Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
The Vanilla Ice Plan
There are lots of different approaches to using social media. After giving presentations to many groups about using social media for ministry, I have come up with my own strategy for getting started with social media. And it works.
Whether you are a pastor getting started on social media or a church looking to start using social media for your ministry or an author looking to get the word out about your latest offering, it will work.
The plan? Listen to Vanilla Ice.
Yup.Vanilla Ice has some wisdom to drop. Namely: Stop, Collaborate, and Listen.
Stop
Before you jump into social media, stop. Many people rush into social media, or move from one platform to another, without thinking about it. They want to be doing the latest thing, or know that they should be on social media, but they don't think about what that means. Rushing in most often results in ineffective communications efforts, and a mess that has to be cleaned up later. So stop.
Spend some time thinking about how you are going to use social media, and how it fits into your other communication methods. Think about which platform would be most effective for you, and where your audience is. Read up on social media strategy - I recommend The Social Media Gospel and Click2Save for people who are using social media for ministry.
Collaborate
You are not the first person to consider using social media for your ministry (or business, etc). Seek out the people who are doing it well. Sit down with them. Work together with them to develop a plan to help get you on your feet. Here's a secret: most of the people who are using social media for church communications want to help others do the same. And very often, this sort of experienced help from peers in the field is free or remarkably inexpensive.
Get together (in person or virtually) with others in the same field, people who share the same sorts of goals. Share ideas about how you can creatively and effectively use digital tools. If you are using social media for ministry check out the Church Social Media (#chsocm) community, where some of the best church communicators are collaborating and sharing ideas.*
Listen
Most people get on social media and they immediately start talking. "BUY MY PRODUCT" "COME TO MY WORSHIP SERVICE" "CLICK MY LINKS."
It's about as much friendly as the guy standing on a street corner with a bullhorn. Before you start talking, listen. Learn what are the people in your community are talking about. Learn how your church/product is perceived by others. Listen for the needs, desires, and hurts among the people you are hoping to reach. Before you can talk, you need to earn respect. And the best way to do that is by being attentive and listening.
Even once you have a plan, have collaborated with others, and have listened to the community, it is important to remember to listen more than you talk.
That's it. The "Vanilla Ice Plan" for social media. Stop, collaborate, and listen.
Well, there is one more step. Repeat. Over and over again. Continue to revisit your plan and strategy. Continue to seek out the best practitioners to learn from an collaborate with. And continue to listen to your community.
Stop, Collaborate, and Listen.
Want to connect? Find me on twitter or facebook. I'd love to hear from you.
*The Church Social Media conversation happens on Twitter on the hashtag #chsocm, especially on Tuesday nights at 9pm Eastern during our weekly chats. You can also find us on Facebook.
Whether you are a pastor getting started on social media or a church looking to start using social media for your ministry or an author looking to get the word out about your latest offering, it will work.
The plan? Listen to Vanilla Ice.
Yup.Vanilla Ice has some wisdom to drop. Namely: Stop, Collaborate, and Listen.
Stop
Before you jump into social media, stop. Many people rush into social media, or move from one platform to another, without thinking about it. They want to be doing the latest thing, or know that they should be on social media, but they don't think about what that means. Rushing in most often results in ineffective communications efforts, and a mess that has to be cleaned up later. So stop.
Spend some time thinking about how you are going to use social media, and how it fits into your other communication methods. Think about which platform would be most effective for you, and where your audience is. Read up on social media strategy - I recommend The Social Media Gospel and Click2Save for people who are using social media for ministry.
Collaborate
You are not the first person to consider using social media for your ministry (or business, etc). Seek out the people who are doing it well. Sit down with them. Work together with them to develop a plan to help get you on your feet. Here's a secret: most of the people who are using social media for church communications want to help others do the same. And very often, this sort of experienced help from peers in the field is free or remarkably inexpensive.
Get together (in person or virtually) with others in the same field, people who share the same sorts of goals. Share ideas about how you can creatively and effectively use digital tools. If you are using social media for ministry check out the Church Social Media (#chsocm) community, where some of the best church communicators are collaborating and sharing ideas.*
Listen
Most people get on social media and they immediately start talking. "BUY MY PRODUCT" "COME TO MY WORSHIP SERVICE" "CLICK MY LINKS."
It's about as much friendly as the guy standing on a street corner with a bullhorn. Before you start talking, listen. Learn what are the people in your community are talking about. Learn how your church/product is perceived by others. Listen for the needs, desires, and hurts among the people you are hoping to reach. Before you can talk, you need to earn respect. And the best way to do that is by being attentive and listening.
Even once you have a plan, have collaborated with others, and have listened to the community, it is important to remember to listen more than you talk.
That's it. The "Vanilla Ice Plan" for social media. Stop, collaborate, and listen.
Well, there is one more step. Repeat. Over and over again. Continue to revisit your plan and strategy. Continue to seek out the best practitioners to learn from an collaborate with. And continue to listen to your community.
Stop, Collaborate, and Listen.
Want to connect? Find me on twitter or facebook. I'd love to hear from you.
*The Church Social Media conversation happens on Twitter on the hashtag #chsocm, especially on Tuesday nights at 9pm Eastern during our weekly chats. You can also find us on Facebook.
You've Been Hacked!
In my Twitter direct messages today:
"You won't believe what people are saying about you <link>"
"I recommend this resource for you <link>"
"Hey, check this out <link>"
And that was just what arrived overnight. Every day, thousands of Twitter accounts are hacked. Maybe it has happened to you: all of a sudden your Twitter account starts sending out direct messages and tweets that you never intended. Nasty links. Virus-laden links. And the same thing can happen on Facebook.
If you have been hacked, there are some simple steps you can take to get your account back under control.
Step 1: Remove the authorization of applications you don't recognize.
In the course of browsing the web, we give permission for websites and applications permission to access our social media. Too often, we don't think about it. Some of them are trustworthy. Many are not. Many others start out as trustworthy and wind up being bought or taken over by less trustworthy operators.
On Twitter:
In the course of being hacked, your password may have been compromised. Better safe than sorry.
"You won't believe what people are saying about you <link>"
"I recommend this resource for you <link>"
"Hey, check this out <link>"
And that was just what arrived overnight. Every day, thousands of Twitter accounts are hacked. Maybe it has happened to you: all of a sudden your Twitter account starts sending out direct messages and tweets that you never intended. Nasty links. Virus-laden links. And the same thing can happen on Facebook.
If you have been hacked, there are some simple steps you can take to get your account back under control.
Step 1: Remove the authorization of applications you don't recognize.
In the course of browsing the web, we give permission for websites and applications permission to access our social media. Too often, we don't think about it. Some of them are trustworthy. Many are not. Many others start out as trustworthy and wind up being bought or taken over by less trustworthy operators.
- Click on the gear box on the home page (top right)
- Go to "Settings"
- In the left-hand column, click on "Applications"
- Go down the list, clicking on "Revoke Access" on any application you aren't 100% sure of.
On Facebook:
- Click on the gear box on the home page (top right)
- Go to "Privacy Settings"
- In the left-hand column, click on "Apps"
- Go down the list, clicking on the "x" on the right hand side to remove any application you aren't 100% sure of.
Step 2: Change your password.
In the course of being hacked, your password may have been compromised. Better safe than sorry.
