Main Page

From Youth Social Networking in Muslim Communities

Working Meeting on young people in Muslim communities and social networking

Berkman Center for Internet and Society / July 13, 2007

The Final Report for this workshop can be found by clicking on the link

Purpose:

The purpose of this workshop is to bring people together to discuss how young people in Muslim communities are using the Internet and whether there are untapped or underdeveloped opportunities to create innovative services--such as social networks--to facilitate new connections and forms of on-line exploration. The interdisciplinary group that is convened here today includes Imams and other experts on Muslim communities, business people, government representatives, and academics who study computing, social networks and how young people use them.

Background:

The Internet is the fastest growing source of information as well as a primary forum for social connection for young people around the world. Religiously curious young people in Muslim communities from around the world – from Europe to the Middle East to Africa -- have already begun to explore Islam in this digital arena through various means, including chat rooms, blogs, religiously-oriented websites and other social networking tools .

However, despite the growing appeal of the Internet, there still does not exist an interactive, popular, and forward-leaning forum for religiously curious young people to explore Islam. As young people navigate their relationships and attempt to balance the issues of identity and culture that are central to the way that they see themselves, they are seeking authentic answers to challenging questions about religious mores and beliefs--often from peers, family members, or other role models. Our mission is to discuss what kind of tools, resources, and people could be involved in creating an online forum for this type of interaction and conversation. The goal is to construct an actionable model that might be useful for someone developing this kind of social networking tool.

Overarching Questions:

Does it make sense to envision a "one stop shop" of ideas for young people who are curious about their religion, want to be modern and understand Islam, and would like to connect to others asking the same questions? How are young people currently working within and communicating in this space? What kind of tools and services already exist to meet this need? Are there attributes that make them particularly effective? If they do not exist, how can this type of forum or service be created? What form would it take and how could it be sustained?

Working Group Questions

Group 1

Is there a market for a social network of this kind?
- Is there a need for this type of service or forum?
- Which models or networks of this kind already exist? Which elements make them successful? Which attributes might be lacking?
- Who is the target audience? How could this community be developed? How is this community different?
- Notes from Working Group 1

Group 2

What kind of functionality should be in the development plan?
- Technical aspects: what form would this service take (i.e. would it look like Facebook? Second Life?)
- How would people connect—through friends, links, events?
- What technological elements could enhance the level of discussion or facilitate diverse interaction and community-building?
- Notes from Working Group 2

Group 3

What might a sustainable business model look like?
- Is there a traditional venture capital-fundable business in this area?
- What type and amount of funding would be needed in order to create a self-sustaining enterprise?
- Could it be funded through subscription? Commercial advertising?
- How could this service be effectively marketed to young people?
- Notes from Working Group 3

Group 4

What kind of a team is needed?
- What types of people would be involved (technologists, business people, Imams)?
- What organizations, university groups, foundations, etc. would be interested in contributing to this type of process? Academics? Religious Leaders? Youth organizations? Social entrepreneurs?
- Are there existing communities in this space that can be tapped into?
- How can this team be built, if in fact there’s a promising model here?
- Notes for Working Group 4

Resources

Links to articles online

Demographic background of Muslims in the US

Fostering Civic Engagement By Building a Virtual City
- This article focuses on the design and use of networked technologies to create learning environments to foster youth civic engagement. It describes and explores the Zora three-dimensional multi-user environment, which engages children in the design of a virtual city and its social organization. Using Zora as a case study, this article demonstrates the potential of networked technologies to facilitate different aspects of young people's civic development, including both their participation in civic discourse and action

The role of new technologies to foster positive youth development
- This article examines technological tools and networking programs that connect youth with one another. In particular, it centers on programs that promote positive youth development by emphasizing the strengths and assets that young people may bring to an on-line forum.

Rabbi: exploring the inner world through stories
[1]
- This focuses on the author's development of a religiously-oriented conversational system that allows for students to examine religious values and meaning by interacting on-line.

Web Space Where Religion and Social Networking Meet
- This article examines religious-themed social networking technologies that create forums for discussion and interaction within and among faith-based communities.

Islam on the Internet: Part I: Building Islamic Communities Online - David Ardalan
- This NPR program from 2002 explores Muslim-oriented Websites and the notion that the Internet can be a powerful tool not only for allowing Muslims to connect with each other, but also an effective way to educate non-Muslims about the faith.
- This program is the first part of a three part series on the Intersection of Faith and Technology

Projects

The Berkman Center's Project on Digital Natives

Development Technologies Research Group at Tufts University

- The Technologies Research Group aims to understand how new technologies can play a positive role in children's development and learning. Their research involves three dimensions: theoretical contributions, design of new technologies and empirical work with populations to test and evaluate the theories and technologies that can support young people at various stages in their development. This address links to their website, where there are numerous articles that focus on social networking, on-line programs designed to enhance youth participation and civic engagement, and tools which allow youth to explore values related to identity, family and religion. We have included a sampling of three relevant articles, but there are numerous other examples available on the website.

Websites

Muslimyouth.net is a website providing guidance and support to Muslim youth in Britain. Features news, advice, counselling, and discussion forums.

Muslimspace.com is a Muslim version of MySpace, featuring 25,000 users primarily in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Naseeb.com is the world's largest Muslim social networking site, loosely based on Friendster, featuring over 700,000 registered members.

Mecca.com is a Muslim social networking site based in Amman, Jordan preparing for launch in the near future. Reportedly, Mecca.com will resemble Facebook.