Dotcoms Bust but Christian Websites Boom

The "dotcom boom became the dotcom bust" and many secular Web sites went out of business, but the popular Campus Crusade for Christ Web site continued to attract millions, according to the editor of a popular Christian apologetics Web site, LeaderU.com.

"Offering what visitors desired free of charge was the key," said Byron Barlowe, editor of LeaderU.com, whose website Web site traffic grew from three to eight million from 1998 to 2001.

The site, sponsored by the faculty ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ called Christian Leadership Ministries, served up a feast of scholarly, Christian information on such topics as science, religion, the meaning of life, social issues, popular culture, ministry tools and much more — all from a Judeo-Christian worldview.

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Barlowe says growth of "worthy sites" is guaranteed as the global population of Internet users increases. "People are always looking for meaty content."

Just 10 years ago the Web population was at a mere 20 million. Now, the community has grown to more than one billion users, according to The Economist.

Of those surfing the Web, the majority is sometimes looking for faith-based services, at least in North America. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, nearly two-thirds of online Americans use the Internet for faith-related reasons, representing nearly 82 million Americans in 2004.

In a different study, The Barna Group, reports that 40 million Americans on average use the Internet for faith-based services per month.

Barna, Pew, and others give varying figures on use of the Net for spiritual purposes, but such growth is neither surprising, nor in need of much proof, says Barlowe.

Mainstream American religion may be changing, in part due to the ease of accessibility created by the free-flowing information channel, the World Wide Web, according to Scripps Howard News Service, and "organized religion" may be in a recession, but those who are spiritually-seeking continue to increase.

LeaderU.com was among the first Christian sites that offered to fill the spiritual void in people and to answer their questions and objections to faith.

With a searchable collection of thousands of articles, reviews, research papers, essays, books & book chapters, commentaries, and poems by Christian scholars and thinkers, it is accessible by people all over the world.

"I think the Internet created level ground for the exchange of ideas. Suddenly millions more had the chance to see that smart, educated people who also believe in Christ have something worthwhile to say," Barlowe said.

From Jan to May 2005, LeaderU.com generated 9.2 million hits, 4.7 million pageviews and 2.3 million visits. Each visitor spends an average of 18 minutes, unusually long for a Web site.

In cooperation with CLM site, FacultyLinc.com, LeaderU hosts Virtual Faculty Offices for 87 professors. LeaderU has over 13,500 outside sites linking to it, and has spun off sister sites in Chinese and Spanish.

Dr. Craig Hazen, apologetics professor and editor, of Philosophia Christi, commented on the usefulness of the free site:

"The web site is easily one of the best in the world. Having a resource like this available around the globe, twenty-four hours a day, has been a huge support for the presentation and defense of the gospel in the last decade."

The 10th Anniversary page highlights more of the site's resources: http://www.leaderu.com/focus/lu10thanniversary.html.