On Twitter:
- Click on the gear box on the home page (top right)
- Go to "Settings"
- In the left-hand column, click on "Password" and change your password
On Facebook:
- Click on the gear box on the home page (top right)
- Got to "Account Settings"
- On the next page (under the "General Settings" tab) click on "Password" to change your password.
6 Objections to Online Church Communications
I have been privileged to be able to help congregations and pastors work on how they communicate. In particular, I often teach about social media and online tools for ministry. And in doing this, I have heard the same objections many times.
Here are the 6 most common objections to having an online presence that I hear from leaders in congregations, and my answers to them.
1) People just use social media to avoid real relationships.
This is far and away the most common reason I hear for churches avoiding an an online presence. It also comes in the form of "I don't care what you had for lunch."
It's true. People talk about some pretty inane stuff online. Things that we may not care about, or which we might think are pointless or meaningless. But this is true of every mode of communication! Traditional print publishing has giving us both the works of William Faulkner and trashy romance novels. The same medium gave us both the Washington Post and the National Enquirer. And in the same way, along side the trivial conversations on social media are very deep and meaningful conversations about faith, community, and the world.
And even more importantly, some of the most important conversations are built on these "trivial" conversations. At the end of the day I spend time with my spouse, and we talk about our days: what we had for lunch, who we talked with, the things we did at work. Those so-called trivial conversations are often the mortar that bind together the relationships in our lives.
2) No one in our community is online.
I don't believe you. Period.
It's true, some communities are more wired than others. Communities that are near large cities tend to have better connectivity; younger communities tend to be online more than older communities. I get that. I live in a rural area. High speed internet access was not easy to come by when I moved to this community. But mobile connections have changed everything.
As of 2012, 78.6% of the North American population is online. 50% of all Americans have a smartphone. More people in your community are online than you think. The number of older adults online (and on social media) is growing exponentially.
Even if the people currently attending your congregation are not online, the rest of the community around your congregation are. The people that you want to invite into your congregation are online.
3) Social media is just a fad.
Next year, Facebook (the current social media leader) will turn ten years old, and it continues to grow every year. The world's first website is 20 years old (and still online, an archived info page about the CERN "world wide web" project). The first BBS (bulletin board systems, an early form of online community) came into being 40 years ago!
Social media will change. New platforms will become important, and others will fade away. But people will continue to use online media to build community and communicate with one another.
4) We can't afford to be online.
You can't afford not to be online.
The days when you could just be listed in the phone book or put an ad in the newspaper and be done with it are over. 60% of people start their searches for information online. If someone in your community is looking for a new place to worship, the chances extremely good are that their first stop will be online - either a google search, or via a friend's recommendation on social media. You want to be there.
More to the point, it is very easy to develop an online presence with little or no budget. It is free to develop a presence on all of the major social media platforms. FREE. There are many ways to build a website for free, or on a very limited budget. FREE.
5) Social media is just for ________ (large, suburban, wealthy, young, etc) congregations
Some of the best social media ministries that I have seen come out of smaller congregations. In truth, larger institutions often have trouble with new ways of communication - it has to go through the proper committees, and be voted on ten different times, etc. Smaller institutions tend to be more nimble and able to adapt to new ways of being.
In addition, smaller congregations need online media more. The large, wealthy, etc, institutions have lots of resources for building a community and raising awareness. It is smaller communities that are often looking for the low cost alternative (see #4).
6) Online interaction will never replace face-to-face interaction.
You are absolutely correct. There is no replacement for face-to-face interaction. But nobody is suggesting that congregations and pastors abandon face-to-face interaction! It is not an either/or choice.
Your newspaper ads do not replace face-to-face interaction. Your phone line does not replace face-to-face interaction. Your print newsletter does not replace face-to-face interaction. They are all tools to help facilitate good face-to-face relationships, and help your congregation proclaim the Gospel.
And the same is true of your online ministry. It is one tool (among many) to help facilitate communications in your congregation and your work of proclaiming the Gospel and building community. It does not replace anything. It works alongside other tools.
If you are just getting started using online communications for your congregation, I highly recommend the books The Social Media Gospel and Click2Save as a starting place.
As you get online, I would love to connect with you on Twitter.
Here are the 6 most common objections to having an online presence that I hear from leaders in congregations, and my answers to them.
1) People just use social media to avoid real relationships.
This is far and away the most common reason I hear for churches avoiding an an online presence. It also comes in the form of "I don't care what you had for lunch."It's true. People talk about some pretty inane stuff online. Things that we may not care about, or which we might think are pointless or meaningless. But this is true of every mode of communication! Traditional print publishing has giving us both the works of William Faulkner and trashy romance novels. The same medium gave us both the Washington Post and the National Enquirer. And in the same way, along side the trivial conversations on social media are very deep and meaningful conversations about faith, community, and the world.
And even more importantly, some of the most important conversations are built on these "trivial" conversations. At the end of the day I spend time with my spouse, and we talk about our days: what we had for lunch, who we talked with, the things we did at work. Those so-called trivial conversations are often the mortar that bind together the relationships in our lives.
2) No one in our community is online.
I don't believe you. Period.
It's true, some communities are more wired than others. Communities that are near large cities tend to have better connectivity; younger communities tend to be online more than older communities. I get that. I live in a rural area. High speed internet access was not easy to come by when I moved to this community. But mobile connections have changed everything.
As of 2012, 78.6% of the North American population is online. 50% of all Americans have a smartphone. More people in your community are online than you think. The number of older adults online (and on social media) is growing exponentially.
Even if the people currently attending your congregation are not online, the rest of the community around your congregation are. The people that you want to invite into your congregation are online.
3) Social media is just a fad.
Next year, Facebook (the current social media leader) will turn ten years old, and it continues to grow every year. The world's first website is 20 years old (and still online, an archived info page about the CERN "world wide web" project). The first BBS (bulletin board systems, an early form of online community) came into being 40 years ago!
Social media will change. New platforms will become important, and others will fade away. But people will continue to use online media to build community and communicate with one another.
4) We can't afford to be online.
You can't afford not to be online.
The days when you could just be listed in the phone book or put an ad in the newspaper and be done with it are over. 60% of people start their searches for information online. If someone in your community is looking for a new place to worship, the chances extremely good are that their first stop will be online - either a google search, or via a friend's recommendation on social media. You want to be there.
More to the point, it is very easy to develop an online presence with little or no budget. It is free to develop a presence on all of the major social media platforms. FREE. There are many ways to build a website for free, or on a very limited budget. FREE.
5) Social media is just for ________ (large, suburban, wealthy, young, etc) congregations
Some of the best social media ministries that I have seen come out of smaller congregations. In truth, larger institutions often have trouble with new ways of communication - it has to go through the proper committees, and be voted on ten different times, etc. Smaller institutions tend to be more nimble and able to adapt to new ways of being.
In addition, smaller congregations need online media more. The large, wealthy, etc, institutions have lots of resources for building a community and raising awareness. It is smaller communities that are often looking for the low cost alternative (see #4).
6) Online interaction will never replace face-to-face interaction.
You are absolutely correct. There is no replacement for face-to-face interaction. But nobody is suggesting that congregations and pastors abandon face-to-face interaction! It is not an either/or choice.
Your newspaper ads do not replace face-to-face interaction. Your phone line does not replace face-to-face interaction. Your print newsletter does not replace face-to-face interaction. They are all tools to help facilitate good face-to-face relationships, and help your congregation proclaim the Gospel.
