Atheist social networks have popped up before — but after the initial frenzy of excitement, they quickly lose their mojo.
(Seriously, when was the last time you logged onto Richard Dawkins’ Social Network?
I just checked. For me, it was December of last year.)
Anyway, here’s a new one that shows some promise:
Atheist Nexus has all the capabilities of other social networking sites — live chat, a wall for comments, photo sharing, the ability to invite new friends by importing your online address book, and more.
I’ve played around with the site for a day and I’ve only seen a couple downsides so far:
- An inability to search for members based on certain qualities (i.e. female, single, living near me).
- Everytime I send a message, the chat box disappears.
- Each sentence in a chat takes up a brand new box rather than one continuous box.
- The chats aren’t saved.
For anyone who can create set up a site like this, however, those sound like minor fixes. (Or, as Katharine notes below, maybe they won’t be fixed.)
Thor Kym M, the managing director of the site, says:
… this site will [bridge] the gap between “online” and real life — when we are fully functional, this site will actually offer scholarships and throw its weight behind causes we believe in. We won’t just talk about stuff, we’ll act.
Why did he and his two partners start this site?
Thor replies:
According to [Richard] Dawkins and Sam Harris and others, there are at 20 million atheists in the U.S. — personally I lean toward 30 million. This is an attempt to pool every resource available to us as a group — to create a supportive community.
And this is only Phase 1. Phase 2 will begin once the membership pool increases.
If you want to help, the best thing you can do right now is join the network. Registration is simple and you’ll be off and running in no time.
Now, be my friend!
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
