Building BibleBridge

Four steps forward for every three steps back

[biblebridge]

If you're searching for (Biblical) love online, what do you find?

Yesterday we established that "love" is far and away the most popular Bible topic to search for online. So if you start clicking through your Google results, what do you find? Probably something like this: 

Or if you scroll a bit farther down the page, there are some sites more like this one: 

Most of the other options are variations on this theme: low-quality user experience, and content that is keyword-driven. 

I should be fair: the topical Open Bible (pictured above), a mashup of data pulled from Yahoo! and the ESV Bible, aspires to be a thematic map of Biblical content. But the non-keyword data generated by users is limited, and the UX is a serious impediment to the site's vision.  

I have to think that we can do better. Already three out of four churchgoers read the Bible electronically: is there a more elegant and intuitive solution for their questions about faith, hope, and the greatest of these - love?  

[biblebridge]

Which Bible verse topics are the most popular?

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly. 1 Peter 4:8

Love. In each and every analysis of Bible verse search data that I ran, "love" came out at the top of the charts. Not only that, but the gap in relative search volume between love and any other topic has been remarkably wide and consistent over time.

In the chart above, you see that sin, faith, hope, and comfort (+bible+verse) track closely together, with hope taking a slight lead in 2011. The popularity of these search terms is representative of other Bible-related key words occupying a similar topical level (e.g., strength, healing, etc.), based on this Google Trend analysis and a few variations that I ran in tandem.

Running the numbers worldwide produces a similar pattern, with two exceptions: the gap between love and the rest is even larger, and sin beats out its peers.

I expected to see love leading the pack, but I was surprised and in some ways encouraged by its degree of primacy. Two thousands years after Jesus spoke with the teachers of the law in Jerusalem, it seems that his response to their question about the most important of God's commandments is still on our hearts: 

“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

[biblebridge]

Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you.

King David's prayer of gratitude in response to God's covenant (2 Samuel 7:18-22)

[biblebridge]

How are Christians discovering Bible-based content online?

As a first step toward designing BibleBridge, I began studying existing Bible apps and analyzing Google Trends to understand how Christians are searching for Bible verses and related content. My goal was to answer the question: what are the existing use cases for Bible-based apps and online resources? 

After pulling together the search data and the behaviors I observed, I identified five primary use cases for Bible-based content: 

Navigating to a specific verse or resource referenced during church or Bible study

Seeking encouragement and inspiration from trusted sources, and through them serendipitously arriving at specific content

Attending an occasion or life event, such as a wedding or funeral

Investigating a sensitive or controversial topic (e.g., "what does Jesus say about...")

Following through on a commitment to deliberate study of God's word

It's in the last few areas that I see an opportunity for BibleBridge. The first use case is crowded with YouVersion and its many copycats, and the second will continue to be served quite well by the church leaders active on Facebook, Twitter, and the rest. But topical discovery is challenging for nearly all online media, and particularly broken for Christian content. 

Later this week I'll post about the topics that users most commonly search for and the shortcomings of the tools and results that they find. 

[biblebridge]

Hello!

Welcome to Building BibleBridge! Over the next few months I'm going to use this site to track progress as I work toward the launch of BibleBridge, a mobile application designed to "bridge" the gap between God's word and daily life. 

Along the way, I plan to share the questions I'm investigating, prototypes of the product, and sources of inspiration. I hope that the discipline of posting keeps me on track to launch later this fall, and that your input makes that launch a success. One thing I know for certain: I can't do this alone. I need your feedback and advice, and above all, I need the Lord's blessing. As Paul wrote, "Each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). 

Thank you for coming along for the ride!