And the same is true of your online ministry. It is one tool (among many) to help facilitate communications in your congregation and your work of proclaiming the Gospel and building community. It does not replace anything. It works alongside other tools.
If you are just getting started using online communications for your congregation, I highly recommend the books The Social Media Gospel and Click2Save as a starting place. As you get online, I would love to connect with you on Twitter.
"Real" and "Virtual" Relationships
As someone who teaches about social media, I have heard the common refrains of worry and caution about living life online. Especially among people in ministry, there is one concern that surfaces again and again.
Whether online or in the flesh, relationships are relationships. Period. End of sentence.
"You can't establish real relationships online."
Or, people will ask me, "How many people do you really know, and how many do you just know online?"
There is an assumption that online relationships are qualitatively different than in-the-flesh relationship - that relationships that are developed online are in some way deficient. We (people in ministry) are in the community-building business, so this is an important concern.
So let me be clear: Whether online or in the flesh, relationships are relationships. Period. End of sentence.
In our lives - in the flesh - we have acquaintances. People with whom we have countless superficial interactions, and no meaningful interaction. All of us have these casual relationships. We all also we walk past countless people every day without really seeing them. They are there, right in front of us, in the flesh, and we barely acknowledge there existence. Not every in the flesh relationship is automatically a profoundly deep and abiding relationship.
But the relationships that we invest in, the relationships that we spend time on and that we care about can become deep and abiding. If we care. If we put the time and the work in.
And what is true in the flesh is also true online. It's true: many online relationships are superficial and have little affect on our lives. The same sort of casual relationship that we have in the flesh. But if we invest time and effort and care, we can develop real and meaningful relationships that include online interaction.
My good friend and frequent collaborator Meredith Gould (whom I have never met in person) often says that who we are in "real life" is who we are online. If we have superficial relationships in which we don't invest time and attention in the flesh, we will have superficial relationships online. If we care to invest in deep and lasting friendships and community, we will find them both in the flesh and online.
Last week, an adolescent in my community was severely injured. We offered prayers in our community, and ministry in our community. I also posted about it on Facebook, inviting prayers for her healing and recovery. Messages of prayer and support and love flooded in from all over the world. From Lutherans and Catholics and Baptists and Pagans and Agnostics. And they have continued.
Last week, an adolescent in my community was severely injured. We offered prayers in our community, and ministry in our community. I also posted about it on Facebook, inviting prayers for her healing and recovery. Messages of prayer and support and love flooded in from all over the world. From Lutherans and Catholics and Baptists and Pagans and Agnostics. And they have continued.
And not just messages typed on keyboards. Phone calls. Text messages. Real prayers, offered up by real caring and loving people. A congregation in Florida (none of whom know me in "real life") who spent the entire Sunday School hour crafting handmade cards to let this young girl know that she is not alone and she is loved. All thanks to social media.
This is community. Real community.
Whether online or in the flesh, relationships are relationships. Period. End of sentence.
(PS - You should all go tell the intergenerational Sunday School of Trinity Lutheran Church, Pembroke Pines how awesome they are)
2013 Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod Assembly
What does a Synod Assembly look like on Twitter?
The 2013 Assembly of the TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod met May 16-18 at Camp Allen. The assembly was focused on Global Mission, welcoming Pastor Rafael Malpica Padilla and Pastor Sunitha Mortha as speakers. This is an archive of the tweetstream from the weekend
Scheduled Social Media?
Buffered tweets. Scheduled Facebook posts.
Almost every social media guru you consult suggests it. I get why. Sit down and do all that sort of stuff at once, then schedule it to come out at the best times for your audience (which may or may not be the best times for you as a content creator). I get all the very good reasons why you should schedule your social media.
But I don't. I won't. Here is what often happens during and following a crisis when people have scheduled tweets:
(This is not a one time occurrence. Someone does this every time - it just happened to be @ArtieDavis this time).
There are lots of good reasons to schedule tweets. There is one exceptional reason to not do so: It is called social media. Your audience can't have a conversation with a post scheduling app.
Do you want to excel at social media?
Quit talking at people, and starting talking with them.
Almost every social media guru you consult suggests it. I get why. Sit down and do all that sort of stuff at once, then schedule it to come out at the best times for your audience (which may or may not be the best times for you as a content creator). I get all the very good reasons why you should schedule your social media.
But I don't. I won't. Here is what often happens during and following a crisis when people have scheduled tweets:
(This is not a one time occurrence. Someone does this every time - it just happened to be @ArtieDavis this time).
There are lots of good reasons to schedule tweets. There is one exceptional reason to not do so: It is called social media. Your audience can't have a conversation with a post scheduling app.
Do you want to excel at social media?
Quit talking at people, and starting talking with them.
Is Your Church Media Social?
Social: Marked by pleasant companionship with friends ... tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships. (Merriam-Webster)
As one who teaches about social media, you would think that I'd be happy that more and more churches, religious leaders, and organizations are using social media. They have heard the stats (1 billion people on facebook! 1/2 a million tweets every day). And so, realizing the capabilities of these platforms, they have jumped on board.
But once on social media, they've done nothing but talk about themselves. "Come to our event! Buy my book! Visit our website! Read my blog!"
Here's an analogy to help see that this looks like.
Let's go to a party. A big room full of people, talking about shared interests and getting to know one another. As you walk into the party, you notice that there are three types of people. There are the people who are standing on the wall, choosing to not talk to anyone. There are the people having a great time, moving from group to group and enjoying one another.
And then there is the guy (it's always a guy for some reason) moving from group to to group, talking about himself. He has a story for every occasion - he is the hero in these stories, of course. If you know about something, he knows more. And if you manage to get in a word edgewise, you can tell that he is not really listening - he's thinking about what he will say next.
 |
| Social |
Too many churches sit on the sidelines of social media, refusing to join the party - and that's not a good place to be. But once convinced to jump in, many become the loud guy just talking about himself. Not listening to what others are saying, always talking about ourselves. That is not social media - that is broadcast media. And if there is one thing people love about social media, it is that it is not broadcast media.
So who are you / your church / your orginazation at the social media party: the wallflower, the loud guy ruining the party for everyone else, or the ones enjoying the social interaction?
Is your social media social?
(Up next: Signs that your social media might really be broadcast media)
Oreos in the Dark
$4,000,000 for 30 seconds. That's how much airtime for a Super Bowl ad cost this year. $130,000 per second. And that is just the airtime. Don't forget all the money paid to the advertising agencies. And the celebrities who got paid to appear in those ads.
And for all that, the best ad of Super Bowl XLVII was not even on TV.
In the middle of the Super Bowl, the lights went out at the Superdome in New Orleans. A power outage. CBS put up its best talking heads to try to fill the time. And over on Twitter, everyone at home was having a great time making Super Bowl Blackout jokes.
In the midst of it all @Oreo posted this:
No need to pay for air time. Oreo captured the moment perfectly. Or rather their social media team did. 15,500 retweets later, Oreo had a viral hit their hand. And how much does their Twitter presence cost the company? Oh yeah, that's right. Nothing. Nada. (Sure, sure. They pay their social media team. But no air time cost. No celebrity endorsements to pay.)
And here is the kicker. Your congregation has the exact same tools at their disposal.
That is the power of social media. The playing field is leveled. Everyone has the same tools. Everyone has the same power to share their message. Everyone has the same megaphone to talk about their work.
Which really only leaves me with one question: Why is the church not making better use of this tool? Why would the church pass up this opportunity to share the good news with the world?
