One of the first questions I receive from colleagues who are are trying out Twitter is, "Who do I follow?" Ok, you've looked for people in your address book, connected with people you know in real life. What next? One piece of advice that is often given is to look through a friend's follow list. Ok, that can be helpful - kind of. But, for example, I (@rev_david) follow 800+ people. My tweeter stream moves pretty fast, and that can be overwhelming for someone new to the platform.My first advice is, look at the profile of someone you like. Who do they talk to regularly? Who do they retweet? Those would probably be some good accounts for you to follow.
Even better, I have compiled a starter list of accounts for pastors new to twitter. It is not everyone I follow (sorry if I left you off!!), but just a little manageable chunk for people to begin with. I have tried to indicate what people primarily tweet about -- but expect them to tweet about other stuff too, because the best accounts tweet about a little bit of everything. Also, as a caveat, this list does skew Lutheran and Texan. I am a Lutheran pastor, primarily addressing other Lutherans in Texas (besides, who wouldn't benefit from following more Texas Lutherans??)
Another criteria that I had was accounts that actually interacted with others. I'm not interested in the accounts with thousands of followers who don't really talk to much of anyone else. Thinking of the experience of people who are new to twitter, I am looking to make that first experience as rewarding as possible.
In our Synod
@rev_david – of course, you're going to want to follow me :)
@BreadTweet - Bishop Mike Rinehart, TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod
@markm1853 - Mark Mummert, worship, liturgy, church life
@claytonfaulkner - ministry, worship, social media
@mwecker - Faith & art reporter at Houston Chronicle
@HoustonBelief - The Houston Chronicle Belief Page
@Kateshellnutt - Reporter for the Chronicle Belief Page
A few good general ELCA accounts to plug into
@ELCA - the offical ELCA account
@ELCAnews - exactly what it says
@BethALewis - CEO, Augsburg Fortress
Examples of ELCA pastors using Twitter well
@prkanderson – Ministry, social media, lutheran
@Schnekloth – Ministry, social media, lutheran
@JasonKorthauer - Ministry, politics, lutheran
@asacredrebel - Ministry, theology, lutheran
@neilcf – ministry, youth ministry, lutheran
@youravgpastor - ministry, social media, lutheran
Talking about social media and the church:
@MeredithGould
@ChSocM
@adambowersmedia
@JustinWise
@tsudo
Others worth a follow
@AaronBillard - Ministry, theology
@AndAFool – Theology@CharlotteElia – theology, liturgy
@derricklweston – theology
@expatminister – Ministry, theology
@jazzpastord - Ministry, theology
@jazzpastord - Ministry, theology
@JesusofNaz316 - humor, theology, church life
@JesusNeedsNewPR – Church life, theology
@KeepSetting – Christian Ed, theology
@kirkjeffrey – Ministry, coffee
@mayog – theology@TwoFriars – theology
@Rev_Gene – Ministry
@SkyPilotofHope - Ministry, social media,
@theologybird – theology, ministry
@UnvirtuousAbbey – humor, prayer, faith
