ChristiaNet.com (http://www.christianet.com), the world's largest Christian portal with twelve million monthly page loads, conducted a recent survey, asking 161 participants, "What penpal features do you like the best." Having a one-on-one communication tool is attractive to many readers. One participant said, "I like all the features on ChristiaNet. It is a great place to meet fellow Christians. I like the clean environment." Many people like the feature of being able to add friends to a list and email them easily. For those who don't receive many messages Bill Cooper, President of ChristiaNet suggests, "Sometimes members need to start making friends by emailing other members first." (http://www.christianet.com/christianpenpals/)
An enjoyable feature mentioned by participants is the ability to see someone's picture. Reading profile's of other members is very intriguing and helps to provide something to jump start communications with making friends. One member said, "The birthdays for the day, gives me opportunities to communicate with lots of people." The ecards are another favorite feature cited by ChristiaNet members. There are many constructive ways to use penpal features to build social networks.
One excited reader thinks that it is fun to communicate with others online because it is an opportunity to get to know people from different cultures and share God's faithfulness. It is also a great way to receive support from others through sharing and asking for prayer. One participant feels that making new friends online is great but having a feature to block certain members from social networks can be very useful. Unfortunately some people try to use penpal sites for scamming. To avoid this type of interaction, read a person's profile very carefully before initiating contact.
Some of the favorite things that were mentioned by respondents were the prayer room, the Bible quizzes, easy to use email, and because it is free. One Believer likes the capability of making friends and extending social networks beyond a local area. A common response from readers is the enrichment of using penpal features to develop friendships that lead to edification through confession and prayer. One person loves online communicating to share God's faithfulness. This survey shows that many Believers feel that their lives are enriched through using online penpal features. For more information, visit: http://www.christianet.com/articles/
About ChristiaNet
ChristiaNet.com (http://www.christianet.com), the world's largest Christian portal with twelve million monthly page loads, receives around one million visitors per month and has 400,000 email subscribers who have access to an online shopping mall, job bank, Biblical and life application resources, free ecards, Christian blogs and friendship communities.
