ActsSocial

I understand what the developers are trying to achieve and I applaud and support their efforts. In just a short time, the user base has demonstrated impressive growth. As this happens, the maturity of the posts has moved from a “Look at me. Look at me,” shouting match toward a more interactive model, though there is still room for improvement. The site encourages video sharing (3 minutes max), and I have yet to see an upper limit on the length of individual written posts. You will find a handful of musical artists publicizing their work, and many churches posting brief snippets of their musical offerings. In addition to these video postings you will find a wide variety of video offerings by teachers from a multiplicity of theological angles. Where ActsSocial is struggling is in the tech arena itself. What worked yesterday may not work today. You may or may not be able to log in. If you can log in, you may or may not be able to post content. The app/site loads painfully slowly, so patience is required. That does not flow in abundance in social circles. The Notifications will always be full as the app informs you of every reaction to your post. These notifications are generic, telling you that “person X ‘acted’ to your post,” initiating a play on words involving the app name. These notifications are clickable, but the click does not work, unless you click “Show All” in which case you’ll see every “act” to your post. In this instance, you have about a 50/50 chance that clicking the “act” will take you to the post. If not, you have no idea what your co-user was “acting” to. One interesting, recent update was the removal blocking ability. There is a blocked list. I’ve used it twice, and discovered its removal when attempting to use it a third time. So, at the moment, there is no means of blocking offensive, or abusive behavior. For example, there is a fair amount of “support our cause” posting. My wife and I choose our philanthropic targets with great care, and I’m exceedingly unlikely to donate to a Social Media account. The other example (one of my early blocks) is the “Use my formula and get rich with Jesus” scam. With time and effort, ActsSocial can be a vibrant community, and a tremendous blessing to many who interact there. For me, it’s an exercise in frustration more than anything else. I’m not leaving…at least, not yet. So that tells you I do find value and potential there. So, if you’re patient, mount up and ride this pony with me and let’s see where it goes.

I have found ActsSocial to be an encouraging place for Christians to share posts that help us shine for Jesus. Different users post verses, quotes, and prayer requests and the ActsSocial community comes alongside them to encourage them. The site is still relatively newish so at times it can be a bit “clunky” but the developers continually are updating and releasing better versions. In the days to come I look forward to more Christians finding ActsSocial, finding it helpful to their daily walk with the Lord, and finding it an ever better user experience. Thank you ActsSocial team for all your hard work in creating a digital community centered on allegiance to Jesus. Grace to you, Sean Doyle from Washed in the Word.