Churches are increasingly investing more time into social media. It can be a great way to connect with members, regular attenders and new folks in a place where people are already hanging out. Whether you’re just getting started in social media or have been at it for awhile, here are three tips for avoiding a few common mistakes.
Don’t set it and forget it. Launching a Facebook page or setting up a Twitter account is the easy part. The challenge comes in keeping it up to date. If...
Veteran Facebook users still log into Facebook, but they post less.
That’s one of the findings from a study done by the digital consultant agency Beyond as they look to predict how people will use social media in the future. And for me, it’s a great insight to why I, like some of you, have been feeling Facebook fatigue.
This idea also jibes with my personal experience lately. While I don’t see friends posting as often, I do see them interact with the things I’m sharing. So they’re not...
There’s still plenty of debate in churches around the question of, “Is social media really relational?” It’s probably a fair conversation to have as long as it’s not just an excuse to quickly dismiss using social media because it’s new or too hard to do. But I’d like to layout my reasoning that social media is indeed relational.
Throughout its history, the people behind Twitter have been good at catering to what their community of users find useful. I was recently listening to an interview with Biz Stone, one of Twitter’s founders, when I was reminded that some of Twitter’s most popular features are ones that weren’t conceived by the company. For example, two popular features, @replies and hashtags, were started by the community of users. And in the response to the popularity of the features, Twitter integrated...
Nathan Bierma’s a social media guy. He’s the communications and web manager for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. That’s why I was a little surprised to see he was going to talk about the dangers of using social media as part of his presentation at this year’s Calvin Symposium on Worship.
I’m always weary when the terms social media and dangers are used in the same sentence. It almost always ends with some sort of excuse not to engage in Facebook or Twitter. That’s why I was so...
Whether your church is new to social media or you’re looking for a little more interaction, here are some tips to get your Facebook and Twitter communities going.
Find a posting rhythm. When people follow you on Twitter or like you on Facebook, they’re expecting to hear from you. Maybe you post a few times a week to Facebook and a couple of times a day to Twitter. Really, the frequency isn’t as important as the regularity. If you settle on posting a certain number of times a week, stick...
Thanks to everyone who came to the two workshop sessions I led last night at the Volunteers in Service Leadership Training Event. I really enjoyed the questions, conversations and heart for ministry you all have.
Here's the slide show I used, although it may seem a little random considering I don't really have notes to accompany it. I just talked. So if you're looking for more detail on each of the topics, download our resource "Website 101: Seven Basics Vital to a Good Site" becasue the...
Recently, Twitter jumped into the easy sharing pool by releasing the official tweet button. Joining the Facebook “like” button, Twitter has made it easy for folks coming to your website to share your stuff on their favorite social media outlets. Here’s a quick intro video from Twitter about the new button.
Twitter has also made it really easy to add the button to a webpage even if you don’t know a lot of code. Through the Twitter website, you can enter some basic information and...
Rhett Smith is a pastor, therapist, blogger and technology savvy guy. During his Echo Conference session, he talked about not letting social media and technology replace your in-person relationships. Here are a few notes.
Family is Rhett's accountability for using new tools. How will using a new technology effect my relationships with my family?
"My vocation is, at each moment, to make the person in front of me the most important person in my life." -Ronald Rolheiser.
There is no doubt that the brand of the week last week was Old Spice. Following up on a fairly popular commercial campaign, the Old Spice Guy went social, You Tube, Twitter and Facebook style, by responding to people’s questions and comments with short, funny videos. Lots of people, and companies, got involved asking questions. Old Spice Guy even ended up mediating a wedding proposal.
The videos were funny, engaging and popular. Many of the week’s top viewed videos on You...
