GodTube is now Tangle
After months of re-branding, GodTube has just gone online as "Tangle" - a new site that's much larget and more social networking oriented than GodTube used to be. (Not to mention a much better name).
The Change Revolution with Phil Cooke
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Amen on the name!
I just went to check it out... looks like there is a contingency that is saying the name change is watering things down... oy.
The concept behind the name is good, but I think that people seeing the site for the first time, won't know that it's Christian, while they would without aprevious name.
I'm not so happy with the name.
It was clearer before, that it's a christian website.
Now it could be anything.
www.eThomas.ch/Worship.htm
Of course GodTube changed it's name. The obvious bait and switch is a demonstration of this pesky "please like me" trend in um... I don't know the right word to use without mentioning Jesus, God, Christian, Holy, Bible, or Church. Those words are such turnoffs, right? Other world religions don't seem to have such an abiding sense of insecurity about who they are. A religious faith is just that. God, Jesus, the Bible--that's the topic. "Tangle" is just another cheesy stealth tactic that's not needed. We are Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus as we interpret them. Seems fairly simple.
Then according to your thinking, we're also rip-off artists, who can't come up with our own names? We have to rip off secular names like YouTube? The name GodTube was a blantant rip off for marketing purposes. Nothing less. I applaud the change.
Well, I wasn't going to comment, since people seemed to like the name, but to me the name TANGLE has negative connotations. The first thing that came to mind was the verse, "the sin which so easily entangles..." After listening to the opening video twice, I realized that the "T" was a cross so it could be read, "Cross-angle" and I thought, well, okay. So they should decide whether they want to be crystal clear about their intent or whether they are okay with being nebulous.
Yes I agree, the new name does sound misleading. Although the intent is to reach others, it seems that it diverts from the whole point of having a Christian based website. It is fine to change the name so that more people can be attracted, but not at the cost of watering down the image and message of Christ.
P.S. Did anyone at GodTube ever consult a dictionary?!?
tangle (vb) - to involve so as to hamper, obstruct, or embarrass; to seize and hold in or as if in a snare: ENTRAP; to unite or knit together in intricate confusion
(n) - a tangled twisted mass (as of vines) confusedly interwoven; SNARL; a complicated or confused state or condition; a state of perplexity or complete bewilderment; a serious altercation: DISPUTE
(from Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
Great job, Jenna! At least someone is using a dictionary...although a simple familiarity with Biblescripture would have worked just as well (and should have been consulted first).
I fully agree with you, Jenna. Are they are having "$$" signs in their eyes after sometime, hoping to get more advertising money..... I am not surprised that is true. Well then, that proves they are not that Christian after all... ... ..........
That was my first thought exactly. As a designer, I know the first place you head for when developing a name is the dictionary. If the name conveys a negetive conotation (even if its due to eroneous usage) you are already facing an uphill battle. I have no probs with people using nice 'unchristian sounding' names but I think they got it wrong on this occasion.
Somewhat disapointed in the name change. Going from "godtube" which of the bat lets you know of the christian faith name. It demonstrates that the site is a GOD aiming site which many people look for and need. If people scrow down to the name "tangle" what will come to mind? Not GOD like GODtube did. WHY the name change? Why such a liberal change? What happed to conservative God loving decisions?
Being the Technology Director of a large church I never wanted to use God Tube. I want our media put in the world on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, etc. How are non-Christians going to see us if we hide on our own duplicated silo? We should be in the world but not of the world.
If someone is on YouTube searching and they run across our video sharing the gospel - that is a good thing. How will they find us if we hide in Christian only technologies?
We are not called to hide!
I completely agree with this. I personally boycotted Godtube with my content, seeing it as a bastardized version of something that's already working very well. I saw it as not addressing culture, but rather creating a cheesy "Religified" knockoff that only furthers the Christian country club sub-culture.
All that to say, I completely support the branding change. I know of plenty of people that would watch a video on a site called "tangle" that would never even consider watching one on "Godtube."
and they're gonna watch the same videos just because of the name which is different?give me a break
Why are so many people wanting to get rid of the name "GOD" ? God out of our schools, God of out of our courts, God out of our government. Are they afraid of God? Or are they just not believers? When it's GOD that we need to bring us together.
It's not so much getting rid of "God..." please understand. As a reader of Phil's blog I figured you would be one to understand this. Not every church logo has to have a cross, dove, flame, crown, etc. on it in order to be a representative of Jesus or to be effective. In the same manner, not every website has to have God or Jesus in the name to be christian.
