Tech media business blog PaidContent unearthed some big, unannounced funding this weekend for Christian video sharing site GodTube. The site, which combines short and long form Flash video with chat and live video, is now $30m richer – PaidContent writes.
All content, right down to the comments, is vetted by human editors before it appears on GodTube. That labor requirement, in addition to the prevalence of 30 minute long videos, is sure to eat up a large amount of cash. Fortunately for GodTube there’s advertising revenue to be made from the only other nearly-omniscient party on the company’s radar – Google.
The Money
The investment comes from a company called GLG Global Investment Management, whose website greets US visitors with a statement explaining that the site is not intended for US audiences and that due to regulatory requirements US residents should leave. Presumably the GodTube founders chose to stay on the site. The London based company is a hedge fund that specializes in trading the debts of “emerging markets” (Third World countries). Charming folks.
The Politics
GodTube has every appearance of a for-profit endeavor and has gone so far as to copyright the phrase “Jesus 2.0. ©” Though the site calls itself non-denominational, it also says it features content from “all of the traditional Christian denominations.” There are far more search results for the term homosexuality than there is for the word Unitarian, a liberal Christian faith, for example.
The Terms of Service prohibit uploading content “contrary to the evangelization of Jesus Christ and His teachings, or constitutes blasphemy, or is otherwise offensive to our online Christian community.”
With that I’ll leave you with my own favorite verse from the Christian Bible and some important words of warning about Oprah’s power over the souls of “silly women.”
Matthew 6:5-6: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men….when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret….”
