Beliefnet

{{short description|Lifestyle website}}
{{Infobox website
| name             = Beliefnet
| type             = [[Lifestyle (sociology)|Lifestyle]], [[spirituality]]
| language         = [[English language|English]]
| owner            = BN Media Associates
| launch_date      = {{start date and age|1999|12|28}}
| current_status   = Active
}}

'''Beliefnet''' is a Christian lifestyle [[website]] featuring editorial content related to the topics of [[Biblical inspiration|inspiration]], [[spirituality]], health, wellness, love and family, news, and entertainment.

==History==
Launched in 1999 by [[Steven Waldman]] and Robert Nylen, Beliefnet filled a gap in the religious and inspirational content available online. In 2007, Beliefnet was acquired by the [[Fox Entertainment Group]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beliefnet.com/|title=home|website=Beliefnet.com}}</ref> with a strategy of being integrated into other Fox-owned faith-based entities. This strategy was short-lived and ultimately evolved, again with the sale of Beliefnet in 2010, to BN Media, LLC, an entity that includes the investors behind [[Affinity4]] and Cross Bridge.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/company-town-blog/story/2010-05-27/news-corp-puts-beliefnet-on-the-block |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=May 27, 2010 |author=Dawn C. Chmielewski  |access-date=April 14, 2023 |title=BN Media, LLC Announces Acquisition of Beliefnet}}</ref>

In September 2016, Patheos.com was added to the family of brands.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beliefnet-announces-acquisition-of-patheos-300323027.html |date=September 6, 2016 |title=Beliefnet Announces Acquisition of Patheos|website=Prnewswire.com}}</ref> In 2021, BN Media LLC announced that the company would be doing business as Radiant.<ref>{{Cite web|title=bnisradiant|url=https://www.radiantdigital.com|access-date=2021-04-26|website=www.radiantdigital.com}}</ref> Under Radiant, Beliefnet was rebranded from interfaith/independent to an explicitly Christian website.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beliefnet - RadiantDigital.com |url=https://www.radiantdigital.com/brands/beliefnet |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=www.radiantdigital.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Site architecture==


Beliefnet provides users with Christian inspirational material and lifestyle coaching. They feature stories, quizzes, recipes, and other resources related to spirituality, inspiration, health and wellness, love and family, and news and entertainment. Beliefnet has also introduced concentrated mini-sections to answer the demand for more genre-specific content, like its Apron Strings section with resources for moms, as well as its Women's Health section. It provides basic information on some additional, non-Christian faiths including [[Judaism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Hinduism]], and [[Islam]], among others.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite journal |last=Alvstad |first=Erik |year=2010 |title=Encounters between believers and non-believers in a symbolic universe: Religious dialogue and controversy on the internet |journal=Nordic Journal of Religion and Society |volume=23 |number=1 |pages=71–86 |doi=10.18261/ISSN1890-7008-2010-01-05 |url=https://www.idunn.no/file/ci/66929990/Encounters_Between_Believers_And_Non-Believers_In_A_Symboli.pdf |doi-access=free |access-date=2018-04-11 |archive-date=2018-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412001445/https://www.idunn.no/file/ci/66929990/Encounters_Between_Believers_And_Non-Believers_In_A_Symboli.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal |last=Campbell |first=Heidi |title=Making Space for Religion in Internet Studies |journal=The Information Society |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=21 |issue=4 |year=2005 |issn=0197-2243 |doi=10.1080/01972240591007625 |pages=309–315 |s2cid=40962108 |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/41977924/TIS-final.pdf}}{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* {{cite journal |last=Campbell |first=Heidi |s2cid=34361336 |title=Religion and the Internet |journal=Communication Research Trends |publisher=Centre for the study of communication and culture |volume=25 |number=1 |year=2018 |doi=10.4135/9781473960367.n214 |isbn=9781473926615 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Carrigan |first=Henry L. |title=Seeking God in Cyberspace |journal=Journal of Religious & Theological Information |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=4 |issue=4 |year=2001 |issn=1047-7845 |doi=10.1300/j112v04n04_05 |pages=55–82|s2cid=141201869 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Casey |first=C. A. |year=2001 |title=Online Religion and Finding Faith on the Web: An Examination of Beliefnet.org |journal=Proceedings of the Media Ecology Association |volume=2 |page=32 |url=https://media-ecology.org/publications/MEA_proceedings/v2/Casey02.pdf |access-date=2018-04-11 |archive-date=2019-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214202357/http://www.media-ecology.org/publications/MEA_proceedings/v2/Casey02.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal |last=Hackett |first=Rosalind I. J. |title=Religion and the Internet |journal=Diogenes |publisher=SAGE Publications |volume=53 |issue=3 |year=2006 |issn=0392-1921 |doi=10.1177/0392192106069015 |pages=67–76|s2cid=143865560 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Helland |first=Christopher |title=Surfing for Salvation |journal=Religion |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=32 |issue=4 |year=2002 |issn=0048-721X |doi=10.1006/reli.2002.0406 |pages=293–302|s2cid=144964877 }}
* {{cite journal |last=MacWilliams |first=Mark W. |title=Virtual Pilgrimages on the Internet |journal=Religion |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=32 |issue=4 |year=2002 |issn=0048-721X |doi=10.1006/reli.2002.0408 |pages=315–335|s2cid=144959419 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=McKenna |first1=Katelyn Y.A. |last2=West |first2=Kelly J. |title=Give me that online-time religion: The role of the internet in spiritual life |journal=Computers in Human Behavior |publisher=Elsevier BV |volume=23 |issue=2 |year=2007 |issn=0747-5632 |doi=10.1016/j.chb.2005.08.007 |pages=942–954}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ostrowski |first=Ally |year=2006 |title=Texting Tolerance: Computer-Mediated Interfaith Dialogue |journal=Webology |volume=3 |number=4 |page=34ff |url=https://webology.org/2006/v3n4/a34.html }}
* {{cite book |last=Wei |first=Low Yuen |title=Mediating Piety |chapter=Religious Ecology On The Internet: A Case Study Of Tibetan Buddhism |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-17839-7 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004178397.i-240.91}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}

[[Category:Companies based in Virginia Beach, Virginia]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1999]]
[[Category:American religious websites]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in the United States]]