Godtube from its very start was very clearly a ripoff of youtube. In fact, it seems that all they did was take the youtube look, logo, and concept and slap God's name on it. God, the creator of all things, had His name slapped onto somebody else's product. Do you think that at creation God took somebody else's universe and put His name on it and called it done? Absolutely Not! Surely He can inspire at least a different name and look for a Christian video site. I think the Tangle people finally understood this.
The rebranding of this site makes the concept of a Christian video site much more approachable. I am a believer and unashamed of Jesus. He is my creativity and my inspiration. It seems to be the same way now with the Tangle folks... they have been inspired to re-brand a site to something that's a lot more likely to reach the lost than the old cheap knock-off. I applaud your change, Tangle.
i kinda see what your talking about. but whats all the concern with the image? and if your way is true...why not name it something more...christiany?
From what I have been seeing in prophetic messages, God talks about being creative in His approach to man kind. The power of His name being in, lets say for instance Billy Graham or Jack Deer is not these mens names but the name in them associated with the gifts handed down from heaven through Christ Jesus and the chracter they have recieved through the sufferings of Christ. So God will reflect His glory through any ways and means thats according to His purposes. As CHristians we must not get caught up in symbols but the symnols He choses to glorify Himself with.
Amen.
Lets face it, the name change wasnt to glorify God. So does anyone know what the real reason was?
and tangle doesnt even correlate with Christ.Cross-angle just seems like a cheap way to make tangle work. And if tangle is to become something associated to Christ, then the word tangle would have to lose its meaning. which embrasses a rather post moderistic mindset...which, opposes Christ as well.
but thetruevine.com and truevine.com were already taken.
but yall know what. Divine.com is entirely available.
we should all tell them we want the name changed to divine.com
Something more Christ like...instead of TANGLE. pft.
I really can see how you would want the name to reflect something "Holy" or different. You want the identity for a Christian site to look like it's actually Christian. I can understand your plea.
Check a little deeper into the "tangle" name... I thought it was pretty creative. As the founder said in his intro video, he wants us to tangle our lives with Jesus and His will for us. On the other level, the title is "T angle." The "t" is very clearly a cross. So this website has a very christian name, in that it is presenting things from the "angle" of the cross.
Christians are inherently cheesy... there's no getting around that. Just take a drive around the Bible Belt and count the number of personalized plates that justify the driver's salvation (FRGVN, IMHIS, HLYSPRT, etc.). And yes, I see these plates daily. It's truly almost as bad as "Buddy Jesus" from the movie Dogma. It's in these places that people are even more polarized against Christianity. We have the greatest story ever, and many people won't ever see it because they're blinded by all of the "Jesus Junk." If it takes one sly marketing scheme, with a name that gets more and more Christian the more you look into it, in order to reach just one person I'm all for it.
My generation is very much more cynical towards the church, especially the religiosity/dogma associated with it. You have to win a person's trust before you even have the right to mention religion of any kind. For this reason, a lost person will be completely turned off by a video website like foreverforgivenvideosforjesus.com (I'm sure that domain is available for those who want it, I won't mind). Let's get behind Tangle, post some killer content that glorifies our Creator, and pray that lives are reached through their new marketing.
Wow, some of your comments sound quite self-righteous and condescending. Why sneer at a brother or sister in Jesus who has a license plate proclaiming God's forgiveness or owndership of us? How do you know that doesn't glorify God?
Hey, I'm a Francis Schaeffer-reading "intellectual" with a degree from a big-shot university in Chicago, so don't pigeonhole me as something I'm not. But in our faith's quest for excellence and penetration of the culture, I find that many "intellectual" Christians adopt an almost Pharisaical and legalistic scorn for sincere believers who express their joy and faith openly. Let's not join the world and the accuser and bash them. Of course, we should speak up for truth, intellectual rigor, and doctrinal soundness. But let's not do so at the price of needless disunity and lack of love and biblical tolerance of those who agree with us on the essentials.
As for GodTube, I think they have good motives and the Lord can use them as Tangle, but I question their marketing strategy big time. Their primary calling, it seems to me, was as a haven for the Christian community online--much like a "very big small group." GodTube was the brand name that fit that role. Rebranding will be tough, and maybe not so wise. Let's pray they succeed.
