Evangelicals Use Digital Surveillance to Target the Unconverted

https://newrepublic.com/article/179397/evangelical-app-targeting-immigrants-surveillance

by MDWolinski • 2 years ago

30 7 2 years ago

smitty1e2• 2 years ago

I don't doubt that some use this, but getting most Christians past FaceBook would be something of a feat.

zexbha• 2 years ago

I can disagree. I work as a sysadmin/ database admin for a large church. A large portion of the congregation consists of engineers, lawyers, doctors, etc. Granted this is a famously upper-class WASP denomination, but it's a solid spread for a congregation of this size, as I understand.

These people are quite technologically capable, they reach out on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and others and they have no issues. All our reading materials are digital as well, accessible through QR codes.

All this being said, I can't wait to get out!

smitty1e2• 2 years ago

Sure, in a passive sense, there is more information dissemination within the church.

That's not the same thing as installing an app on a smart phone and going door-knocking. Putting out fliers in the absence of a "no soliciting" sign is as active as most get.

Now, there are those who travel on bikes in pairs, but then we move on to more divisive topics.

corry• 2 years ago

Before moving away from our previous neighbourhood (new high density suburb), we were seeing an increase in door-to-door 'selling' generally, whether it's charity or political or religious or telco.

We figured it was the higher density of newer neighbourhoods that was driving the boom, although this kind of data tech is obviously making it a better proposition too.

It's probably a good time to be a "No Soliciting" sign manufacturer. I wonder what other defensive 'tech' you could deploy to avoid this stuff entirely.

DragonStrength• 2 years ago

The initial part of the article seems to imply this would be used by a large group of people, but then later clarifies it's for a person or two at the church, meaning it's essentially selling marketing info.

Is this different than how churches already find my name to send me targeted mailers or just a specialized version of an existing business?

beardyw• 2 years ago

Jericho marches are an idea taken from the Old Testament

Perhaps ignoring the part where the Israelites murdered every man, woman and child in the city. These folks never got past Sunday school.

jwsteigerwalt• 2 years ago

Having worked in technology for direct sales (door knocking) for 20 years, this is not surprising. There are already many platforms out there like Canvass, SalesRabbit, and Spotio. like anything else, these become more valuable with the data you can feed into them, and the network effects of growing your usage. This is also pretty common in the infrastructure that supports political canvassing.

Evangelicals Use Digital Surveillance to Target the Unconverted

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