And for all that, the best ad of Super Bowl XLVII was not even on TV.
In the middle of the Super Bowl, the lights went out at the Superdome in New Orleans. A power outage. CBS put up its best talking heads to try to fill the time. And over on Twitter, everyone at home was having a great time making Super Bowl Blackout jokes.
In the midst of it all @Oreo posted this:
No need to pay for air time. Oreo captured the moment perfectly. Or rather their social media team did. 15,500 retweets later, Oreo had a viral hit their hand. And how much does their Twitter presence cost the company? Oh yeah, that's right. Nothing. Nada. (Sure, sure. They pay their social media team. But no air time cost. No celebrity endorsements to pay.)
And here is the kicker. Your congregation has the exact same tools at their disposal.
That is the power of social media. The playing field is leveled. Everyone has the same tools. Everyone has the same power to share their message. Everyone has the same megaphone to talk about their work.
Which really only leaves me with one question: Why is the church not making better use of this tool? Why would the church pass up this opportunity to share the good news with the world?
Twitter Matrimony!
Ours was a wedding that embraced everything that technology can do to enhance the sense of community and our worship. More about that later, I am sure, as I continue to reflect on the events of last weekend. For now, here is our twitter stream.
This are all of the tweets about our wedding (as marked with our two wedding hashtags, #epicenterofmatrimony and #megarev). Our many friends who have protected or locked accounts also participated in this wonderful online worship experience, but their tweets are not captured by programs like this (Megan & I saw your tweets, thank you!).
This are all of the tweets about our wedding (as marked with our two wedding hashtags, #epicenterofmatrimony and #megarev). Our many friends who have protected or locked accounts also participated in this wonderful online worship experience, but their tweets are not captured by programs like this (Megan & I saw your tweets, thank you!).
Enjoy this glimpse into what the community of Christ looks like when it gathers from around the world to rejoice together.
Twedding Shower!
You may ask yourself, what in the world is a "Twedding Shower"??
The first one I saw was as my friends, Dan Webster and Meredith Gould, were preparing for their wedding. At an appointed time, their friends on twitter were invited to share their best wishes, prayers, and thoughts with the wedding couple. It was a Twitter + Wedding Shower, a Twedding Shower.
As Megan and I got close to our own nuptials, Meredith and the Church Social Media community offered to host the same for us. Below are many of the wonderful things that were said to us. (Many of our friends have protected or locked accounts, and their tweets do not show up in a program like this. But we saw them - and we thank you!).
The first one I saw was as my friends, Dan Webster and Meredith Gould, were preparing for their wedding. At an appointed time, their friends on twitter were invited to share their best wishes, prayers, and thoughts with the wedding couple. It was a Twitter + Wedding Shower, a Twedding Shower.
As Megan and I got close to our own nuptials, Meredith and the Church Social Media community offered to host the same for us. Below are many of the wonderful things that were said to us. (Many of our friends have protected or locked accounts, and their tweets do not show up in a program like this. But we saw them - and we thank you!).
I'm Talking to You
Dear Denominational / Institutional Leader:
I get it. Really I do. Your schedule is demanding and extremely full. Lots of meetings, travel, phone calls, and correspondence. You don't have time for one more thing. I understand.
You haven't had the time to learn about social media. Maybe you're interested - but who has the time?! Maybe you're not even interested. It just doesn't make any sense. I understand.
However, sooner or later you are going to be forced to deal with social media. Perhaps a crisis will arise in how a member of the clergy interacts with members of the congregation on Twitter. Perhaps someone under your care will have their marriage publicly implode on Facebook. Perhaps members of a parish will use social media to slander their leadership. Sooner or later you will have to deal with social media.
The question is: Would you rather learn about social media now, or in the middle of a crisis?
There are people out there already thinking about social media and ministry. Questions are being considered like how clergy should interact with members, what does public ministry look like online, how can church leadership deal with privacy concerns, and many more.
Check among your leaders - maybe there is someone who can guide you through this conversation. Go to the Church Social Media blog, the hub of an ongoing conversation about social media and ministry. Read up, and send a message to any of us who write for the blog or who regularly contribute to the conversation. We want to share what we know. Find people who use social media well, and ask them to be your guides. Host conversations within your synod/diocese/presbytery/organization about how people should best use social media.
At some point - most likely very soon - social media will find it's way into your ministry, even if you would rather have nothing to do with it. It is better to prepare yourself now.
Come, learn with us.
(Image: Dear Leader, by Telstar Logistics)
I get it. Really I do. Your schedule is demanding and extremely full. Lots of meetings, travel, phone calls, and correspondence. You don't have time for one more thing. I understand.
You haven't had the time to learn about social media. Maybe you're interested - but who has the time?! Maybe you're not even interested. It just doesn't make any sense. I understand.
However, sooner or later you are going to be forced to deal with social media. Perhaps a crisis will arise in how a member of the clergy interacts with members of the congregation on Twitter. Perhaps someone under your care will have their marriage publicly implode on Facebook. Perhaps members of a parish will use social media to slander their leadership. Sooner or later you will have to deal with social media.
The question is: Would you rather learn about social media now, or in the middle of a crisis?
 |
| "Dear Leader" |
Check among your leaders - maybe there is someone who can guide you through this conversation. Go to the Church Social Media blog, the hub of an ongoing conversation about social media and ministry. Read up, and send a message to any of us who write for the blog or who regularly contribute to the conversation. We want to share what we know. Find people who use social media well, and ask them to be your guides. Host conversations within your synod/diocese/presbytery/organization about how people should best use social media.
At some point - most likely very soon - social media will find it's way into your ministry, even if you would rather have nothing to do with it. It is better to prepare yourself now.
Come, learn with us.
(Image: Dear Leader, by Telstar Logistics)
Tweeting Events
You have gotten yourself to yet another conference or seminar. People around you are talking about the event on Twitter, or maybe there is even scrolling text on a screen of people talking about the event on Twitter. How can you get in on this conversation?
1) Do you have a twitter account?
First things first, as they say. If you have a twitter account, great. If not, go to Twitter, and select "sign up." All you need for a new account is an email address. If you are setting up a new account, go ahead and add just a little bit of biographical info and a picture to your profile. It will help other people know that you are a real person, and not a spammer.
2) Is there a designated hashtag?
A hashtag is a way of organizing conversations on Twitter. Look over your materials for the event - see that number sign (#)? That, along with the letters and/or numbers that come after it, is the hashtag. So, for example, at the Gulf Coast Synod (ELCA) Assembly this year, the hashtag is #TLGCS12 (Like many hashtags, it is a handy abbreviation: Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod Assembly, 2012). Figure out what hashtag people are using with your event.
3) Follow the conversation
Once you know the hashtag, there are a couple of different ways to follow the conversation:
Search within the Twitter website.
This is the simplest way to follow a hashtag. Go to the "search" bar across the top of the Twitter website. Enter the event hashtag. Click the search button. Ta-da! There is the conversation about your event! Note, you can sort the "tweets" - pieces of the conversaiton - either by popularity (click on "top" at the top of the search results) or chronologically (click on "all" at the top of the search results). This is the easiest way to follow the conversation - but it will not update as frequently as some other methods.
