Social network Facegloria aims to be 'morally better' than Facebook

Earlier this year, mounting backlash from Facebook users banned from the site for posting photos of breastfeeding mothers and other seemingly benign images prompted the social network to update its Community Standards, easing restrictions on breastfeeding pictures while clarifying rules regarding other types of nudity — as well as hate speech and violent images.

But while Facebook continues to receive flak for what critics argue are prudish policies, a new Brazilian site has emerged to serve those seeking a more wholesome social networking experience.

“On Facebook you see a lot of violence and pornography,” Web designer Atilla Barros, one of the founders of the site Facegloria, told Agence France-Press. “That’s why we thought of creating a network where we could talk about God, love and to spread His word.”

Long home to the world’s largest Catholic population, Brazil has undergone a seismic shift toward Christian evangelism, a movement that has grown from 5 percent of the country’s population in 1970 to 22 percent in 2010. Facegloria, billed as the “sin-free” alternative to Facebook, was created with this burgeoning population in mind.

Barros and his three other co-founders, all devout Christians, came up with the idea while working for the mayor of Ferraz de Vasconcelos, a city near Sao Paolo. According to the AFP, Mayor Acir dos Santos even contributed some of his own money to fund the project, which reportedly drew 100,000 users within the first month of its launch.

On Facegloria, which resembles Facebook in its design, “Like” has been replaced with “Amen.” Photos or videos considered violent or erotic are not allowed, nor is the use of about 600 words.

Facegloria’s rigid rules are enforced by about 20 volunteer site monitors whose work is apparently pretty easy.

“Our public doesn’t publish these kinds of photos,” one volunteer said.

Whether that means Facegloria is achieving Barros’ goal of being “morally and technically better than Facebook,” however, is subject to interpretation.

While Facebook’s Community Standards strictly prohibit bullying and any kind of hate speech, including content attacking people based on their sexual orientation — the site has even been accused by some religious groups of removing “anti-gay” posts — Facegloria users are unabashedly banned from posting content that promotes homosexuality.

“Perhaps,” one reviewer at the tech site CNET suggested, “this site is just another example of how people feel the need to gravitate to their own ‘kind’ on social networks, rather than commune with the great unwashed and immoral.”

The religious take on social networking is nothing new.

Back in 2007, VentureBeat noted the rise of sites like the Christian video-sharing forum GodTube. The same year, the New York Times spotlighted a variety of faith-oriented online networks, including Christian sites hisholyspace.com and xianz.com, sites like naseeb.com and muslimsocial.com for Muslim users, and shmooze.com and koolanoo.com, which cater to members of the Jewish faith.

But while Facegloria might not be the first religiously minded social network, it’s vying to become the biggest — with plans to expand throughout Brazil and beyond.

“Our network is global,” Mayor dos Santos told AFP. “We have bought the Faceglory domain in English and in all possible languages. We want to take on Facebook and Twitter here and everywhere.”