Firstly, I personally was shocked and truly appalled at the name change. From Godtube to tangle. It really saddens me to see a website with the name of God and praising him to becoming all of a sudden a word like "tangle." The creativity is clever but it still brings a bad taste to mouth when I see the website now. Not only that, but there are mixed messages in the website. I believe that things to do with Christ should only be of Christ. You can't serve God and the Devil at the same time. I say this because I see lots of music on the website that don't clarify whether it's for God or not. Skillet for example. Their music can go either way. About romance, or about the Lord. I don't think that's cool. It's almost as if they're ashamed about screaming Jesus' name as the website is scared to mention the name of Christ on the domain name. Same thing with R&B and other albums that have romance AND Christ's messages. It's an imitation. And I believe it's wrong to imitate worldly things (metal rock, rap, etc..) and turn them into Christ. The source is from the devil or people that are possessed by the devil. Why take something.. ANYTHING from him?
Second, "If it takes one sly marketing scheme, with a name that gets more and more Christian the more you look into it, in order to reach just one person I'm all for it." If one person, or many people, want to look at something that has to do with Christianity, then that's up to the person and what God puts in their hearts. We can't force anyone to look at something and tricking non-believers certainly isn't going to give Christians a good rep for us either. When the Anti-christ comes and the revelation begins, I'd understand the name "tangle". It'll be like a secret code for the Christian community and non-believers we trust to look into the website. But because it's not at that point yet, I have to strongly disagree with the name. The mixed worldly/christian media is also a put off.
God, forgive me if I'm wrong, but that's what I believe based on the Bible, and church and the pastors who taught. I'll continue to browse the site once in a while but I'm not an avid visitor anymore due to a few doubts I have with things on there.
May Jesus speak to you through your hearts and GodBless.
...Just wondering why "David After Dentist" is a Featured Video on TANGLE? Its "humor" focuses on a child strung out on medication. I think it is sad to encourage parents to film their children in embarassing moments and then show it to the world. So far, TANGLE hasn't snared me. But for videos like this, I think the new name is more appropriate...
"David and the Dentist" has nothing to do with Christian anything...his parents just happen to be Christians and part of this "industry". I watched it after reading Steve Strang's blog on it--and was sad for the boy. This does not belong on public websites. He is not going to be happy with his parents about this in a few years...this stuff never goes away. It's not just on Tango, it is on Facebook, YouTube and everywhere else.
OK, I know this clip is not what Phil's debate is about...but I could not help myself.
While watching the short video, I tried to understand the reason for the change and I wasn't feeling it. If I was a person looking for a Christian website, I wouldn't even consider Tango as a place to start. With all the overwhelming attacks on Christians today, we don't need anything else watered down, we need all the help we can get. Furthermore satan doesn't have a problem putting his name on his things.
"Furthermore satan doesn't have a problem putting his name on his things." Correct, satan has none whatsoever - I wonder why?
Here is one example from scripture re: the use of a word affiliated with the word "tangle":
"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning." - 2 Peter 2:20
When is the word "tangle" ever used in a positive manner in scripture (much less anywhere else)? The connotation is always a negative one.
The new web site name is confusing at best, but I have to admit, GodTube lost me when the commercial ads came on board. :(
I'm sadden by the name change.
the name change is not an issue for me. I stumbled on this site accidentally while looking for an online Bible that I could use. I found godtube with this wonderful Bible with turning pages and it was really easy to use. I really liked it. Two days later while attempting to show my Pastor, the site had changed and the Bible that brought me to the site to start with was gone. I have left questions asking where I can find the Bible but they only will refer me to the new one avoiding any answer to where I can find it elsewhere. so I move on from here. after all I just want to read the word and do it simply.
Just more attempts to hide the name of the Almighty! When are Christians going to stand up and be heard? When are they not going to be ashamed of the name of God? We need to wake up as a nation. The evil winds of change are blowing! It's time to take a bold stand! Bring back Godtube! Let people know what it is up front!