Twubs
UPDATED
Twubs is a wonderful website for following hashtag conversations. Log into your Twitter account, and then head over to Twubs. Click on "Sign Up" - it will open a new window, and ask to access your twitter information. Click "Ok." In the search bar at the top of the site, enter your hashtag. Twubs will filter all tweets with that hashtag, and will also add the hashtag to all of your tweets so that others can see them. It takes a couple of extra steps, but Twubs has some real advantages over a simple search on the Twitter website.
3rd Party App
Finally, you can use an application to follow the conversation. Two of the most popular are Tweetdeck and Hootsuite. Go to their respective websites, and download the program. Log in, authorize the program to access your Twitter information. From there, you can set up a real-time search for your hashtag, which will be there every time you open up the program. Once again, these applications take a few extra steps, but they are extremely beneficial if you are going to follow a hashtag over an extended period of time. (In my experience, the choice of Tweetdeck or Hootsuite is a matter of personal preference)
4) Jump In
Once you have followed the conversation for a bit, jump right in. What is interesting to you in the event? What is catching your attention? What are others saying that you want to know more about?
Depending on the size of the event and the number of people on twitter, the conversation could move quickly. Don't get overwhelmed - you do not have to read ever single tweet. Just watch for what catches your eye.
And now you are all set. Have fun, enjoy the conversation!
*Note* Mobile use: There are lots of very good mobile apps if you following a twitter conversation on your mobile device. I use Hootsuite and Tweetbot on my mobile devices.
1) Do you have a twitter account?
First things first, as they say. If you have a twitter account, great. If not, go to Twitter, and select "sign up." All you need for a new account is an email address. If you are setting up a new account, go ahead and add just a little bit of biographical info and a picture to your profile. It will help other people know that you are a real person, and not a spammer.
2) Is there a designated hashtag?
A hashtag is a way of organizing conversations on Twitter. Look over your materials for the event - see that number sign (#)? That, along with the letters and/or numbers that come after it, is the hashtag. So, for example, at the Gulf Coast Synod (ELCA) Assembly this year, the hashtag is #TLGCS12 (Like many hashtags, it is a handy abbreviation: Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod Assembly, 2012). Figure out what hashtag people are using with your event.
3) Follow the conversation
Once you know the hashtag, there are a couple of different ways to follow the conversation:
Search within the Twitter website.
This is the simplest way to follow a hashtag. Go to the "search" bar across the top of the Twitter website. Enter the event hashtag. Click the search button. Ta-da! There is the conversation about your event! Note, you can sort the "tweets" - pieces of the conversaiton - either by popularity (click on "top" at the top of the search results) or chronologically (click on "all" at the top of the search results). This is the easiest way to follow the conversation - but it will not update as frequently as some other methods.
Twubs
UPDATED
Twubs is a wonderful website for following hashtag conversations. Log into your Twitter account, and then head over to Twubs. Click on "Sign Up" - it will open a new window, and ask to access your twitter information. Click "Ok." In the search bar at the top of the site, enter your hashtag. Twubs will filter all tweets with that hashtag, and will also add the hashtag to all of your tweets so that others can see them. It takes a couple of extra steps, but Twubs has some real advantages over a simple search on the Twitter website.
3rd Party App
Finally, you can use an application to follow the conversation. Two of the most popular are Tweetdeck and Hootsuite. Go to their respective websites, and download the program. Log in, authorize the program to access your Twitter information. From there, you can set up a real-time search for your hashtag, which will be there every time you open up the program. Once again, these applications take a few extra steps, but they are extremely beneficial if you are going to follow a hashtag over an extended period of time. (In my experience, the choice of Tweetdeck or Hootsuite is a matter of personal preference)
4) Jump In
Once you have followed the conversation for a bit, jump right in. What is interesting to you in the event? What is catching your attention? What are others saying that you want to know more about?
Depending on the size of the event and the number of people on twitter, the conversation could move quickly. Don't get overwhelmed - you do not have to read ever single tweet. Just watch for what catches your eye.
And now you are all set. Have fun, enjoy the conversation!
*Note* Mobile use: There are lots of very good mobile apps if you following a twitter conversation on your mobile device. I use Hootsuite and Tweetbot on my mobile devices.
Social Media Basics: Quit It!
I am privileged to get to teach about social media from time to time, helping pastors and other church leaders to understand how to better use this medium to communicate the Good News. I love it.
And yet, from time to time I get frustrated as I watch people living out their lives on social media. I just want to yell, "Quit it!" when I see people behaving in unhealthy and unhelpful ways on social media. This unhealthy behavior takes many forms, but one in particular has caught my eye lately.
Spouses & significant others -- quit complaining about each other on social media. Just quit it!
Social media is a bullhorn. Would you go to the center of town, grab a bullhorn, and say those things about your significant other? Would you post that complaint on a poster and put it up around town? Because that is exactly what you are doing.
In fact, not just spouses and significant others -- let's just make the rule other people in general. When it doesn't happen on social media, we have a great word to describe this sort of behavior: gossip. Simply put, we (people of faith) do not (should not!) talk about other people that way in public. And social media is public.
And church workers - you should know better. All of us have sat through a homiletics class, where we were told that we should not use real people as sermon illustrations without their permission. If you are going to mention something about your spouse, or a member of the congregation, in Sunday's sermon, then talk to that person beforehand and make sure it is acceptable to them.
What a great rule for social media! After all, social media is essentially a pulpit - a place to make proclamations in the middle of the public square. So here it is: only talk about others on social media in ways that would be acceptable to them.
Or, to make more specific, ask your spouse or family member if it is ok if you post a given comment about them on social media.
And yet, from time to time I get frustrated as I watch people living out their lives on social media. I just want to yell, "Quit it!" when I see people behaving in unhealthy and unhelpful ways on social media. This unhealthy behavior takes many forms, but one in particular has caught my eye lately.
Spouses & significant others -- quit complaining about each other on social media. Just quit it!
Social media is a bullhorn. Would you go to the center of town, grab a bullhorn, and say those things about your significant other? Would you post that complaint on a poster and put it up around town? Because that is exactly what you are doing.
In fact, not just spouses and significant others -- let's just make the rule other people in general. When it doesn't happen on social media, we have a great word to describe this sort of behavior: gossip. Simply put, we (people of faith) do not (should not!) talk about other people that way in public. And social media is public.
And church workers - you should know better. All of us have sat through a homiletics class, where we were told that we should not use real people as sermon illustrations without their permission. If you are going to mention something about your spouse, or a member of the congregation, in Sunday's sermon, then talk to that person beforehand and make sure it is acceptable to them.
What a great rule for social media! After all, social media is essentially a pulpit - a place to make proclamations in the middle of the public square. So here it is: only talk about others on social media in ways that would be acceptable to them.
Or, to make more specific, ask your spouse or family member if it is ok if you post a given comment about them on social media.
And So It Begins ...
In certain circles I am known as a bit of a social media enthusiast. I think is is an important way for churches, clergy, and others to communicate not just with each other but with the world. I live out my life in the public eye: both in real life as the pastor of a congregation in a small town, and on social media.
And yet, last week I was scooped on social media. On Thursday, Megan Dosher (@megateer) and I made our engagement official. She also is an avid user of social media in various forms, but it was not her. No, it was Megan's mother who had posted the news of our engagement to Facebook within minutes of getting off of the phone with us.
And thus began what will be a very public engagement and wedding. Megan and I followed her mother's suit, and shared the news on both Facebook and Twitter (our primary social media networks). And we plan on this trend continuing. We have every intention of using social media to the fullest as we plan and celebrate our marriage.
