.com/view_vi.....0c99bff671

    5) This website does not represent all of Christianity. It represents a subset of Christian culture that clings to things simply because they have been given a Christian wrapper.

    6) All criticism aside, I would rather my kids surf GodTube than PornoTube. :)

    That’s my take on this. I’d be glad to answer any questions you might have, since I am very familiar with this sort of thing in the Christian community.

  30. Frederic

    April 5th, 2007 at 7:31 am

    There is some irony in the fact that GodTube.com runs on the same generic, out of the box ClipShare software as Islamtube.com (though IslamTube is down for the moment, you can still find it if you do a Google search).

  31. Cory

    April 5th, 2007 at 7:33 am

    I forgot to add…

    7) Hey Christians, why not just upload your videos to YouTube or MySpace videos? If you really want to reach non Christians, you need to go to where they hang out. Don’t just set up your own hangout and hope that they will come join you, because 99.9% of them will not.

  32. erick

    April 5th, 2007 at 8:34 am

    @grspec - AtheistTube? Mock Christians all the time?

    If you need a website that is built solely on the explicit ignoring an existence of a God then that would be a pretty obnoxious site.

  33. Jasn

    April 5th, 2007 at 8:55 am

    When a monkey eats a banana, it peels it from the opposite end, which is much easier I might add. Little known fact.

  34. Josh Williams

    April 5th, 2007 at 9:42 am

    Cory — Re: #7, you’re absolutely right. This fact is lost on so many so-called “christian” ventures.

  35. noseoguru

    April 5th, 2007 at 9:51 am

    I love this video. It shows how ignorant and easily manipulated people are. A fool and his money will part in no time and those who realize this get to become filthy rich.

  36. Tony

    April 5th, 2007 at 10:23 am

    Oh.. so that’s where Kirk Cameron has been for all these years.

  37. FunandGames

    April 5th, 2007 at 10:24 am

    Does anyone know about this site? Trying to figure it out.
    Thanks

  38. FunandGames

    April 5th, 2007 at 10:24 am

    Here is the link:
    screwtube.com

  39. Joe Suh (MyChurch)

    April 5th, 2007 at 10:44 am

    Mike,

    Thank you for mentioning MyChurch. If I may clarify, its really “Facebook for churches” as opposed to “Facebook for Christians”

    The difference lies in our objective. It may seem nuanced, but its pretty big for us.

    We’re trying to enhance the offline church community that meets face-to-face on Sundays. This is different from creating a generic virtual church or simply a hangout for Christians. We’re taking real church congregations and bridging their offline and online communities.

    I echo Cory’s comment (#29) above. Church is about community and relationships. And its not just about meeting for an hour on Sunday mornings. We want churches to BE church throughout the week. We make social networking tools that try to facilitate and foster that.

    Joe, MyChurch.org

  40. Alaska Miller

    April 5th, 2007 at 10:54 am

    A mashup of pornotube + godtube should offer up loads of fun.

  41. Paul Thompson

    April 5th, 2007 at 11:05 am

    @Michael Arrington - As a Christian, I have to thank you for posting such a polite report about GodTube. So many geek-oriented websites are often so unilaterally critical of anything Christian. A story like this makes a Christian geek happy to be a TechCrunch reader.

    So, again, thanks! :)

  42. Reno

    April 5th, 2007 at 11:16 am

    What would Jesus watch?

  43. Michael

    April 5th, 2007 at 11:23 am

    I love to read posts by geeks when it is something related to religion or politics..it brings out the immature kid in all of them. Grow up.

  44. Peter

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

    The name “GodTube” makes sense to me, but then again, I am a Christian. I believe there is one true God, so when I hear GodTube, I assume that it is talking about the God in which I believe. I can see, however, why that might be confusing or contentious to non Christians.

  45. grspec

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:08 pm

    erick: Atheisism isn’t about mocking Christians or religion its about believing in something, or more correctly our lack of belief in god. The fact that religious groups so often give us things to laugh at doesn’t mean thats all we do or that we can’t respect their right to be wrong.

  46. JP

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:23 pm

    If the banana proves the existance of a divine being, then what does the pineapple prove?

    it’s pointy and ugly and doesnt fit easily into the mouth… hmmm

    Secondly, I get annoyed with all the “me too” innovation. While it’s great that people use technology to connect, it all boils down to doing what others have done before.

  47. Melyssa

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:34 pm

    http://www.ujews.com/jewtube/therealjewtube.html

    JewTube….omg…Coming this summer.

