At the behest of the Pennsylvania State Pastor’s Convention I’ve been toying recently with the question, “How does online social networking affect adolescent understandings of belonging and membership?” I think it’s an interesting question, one that I ultimately broadened to include issues of both belonging and identity as they relate to a variety of technologies, not just social networking like MySpace and Facebook. Text messaging, blogging, MMORPG’s, and virtual worlds all contribute to how youth understand community and personal identity. These were the issues I tackled during a plenary session at the convention in Harrisburg earlier this month. I don’t have a recording of the PA event, but you can see my first stab at the issues in a lecture (video) I gave November 1 at Princeton Seminary. It’s rough, but gives a good glimpse at some of the thoughts I’ve been exploring lately. Luckily, I was able to refine the lecture for the pastor’s convention, and I figure that after I present this material another 8 to 10 times I might actually like what I have to say.