Why? There are two primary reasons. (1) We both live very public lives. Certainly in regard to our chosen professions, we are in the public eye. Especially in a small town. And we embrace that facet of our life - it is a part of who we are. In fact, it is a good thing! Living life publicly (with good boundaries, of course) encourages a life that is transparent and authentic.
(2) We believe that a wedding is a public event. It involves not just the couple, but as an act of the church it involves the whole body of Christ. In Christian marriage, we call on the faithful to support, pray for, and hold accountable the relationship that is blessed in marriage. And for Megan and I, that is not just the people who gather in our congregations on Sunday mornings. It is also our friends and loved ones on social media - with whom we converse, pray, learn, and worship. We want to include them in the public witness of our marriage.
And so, the journey begins. There will be updates here, on our respective facebook and twitter accounts, and who knows where else. Please feel free to follow along, join the conversation, and share in our joy!
Last fall, I had the privilege of being an advanced reader on Meredith Gould's Getting #Married: Using Social Media to Celebrate the Sacred. Megan & I have both read and earmarked this book, and recommend it to others considering using social media in planning and celebrating their wedding.
Why I Love (Hate) Social Media
Those who know me, know that I am a fan of social media. I use social media in my own life in a variety of ways: in my personal life to stay in touch with family and friends, to keep connected with members of my congregation, and to discuss ministry with colleagues. My real passion for social media comes among colleagues, talking about how this resource can be used by the church to further the kingdom.The potential of these new forms of media was brought home to me in a surreal way this last week. Late Wednesday night, I logged on to Facebook, only to discover that they had changed up the appearance of the newsfeed. I saw a couple of complaints from friends about the new look, and I new how this would go. By morning there would be a flood of complaints about the new timeline. So I looked through my pictures, and found an image from someecards that I had posted from the last time Facebook changed the look of the feed, reposted it, and went to bed.
Now, I have had a few things I have posted become popular before. Mostly among other church folks, I've had a couple of posts from this blog get shared by as many as 100 people on Facebook (I thought that was pretty impressive!). Thursday morning I woke up, and the image had been shared 2,000 times. I was shocked. By the end of the day, it had been shared 5,000 times. It even had been shown on the Houston afternoon news and WGN in the evening. Yes - my post to Facebook was on the news from Houston to Chicago.
Let's do some quick math. Round down the average number of Facebook friends to 100. At 5,000 shares, this image was seen by at least half a million people. To put that in perspective: On an average Sunday, I preach to around 170 people. I serve a congregation of about 500 members, in a town of 14,000 people. With one post, I had reached 1,000 times more people than there are in the congregation I serve. By the next morning, I had friend requests from across the US, from Britain and Ireland, Germany and Austria, Australia and New Zealand.
I love the potential that social media has for reaching people. The church is called to carry the Gospel to all nations - to all corners of the earth. Just over five hundred years ago - the printing press made that mission more feasible than ever. Now social media has made it more practical, possible, and probable for the church to carry the message of the kingdom to the ends of the earth.
And yet ...
What gets shared on social media? I have posted about ministry, about politics, about the Gospel - about all sorts of things. Out of all those posts it is a silly post, about Facebook that went viral. Some of the most popular Twitter feeds are the ones that dole out sarcasm or pop culture commentary. Social media shows the truth of who we are: it is not the meaningful, deep conversations that move us. As a species, we are infatuated with the inane. And I hate that social media exposes our shallowness.
How do we, as people of faith, overcome our infatuation with the inane and use social media's potential for communication to share the good news?
Twitter Starter List
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
Social Media & the Church: Multiple Personalities
There is an epidemic among church leaders! As social media (facebook, twitter, google+, linkedin, etc) has grown in use, an ever increasing number of clergy and other leaders have developed multiple personalities. But wait, don't call in the American Psychological Association just yet. let me back up. As I pointed out in a previous post, the social media use of ministry leaders can be divided into five general groups:
- Only for personal use, only connecting with friends and family
- Only for professional use, everything they post related to their ministry, congregation, etc.
- Separating personal from professional, with a personal account for friends and family, and a professional account for congregational members.
- Integrating the personal & professional with one account
- Not at all (more clergy than you might expect, or perhaps not, given the church’s record for adopting new things)
I am interesting in talking about those of us who use social media for ministry - groups 2-4. There are some very good arguments why ministries should engage social media, already addressed by many folks in many places. But for now, I am going to stick to those of us who agree that we should be using social media for ministry purposes. Let me be up front: I fall into group #4. I think there are some very compelling reasons to have an integrated online persona, and I will get into that a little bit later.
Those who fall into groups 2 and 3 can be lumped together - their social media use is more less identical from a ministry perspective. Group #3 may post cute pictures of their kids, or complain about their day, but it is separate from their ministry account, so people following their ministry will not see it.
There are some very good, and some less good, reasons for pastors and others in ministry to use social media this way. Most importantly, it provides very clear and well defined boundaries. Not everyone who follows the ministry of the congregation wants to see pictures of the Pastor's vacation (especially not pasty Lutheran pastors on the beach!). Sometimes pastors need space to be honest about the congregations they serve - to vent a little bit - and it may not be a good thing for the whole congregation to see that private venting. Occasionally, a pastor may worry that what is said or implied on facebook - even if it is entirely unrelated to ministry - will be used as a weapon in next week's Council meeting (certainly no one in your congregation would ever do that, but in some of those other congregations). In general, this social media practice allows for a bit of differentiation between the pastoral office and the ministry on one hand, and the person who holds that office on the other.
Let me be clear: Although it is not how I use social media, I respect this position. I have colleagues who have been burned by not having clear boundaries, and they now try to avoid those pitfalls. I get it. But I do think there are some very good reasons to use social media in a more integrated way. First, a story.
A couple of weeks ago, my satellite receiver started acting a little strange. As a hopeless TV addict, this was unacceptable, so I put a call in to DirectTV. After walking through all the automated steps, I was on the phone with Lisa. Lisa was exceptionally friendly - we talked about my TV problems, and also about her family that lives in Texas and what shows she watches with her toddler. Lisa was not just helpful, she was friendly and personable. She scheduled a maintenance call for me, and in a couple of days James stopped by my house. James and I commiserated about driving in and around Houston, and about this horrible summer we're having. After those experiences, DirectTV is not just some brand name to me - it is Lisa and James. People do not relate to brands; people relate to people.
And social media is ultimately about relating to people - it is about community. If your whole facebook feed is updates about your congregation's worship services, people will begin to tune it out. If all of your tweets are links to to the ministry website or blog, other users are not going to engage your twitter account. People relate to real people, who live real lives.
In addition to opening up your social media following to a larger community, being personal also opens up a pastor's life so that parishioners can see him or her as more than just the person in the pulpit. As we share on social media sites, those who are involved in our ministries get to know us more and better -- and that draws us into more effective ministries in their lives.
Finally, I believe that it all eventually comes out. In the age of digital communication, there are no assurances that information will not get out. An email sent just to the congregational council can easily be forwarded on to someone outside the group. A status update posted to a private facebook account may be copied and pasted to someone else's profile. A protected tweet may be retweeted by someone else. It all comes out.
I live in a small town and if I am having lunch with someone downtown, there is a very good chance that anything I say may be overheard by an unintended audience. I treat social media like I do living here. Don't say things you wouldn't want everyone in your congregation or in the rest of your life to hear. Of course, this has been a great for my spirit as well -- If I wouldn't want someone to hear it, maybe I don't need to be saying it in the first place.