    This is supposedly going to be a Facebook and YouTube mash-up…should be interesting!

    The beauty of the internet - Freedom of speech.

  48. Gerard

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:43 pm

    I bet none of you would make a comment about a Youtube clone for Islamist. For some reason, the buck always stops at Jesus bashing.

  49. Bronson Taylor

    April 5th, 2007 at 12:44 pm

    To see a site that promotes the academic side of Christianity in a very web 2.0 style you should go to: http://www.apollos.ws

  50. Jamie

    April 5th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

    Ahh, Web 2.0. There is just nothing like taking the symbol of the crucifixion of the Christian God (and the apparatus of death of countless others), slapping a gradient on it, and transforming it into the letter “t” to build your brand. Oh yes, we christians are savvy people. Have no doubt.

  51. Antik

    April 5th, 2007 at 3:11 pm

    It’s a way to advertise God especially on the Easter Eve… and make money :))

  52. Sam

    April 5th, 2007 at 3:20 pm

    “… this is restricted to the Christian God.” Bananas aside :), the beauty of Christianity is that it is such a stark contrast to contemporary culture (i.e. your belief is right for you), since its God claims to be the Only God, the Absolute Truth. For those who give any serious thought to the meaning of life, this really crystallizes the issues that need to be worked through.

    #46 gave me a chuckle: “Our belief is better than your belief!”

  53. Jason

    April 5th, 2007 at 3:54 pm

    LOL (coward) said:
    April 5th, 2007 at 1:31 am Extending their logic, I can think of something every male has that looks and has the characteristics of a banana…but is not a banana.

    I always knew God wanted us all to get BJs… thanks for the proof! :)

    Actually, some of us Christians would agree with you that is God’s intent! Check out http://www.iquestions.com/video/view/109 for a video on that topic at another “Christian” video community that answers tough questions dealing with marriage, family, divorce, finances, and a number of other tough topics. Lot of wisdom in there, even if you aren’t a Jesus follower.

    grspec said:
    April 5th, 2007 at 6:07 am
    What I want to know is were is AtheistTube!!!!

    I suppose my rude Christian answer would be: “In Hell!”

    Thought I would jump in on the fun and send some in the other direction. Not meaning to be flamebait here… but in my experience Christians tend to be clueless about some realities and Atheists tend to be angry about some realities.

  54. David Mackey

    April 5th, 2007 at 7:54 pm

    Interesting site. While I’m not big on the commercialization of Christianity, I also am not big on kids visiting MySpace/YouTube. So much of the content is very raunchy. So, sites like this could be a *somewhat* safe place. Not that I am advocating complete withdrawal from anything that has any objectionable material (impossible).

  55. Michael

    April 6th, 2007 at 7:51 am

    AtheistTube is everywhere…..thank God.

    Especially outside of USA traditional xian churches are losing ground to atheism and those scary people on TV that promise miracles by giving money. We can only hope that education will help save more people from making complete idiots of themselves. It just occurred to me now….that xians must feel very threatened…having to form these ghettolike communities.

  56. neil

    April 6th, 2007 at 9:02 am

    How dare you claim that GodTube is a rip-off of YouTube!

    GodTube CREATED YouTube and all the other similar video-sharing sites (several years after the scientific would show them to have been created) and controls all goings-on at these sites (including the huge financial success of YouTube, relative to GodTube)

  57. neil

    April 6th, 2007 at 9:05 am

    Oops… my comment above was supposed to say “..scientific evidence would show..”

    #11 (Yohay) hits the nail on the head: How exactly do you “Broadcast HIM” (a transcendent being who is allegedly omnipresent anyway.

  58. Shane

    April 6th, 2007 at 10:36 am

    “Given that this is restricted to the Christian God.”

    Therefore, God.

  59. Cory

    April 6th, 2007 at 11:02 am

    @Michael (#56) - I am a Christian, and I don’t feel threatened by people who do not share my beliefs. I feel sorry for them, but not threatened by them.

  60. DEAR UNEARTH TECHCRUNCH SUBHUMANS

    April 9th, 2007 at 8:10 pm

    Will you stop attacking God & Satan?

    We got global warming and iceberg is melting. Go blame the guys who invented hot smokey cars, oil tycoons, and CEO who go out golfing with golden parachute.

  61. Windows VPS Hosting

    April 24th, 2007 at 5:45 am

    GodTube is the perfect companion to XTube. God might hate you less if you upload a prayer.

« Previous post
Next post »