youversion.com the mini review
youversion.com is an online bible reader with social networking aspects that is also available in mobile device versions. it offers some really great features, but suffers from an incomplete feature set and buggy implementation.
the good: the best part of this site is the the simple 2 pane setup that allows one to read the bible on one side, and quickly jot down thoughts on the other. one can input/post privately to a ”journal” or a publicly to a ”contribution.” this feature, coupled with a social network, can be incredibly useful. one can quickly tap on a verse and see the feedback of a large community. also, it is hard to envision an easier way to read the bible and record one’s thoughts. multiple bible versions are supported, and the bible navigation is fast. also, there are a variety of reading plans one can try out. the system will record your progress within a reading 
plan. since study of the Word is considered so central to Christians, this system offers real value. and it is free!
the bad: the system is very buggy. often journal entries cause a freeze. often one must re-enter username and password info. the reading plans will often not allow you to file a given section as completed. journal entries aren’t always shown on the main page. there is no easy way to change a preference, so if you liked the niv bible at first but now prefer the cev, you must make that change manually every time you use the site. the social networking is very incomplete. there is no obvious way to tailor your feed to your friends only, for example.
this program is a great, great start. it is the number one result returned from an iphone app store search using the term “bible” with over 10,000 reviews. that statistic alone means as a social product they have achieved escape velocity. the danger is that people will probably start leaving soon if the usability doesn’t improve quickly. i was inspired to find out that youversion is largely the work of one man, but also worried about the amount of support he will be needing to finish the job. his church might not grasp the opportunity they have. now is the time to massively ramp up resources and make this the game changer that it could be.
bottom line: this program gives us a peek at what bible study could look like in the future….the fundamental aspects of youversion are desireable, but the programmers might be better off using facebook for the networking infrastructure and concentrating on the reader/journal/contribution features. the scope of their ambition might make them a jack of all trades and a master of none.
Hey, there are bugs but they have been constantly working them out. I remember from when they began to now, it is a huge difference. I think the people behind it are the the guys from lifechurch.tv. If thats true, i’m sure they aren’t too concerned about this feature because they are reaching tons more people. you should check out their services one day. they have some on saturdays. They also integrate youversion very well with the service.
yeah, within my post i had a link which suggested that though this is indeed from lifechurch.tv in oklahoma, it is largely the work of one dude. i hope they are rallying a team around him because you are right. they are adding tons of people. but then again, friendster and myspace used to get tons of people too. i hope they can get the bugs worked out before people start feeling the bugs make it too much of a hassle. i do really think the service integration is a killer feature that could be amazing…. if there is sufficient buy in. last time i checked, there are 2 youversion members in the newsongla group- and i’m one of them.