Ultimately, to quote someone much smarter than myself, I am who I am. I am the same person on Sunday morning as I am in downtown Brenham as I am on social media as I am in a small group Bible study. Pastor David is not a different person than just David.
Those who fall into groups 2 and 3 can be lumped together - their social media use is more less identical from a ministry perspective. Group #3 may post cute pictures of their kids, or complain about their day, but it is separate from their ministry account, so people following their ministry will not see it.
There are some very good, and some less good, reasons for pastors and others in ministry to use social media this way. Most importantly, it provides very clear and well defined boundaries. Not everyone who follows the ministry of the congregation wants to see pictures of the Pastor's vacation (especially not pasty Lutheran pastors on the beach!). Sometimes pastors need space to be honest about the congregations they serve - to vent a little bit - and it may not be a good thing for the whole congregation to see that private venting. Occasionally, a pastor may worry that what is said or implied on facebook - even if it is entirely unrelated to ministry - will be used as a weapon in next week's Council meeting (certainly no one in your congregation would ever do that, but in some of those other congregations). In general, this social media practice allows for a bit of differentiation between the pastoral office and the ministry on one hand, and the person who holds that office on the other.
Let me be clear: Although it is not how I use social media, I respect this position. I have colleagues who have been burned by not having clear boundaries, and they now try to avoid those pitfalls. I get it. But I do think there are some very good reasons to use social media in a more integrated way. First, a story.
A couple of weeks ago, my satellite receiver started acting a little strange. As a hopeless TV addict, this was unacceptable, so I put a call in to DirectTV. After walking through all the automated steps, I was on the phone with Lisa. Lisa was exceptionally friendly - we talked about my TV problems, and also about her family that lives in Texas and what shows she watches with her toddler. Lisa was not just helpful, she was friendly and personable. She scheduled a maintenance call for me, and in a couple of days James stopped by my house. James and I commiserated about driving in and around Houston, and about this horrible summer we're having. After those experiences, DirectTV is not just some brand name to me - it is Lisa and James. People do not relate to brands; people relate to people.
And social media is ultimately about relating to people - it is about community. If your whole facebook feed is updates about your congregation's worship services, people will begin to tune it out. If all of your tweets are links to to the ministry website or blog, other users are not going to engage your twitter account. People relate to real people, who live real lives.
In addition to opening up your social media following to a larger community, being personal also opens up a pastor's life so that parishioners can see him or her as more than just the person in the pulpit. As we share on social media sites, those who are involved in our ministries get to know us more and better -- and that draws us into more effective ministries in their lives.
Finally, I believe that it all eventually comes out. In the age of digital communication, there are no assurances that information will not get out. An email sent just to the congregational council can easily be forwarded on to someone outside the group. A status update posted to a private facebook account may be copied and pasted to someone else's profile. A protected tweet may be retweeted by someone else. It all comes out.
I live in a small town and if I am having lunch with someone downtown, there is a very good chance that anything I say may be overheard by an unintended audience. I treat social media like I do living here. Don't say things you wouldn't want everyone in your congregation or in the rest of your life to hear. Of course, this has been a great for my spirit as well -- If I wouldn't want someone to hear it, maybe I don't need to be saying it in the first place.
Ultimately, to quote someone much smarter than myself, I am who I am. I am the same person on Sunday morning as I am in downtown Brenham as I am on social media as I am in a small group Bible study. Pastor David is not a different person than just David.
Social Media & the Church: Who are Your Friends?
Over the last few months, I have been a part of numerous discussions about how the church generally and clergy specifically use social media – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. It has been a great discussion, and I have learned a great deal from my colleagues. There, however, one question where I find some disagreement (What?! Pastors disagree with one another?). I will come to that in a moment.
Generally, ministry leaders use social media in one of five ways.
For what I think are very good reasons, my social media usage follows model 4 more than anything else (more about that at another time). But, if pastors and other church leaders are going to use social media in any way as an extension of their church or their ministry (models 2-4 above), one question comes up fairly quickly: Should you initiate contact with members on social media? That is, should you friend them first on Facebook, or wait for them to friend you? Should you follow them on Twitter before they have followed you? Should you add them to a circle on Google+ if they have not circled you?
To be clear: this is a new issue in ministry. These are not questions that anyone could have imagined asking ten years ago; we are treading new ground here. The “accepted wisdom” – insofar as there is any – is that it is unwise for pastors or other church leaders to initiate contact on social media. I am not sure that I agree.
I get the reasoning. There is a power imbalance between pastor and parishioner. Members of the congregation may feel uncomfortable declining a friend request from their pastor, even if they do not want “the pastor” to see what is said on their wall. Church leaders (pastors, other rostered leaders, deacons, youth ministers, etc), should maintain healthy boundaries, and not insert themselves into the online lives of their members.
Really???
I wonder why this line is being drawn at social media. If you join the congregation that I serve, I will ask for your email address, your home phone number, and your cell phone number – and I will give you mine. You are welcome to decline to give me that information, but I am going to ask for it. I hope you know that you can trust me – as your pastor – to use such information responsibly and as is appropriate to our shared ministry and my call.
As a pastor, if I hear that a member is sick or in the hospital – whether that member tells me or I hear it from someone else – I am going to invite myself into that members home or hospital room. If it is at home I will probably call before I come over (not always), but I am going to initiate the contact and invite myself (the member is welcome to say no, but I would hope that they would trust me – as their pastor – to know that the visit is a part of my ministry and my call).
As pastor of the congregation, I may invite members into my home. Often for an open house or another congregation-wide, but sometimes (less often now that I am a single pastor) to share a meal. Those members are welcome to decline the invitation, and some do, but I am going to initiate the contact because it is a part of my ministry and my call to the congregation.
As pastors, most of us would see no problem “initiating contact” in these ways. We would view it as a part of our ministry, a part of our call to the congregation.
These illustrations, while imperfect (all illustrations are), get at the issue for me. Pastors are called to care for the members of the congregation that they serve (and other ministry leaders as well, in other ways). We are called to be a part of their lives – to help them to see the Gospel in their lives and to “care for their souls.” By calling me as their pastor, the congregation has initiated the engagement that we will then live out together. By calling me their pastor, members of the congregation have initiated our engagement together.
Our call to serve the congregation is our friend request. Our call to serve the congregation is our follow request. Our call serve the congregation is our invitation to be a part of the lives of the congregation.
Ministry leaders should be involved in the social media lives of their members. But we should do so with the same sense of responsibility that we use with every other aspect of our members lives. Mindful that we are being trusted not to abuse that relationship, and to only use it insofar as it is appropriate to our ministry. What that looks like is different in various settings and ministries, and we should be wary of one-size-fits-all solutions to using social media.
What do you think? Should pastors friend members (or otherwise initiate social media engagement)?
Generally, ministry leaders use social media in one of five ways.
- Only for personal use, only connecting with friends and family
- Only for professional use, everything they post related to their ministry, congregation, etc.
- Separating personal from professional, with a personal account for friends and family, and a professional account for congregational members.
- Integrating the personal & professional with one account
- Not at all (more clergy than you might expect, or perhaps not, given the church’s record for adopting new things)
For what I think are very good reasons, my social media usage follows model 4 more than anything else (more about that at another time). But, if pastors and other church leaders are going to use social media in any way as an extension of their church or their ministry (models 2-4 above), one question comes up fairly quickly: Should you initiate contact with members on social media? That is, should you friend them first on Facebook, or wait for them to friend you? Should you follow them on Twitter before they have followed you? Should you add them to a circle on Google+ if they have not circled you?
