Jews and the net(b-linked)

While I was in B'nai Brith Youth Organization in high school I was elected Regional President and as one of my responsibilities, I attended an International Convention. At this convention in 2004 with all the youth leaders from each Jewish community in America, the International Director introduced to us b-Linked.com. He mentioned it would be a new portal for us(current BBYO-ers) to connect with ourselves around the country as well as with new and potential members. At the time, I thought it was a cool idea and glad to see BBYO had a new website, but didn't think much would come of it.

Let's move forward 4.5 years to taking a class on "Jewish Identity Today" and reading about b-linked in the Spring 2006 issue of the Journal of the Jewish Life Network. Upon reading this article by Matt Grossman(the director at the time), the words and message about b-linked, I had heard before. "With that in mind, BBYO fine-tuned its target audience, identifying a market of 100,000 Jewish teens who it considers to be “on the fence” Jewishly, and set out to create b-linked. It’s an unconventional entry point to Jewish involvement" (5). While at first 4 years ago I didn't think much of it, thinking now more analytically about the internet and it's uses within Judasim, I think BBYO took a great leap forward. It is clear that the current teen generation is extremely tech savvy and spends a substantial amount of time on the internet. As we have seen in class, there are tons of websites out there revolving around Judaism and connecting Jews together(providing information on various organizations); but b-linked allows for teens who are in BBYO or even Jewish to connect with each other. I think it's great that BBYO was able to be agile in understanding whats on the mind of a current teenager in America, and appeal to that.

As we discussed in class, the vast internet can be many things, good and bad. Some are afraid of its content, freedom, and insecurity, while others appreciate its how easy it is to learn, connect with others, and get information. As soon as Jewish communities and organizations understand the importance of the internet, such as how BBYO has, the more modern these groups can become for the 21st century.

In terms of the websites to look at, I enjoyed seeing www.2lifemagazine.com. It is a magazine based on an entire virtual world!! Ha! Second life is a computer network where people can create an Avatar(person) in a virtual 3-D computer world. I find it amusing that people created a Jewish magazine about a virtual world.