Blog

Facebook recently announced a new feature called Places.  It’s joining other services, like Foursquare, that make it easy for you to share were you’re currently hanging out whether it be your favorite coffee house or your friend’s abode.  It’s only available to iPhone and iPod Touch users right now, but Facebook says apps for other devises will soon follow.

The premise is simple.  You click on the Places icon.  Facebook locates you and asks you if you want to “check in.”  You check in your friends who might be with you as well by tagging them.  Here’s a video from Facebook explaining why you can’t live without Places:

I haven’t been able to use Places yet as I’m greeted by a screen telling me it’s not available in my area.  So with that disclaimer, let’s keep moving on in this conversation to look at potential good and bad aspects of Places for the church setting.

Good Potential

• It’s another way your members can share your church with friends in a comfortable way.  Friends will be able to see you checking in at church just like they would with any other location.  That can lead to questions or conversations without feeling like you’re overbearing.

• People nearby your church may now become more aware of it.  A feature of Places is to see where people are checking in near your current location.  If someone’s walking by, or at a restaurant near your church, they could see the activity of people checking in there.

• Loyalty rewards.  I’m not completely sure I’m sold on this, but I’ll put it out there.  I know churches that reward teens in youth programs for regular attendance.  And there are churches that make the push for people to come to church regularly, too.  This could be an accountability tool where people can show they’ve been coming.   

Other Potential

• Information overload.  I guarantee Places will be a feature that drives a good number of Facebook users nuts.  We all know people who already think folks share the most mundane things on Facebook, so you can only imagine what they’ll think about people updating where they are.  Your church will be in the Places fray and that may turn some people off to your church.

• Double lives.  I think there’s a responsibly on the churches part to continue to teach about living out a Christian life everyday of the week.  Social media can make your actions incredibly transparent.  If someone is checking in at church on Sunday and posting crazy pictures of themselves on Tuesday, there’s a disconnect.  This is a reflection not only on the person, but your church as well.  I’m by no means saying a church can control this, but it’s something to think about when planning sermons series, announcements, etc.      

Other Information

Claim your Place.  As with any social media setting, make sure you represent your church so you can see what’s going on and have the privileges that can come from being an administrator.

If you are the official representative of your business, please take the following verification steps to claim the Place on Facebook:

1. Search for the Place on Facebook you wish to claim as your business. If no Place exists for your business, you can create a new Place.
2. Once you locate the Place for your business, click the "Is this your business?" link at the bottom of the Place.
3. Complete the step-by-step verification process to claim your Place.

If Places doesn’t sound like your thing personally, here’s how you change your privacy settings:

You can adjust who can see stories about Places where you check in by following these steps:

1. Select the "Account" drop-down menu in the upper-right of the screen.
2. Click "Privacy Settings."
3. Choose one of the four privacy settings options: Everyone, Friends of Friends, Friends Only, or Recommended.

If you wish to fine-tune your default privacy settings for Places where you check in:

1. Click the "Customize settings" link while on the main Privacy Settings page.
2. Select the drop-down menu next to "Places I check in."
3. Click "Customize" to share with or hide places you’ve checked into from specific people.

Here’s a link to general Places FAQ’s from Facebook.

I know Places is still very new, but what are your initial thoughts?  How do you think it might be used by your church?