To be clear: this is a new issue in ministry. These are not questions that anyone could have imagined asking ten years ago; we are treading new ground here. The “accepted wisdom” – insofar as there is any – is that it is unwise for pastors or other church leaders to initiate contact on social media. I am not sure that I agree.
I get the reasoning. There is a power imbalance between pastor and parishioner. Members of the congregation may feel uncomfortable declining a friend request from their pastor, even if they do not want “the pastor” to see what is said on their wall. Church leaders (pastors, other rostered leaders, deacons, youth ministers, etc), should maintain healthy boundaries, and not insert themselves into the online lives of their members.
Really???
I wonder why this line is being drawn at social media. If you join the congregation that I serve, I will ask for your email address, your home phone number, and your cell phone number – and I will give you mine. You are welcome to decline to give me that information, but I am going to ask for it. I hope you know that you can trust me – as your pastor – to use such information responsibly and as is appropriate to our shared ministry and my call.
As a pastor, if I hear that a member is sick or in the hospital – whether that member tells me or I hear it from someone else – I am going to invite myself into that members home or hospital room. If it is at home I will probably call before I come over (not always), but I am going to initiate the contact and invite myself (the member is welcome to say no, but I would hope that they would trust me – as their pastor – to know that the visit is a part of my ministry and my call).
As pastor of the congregation, I may invite members into my home. Often for an open house or another congregation-wide, but sometimes (less often now that I am a single pastor) to share a meal. Those members are welcome to decline the invitation, and some do, but I am going to initiate the contact because it is a part of my ministry and my call to the congregation.
As pastors, most of us would see no problem “initiating contact” in these ways. We would view it as a part of our ministry, a part of our call to the congregation.
These illustrations, while imperfect (all illustrations are), get at the issue for me. Pastors are called to care for the members of the congregation that they serve (and other ministry leaders as well, in other ways). We are called to be a part of their lives – to help them to see the Gospel in their lives and to “care for their souls.” By calling me as their pastor, the congregation has initiated the engagement that we will then live out together. By calling me their pastor, members of the congregation have initiated our engagement together.
Our call to serve the congregation is our friend request. Our call to serve the congregation is our follow request. Our call serve the congregation is our invitation to be a part of the lives of the congregation.
Ministry leaders should be involved in the social media lives of their members. But we should do so with the same sense of responsibility that we use with every other aspect of our members lives. Mindful that we are being trusted not to abuse that relationship, and to only use it insofar as it is appropriate to our ministry. What that looks like is different in various settings and ministries, and we should be wary of one-size-fits-all solutions to using social media.
What do you think? Should pastors friend members (or otherwise initiate social media engagement)?
Why Twitter Matters
I avoided Twitter. I set up an account about a year and a half ago (@rev_david), but it largely sat their unused. I didn't see the point. It seemed like a waste of time. I couldn't see the personal or professional benefits of learning my way around Twitter. Sure, I used Facebook extensively. I blogged. I was not opposed to social media. I just didn't see the benefit of this particular form of social media.
About a month ago, I thought I would dive in. I connected with some people. I had some good dialog with new people and with old friends. As a theological, homiletic exercise, I tweeted as Judas.
And then came Wednesday, April 25. It was in a flash on my Twitter feed, which I keep up while working in my office, that I saw the news of tornadoes in Alabama. Tornadoes headed for Chattanooga, my hometown, and the current home of family members and friends.
So I searched. Who was tweeting from Chattanooga? From North Georgia? I contacted my parents, to check and see if they were okay. They were without power, riding out the storms. Sitting at my desk in Brenham, Texas, I had better information about what was happening in and around Chattanooga than they did at times. Through Twitter, I knew exactly when and where the tornadoes where appearing in the Chattanooga area. All of a sudden, Twitter didn't seem like a waste of time.
And then came tonight, Sunday, May 1. Relaxing after getting home late from a very long Sunday, I was talking with recently met colleagues about "low Sunday," the first Sunday after Easter. Just about ready to call it a night. And then, a tweet: "President to have a press conference at 10:30 pm." People began to speculate. This was sudden. This was late at night. What could it be?
Many guesses. Then, a few rumors. Then a flood. "POTUS Press Conference national security related." "Related to Bin Laden." "Reliable sources say Bin Laden is dead."
I turned on my TV. Nothing. The Apprentice was still on NBC. The news channels said it was a security related press conference. That was all. And then, some fifteen to twenty minutes later, "Confirmed: Osama Bin Laden dead."
Ok, it was fifteen to twenty minutes that the news was out on Twitter before in the media. That may not seem like much. But the fact is, this was reliable information, spread by the people, directly to the people; without filter. And all of a sudden, Twitter didn't seem like a waste of time.
Yes, you can still waste time on Twitter. Yes, there is a great deal of inane content on Twitter, and even more unreliable information disseminated through Twitter. Like any crowd-sourced information source, Twitter has its flaws. And yet, at times it works. And when it works, we get a glimpse of what social media is designed to do.
Many thoughts running through my mind tonight, waiting for the press conference to begin. But among them is this: Twitter does not seem like a waste of time tonight.
About a month ago, I thought I would dive in. I connected with some people. I had some good dialog with new people and with old friends. As a theological, homiletic exercise, I tweeted as Judas.
And then came Wednesday, April 25. It was in a flash on my Twitter feed, which I keep up while working in my office, that I saw the news of tornadoes in Alabama. Tornadoes headed for Chattanooga, my hometown, and the current home of family members and friends.
So I searched. Who was tweeting from Chattanooga? From North Georgia? I contacted my parents, to check and see if they were okay. They were without power, riding out the storms. Sitting at my desk in Brenham, Texas, I had better information about what was happening in and around Chattanooga than they did at times. Through Twitter, I knew exactly when and where the tornadoes where appearing in the Chattanooga area. All of a sudden, Twitter didn't seem like a waste of time.
And then came tonight, Sunday, May 1. Relaxing after getting home late from a very long Sunday, I was talking with recently met colleagues about "low Sunday," the first Sunday after Easter. Just about ready to call it a night. And then, a tweet: "President to have a press conference at 10:30 pm." People began to speculate. This was sudden. This was late at night. What could it be?
Many guesses. Then, a few rumors. Then a flood. "POTUS Press Conference national security related." "Related to Bin Laden." "Reliable sources say Bin Laden is dead."
I turned on my TV. Nothing. The Apprentice was still on NBC. The news channels said it was a security related press conference. That was all. And then, some fifteen to twenty minutes later, "Confirmed: Osama Bin Laden dead."
Ok, it was fifteen to twenty minutes that the news was out on Twitter before in the media. That may not seem like much. But the fact is, this was reliable information, spread by the people, directly to the people; without filter. And all of a sudden, Twitter didn't seem like a waste of time.
Yes, you can still waste time on Twitter. Yes, there is a great deal of inane content on Twitter, and even more unreliable information disseminated through Twitter. Like any crowd-sourced information source, Twitter has its flaws. And yet, at times it works. And when it works, we get a glimpse of what social media is designed to do.
Many thoughts running through my mind tonight, waiting for the press conference to begin. But among them is this: Twitter does not seem like a waste of time tonight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)