As an individual called to advance the kingdom of God; through infiltrating the marketplace with the counter culture of the kingdom, as well as global multimedia & technology, I understand the 'motivation' behind the name change but I don't find it effective. While I agree that we can't isolate ourselves from the world, or no one will experience salvation or the message of Christ, and when it comes to the world people don't respect your hallelujah, or our fanticalizms (whatever yours is) they respect 'results'... in your life styles in our businesses, our relationships, etc... if we aren't the best in whatever arena or sphere of influence in which we operate; if we can't learn to strategize to be effective outside of the four walls of the church, how can we expect to people to believe that our God is who we say he is??? Especially if their way has given them more tangible results, we have to have power in demonstration. Now back to the point... now while I understand the ideal behind the name change, I do also feel that it is imperative that we (the body of Christ) need a place to commune and operate exclusively as well. Yes we need businesses and products that are not "Jesus" oriented, but we also need the very opposite... god tube while not the most original in its inception, but at least its demographic was recognizable. It's funny how people say it was a direct rip-off of YouTube... but i don't see anyone criticizing the other billions of successful "tube/video" sites as being illegitimate due to a form creative synthesis. YouTube is not even the first of its kind! It's just the first to garnish the attention it has. Bottom line, we need to be ten times better than the world in various arena (especially non-church/religious arenas) but we also need to not forsake gathering ourselves for the sake of who we are, and to push each other to purpose... good idea, bad result, ultimately a cop out.
www.love2life.com
www.youtube.com/logoslifetv
Absolutely on target comment.
I believe GodTube's intent was not bad, but their execution and marketing strategy was.
And yes, as you say, we DO need to be both penetrating the culture yet assembling ourselves together. GodTube seemed better suited to the latter function, yet their rebranding doesn't.
I am shocked at the name change from God Tube to Tangle. It makes me wonder who loves his name and who is ashamed of it and who will stand up for him in the ladt days.
Last days are here.
What better name to call the site~ Godtube! I am very displeased with the changing of the name. "Tangle" what is that? and how can we now be seperated from the world. When the site was called Godtube, there was absolutely no question as to what type of site I was entering, I joined immediately. I dont know........
Yes, I do! God is birthing someone to re-create Godtube for true believers.
Well, You dont have to be disappointed. There is a new site called GodLane.com. They are the real Christians setting a new site to proclaim the Good News of the Lord.
Sign up with Godlane.com I know that they are putting into the website PRAYER, and onsite Bible as well for people to enjoy among other coming features. They are from my same church, real nice and good people.
Cheers
Though many people here have made great points, let us not forget that no matter what the name may be it is a site where we can go to see the things we want to see. Why waste time arguing and ranting about it all? It makes no sense really..what we need to do is enjoy the site and remember that this site does not determine OUR love for GOD or whether or not we would be ashamed of his name. All that matters is what's in our hearts as individuals and how we got there..and what we do there..and who we can bless out of what we've learned..Show that you are for God not against him..God Bless
Being a webmaster of both christian and non-christian sites I believe the choice may have been financial e.g. advertising revenue. Even though my site christianspace.com gets more hits and clicks on ads I make way less per click then on my secular (family) community sites. I am not sure why this is so .... but, if the same were true for Godtube changing their name and focus could be much more financially rewarding ...
I also find the online christian community not as willing to finacially support online efforts as much as other communities. To that end all chrisitan sites have for revenue is ad revenue ... and if this means your survival you may have to change your name to attract and increase ad revenue. I wouldn't say that the folks at godtube aren't real christians but rather they are business people ... they took a shot at the christian online community and it did not work out so they are changing the model ... I do feel disappointed but not in the people at godtube but at the christians who boycotted and felt godtube not as good as youtube ... NOTE youtube IS NOT a safe place for any christian and NO WAY should you allow children or teens on those sites ... they will find bad things ... just the singles ad are soft porn ... bad ... if christians want safe places to fellowship and be entertained online they need to put their money where there mouth is and support and join christian communities.
In His Service,
Theresachristianspace.com
Amen to Jenna & the others who can see the obvious negative and secular change from GodTube to the totally retarded and disgusting name of Tangle. What a shock to see such choice of name! My first thought was "tangled in a spider web." Of all the uplifting words, thoughts, phrases in scripture & they choose a pathetic name like that? And I was thinking I would move my YouTube stuff over there but why bother? That name change is a total turnoff. Not just the name but the obvious lack of good Christian sense behind it. Once again, somebody is duped by the biggest lie of the century: that the church has to dumb-down itself to match the world. Wrong!! As for GodTube being a ripoff of the YouTube name: the TV has been referred to as tube since the TV's creation. I don't think YouTube can hog the tube word all to itself. Now, if GodTube had named itself YouGodTube or GodYouTube, that's different. The formerly GodTube FAQ page descript only mentions a global technology company. It doesn't even say they are a Christian company. If they are, I say Cowards! with zero spiritual backbone! full of worldly lies and misconceptions. Go ahead, sell your foolish soul to the world, thinking you will save people that way. You have been totally deceived. No way I will entangle myself with Tangle.
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