Using Facebook As Your Primary Website
Posted April 14th 2010 @ 1:13 pm by JerodLifeChurch.tv recently announced a new strategy as they're working on a redesign of their website. The multi-site church is planning on creating custom Facebook landing pages to use as a primary web presence for each of their campuses. Currently information for each satellite is on their main website and they've noticed it's become hard to navigate for visitors.
Bobby Gruenewald, the Innovation Leader for LifeChurch.tv, gave these reasons for the transition:
- Instead of forcing people to come to us (our site), Facebook allows us to go where they’re already active online. Instead of trying to be a separate destination, we get to integrate with their lives.
- The outreach potential is huge. Example: we post a baptism photo and tag the person in the photo who is getting baptized. The photo shows up on that person’s Facebook wall, as well as in their friends’ feeds, giving them a simple way to share their new life in Christ with their Facebook friends.
- In addition to conveying information about events, classes, etc., Facebook creates the opportunity for community and connection. It serves as an online representation of the campus, where people can get to know each other, ask questions, and keep up with what’s happening in people’s lives and the life of the campus.
- It reduces bloat on our LifeChurch.tv site and allows us to be laser focused with our content there.
- We don’t have to re-create the wheel. Facebook is already accomplishing many of the goals we have for our campus communication. By leaning on their tools, it frees up time and development resources in the long run.
- It’s free!
Even if you're a small church, there are some compelling reasons listed here to think about in terms of your own Facebook presence. If your church members are already using Facebook, why not be there? It's easier to communicate about upcoming events and it makes it simpler for your members to share information about your church with their friends.
Plus I love the idea about keeping your main website focused on your key content, making it simpler to use. It even makes me start to wonder if it's better to invest your time in a Facebook page instead of an actual website if you don't already have one. That really depends on who your congregation is and who you're trying to reach. But if your Facebook page is public, than anyone could see it anyway just like a regular website.
So what do you think about this strategy for LifeChurch.tv? How does it make you think about your own church's Facebook presence (or lack thereof)? Have you made a commitment to using Facebook for your church? If so, how's it working out?
(As a side note, LifeChurch.tv has also put together some training videos for using Facebook. You can check them out by clicking here.)
Comments (7)
To save costs, we (Telkwa CRC) dropped our website earlier this year (but we kept the domain name in case we change our mind). Our online presence is now Facebook. It’s a public profile, so anyone can view it, including people who don’t want to sign up for Facebook. Not only have we tagged people in photos, but we’ve also tagged people in the nursery and musician schedules we post under “Notes” to help remind them of when they’re volunteering for these things. We also use the Events feature regularly. So far, people are using it primarily for information; I wish the congregation posted more comments or would “like” things. Something that is a bit annoying is that whenever an admin posts something, it’s posted by “Telkwa CRC.” So even though several different admins post things, it always looks like it comes from the same “person” named Telkwa CRC. But it’s free (“beggars can’t be choosers”) and ubiquitous, which greatly outweighs the drawbacks. Perhaps one of the best things about it is how it easily connects us with youth and young adults who constantly use Facebook; in fact, this is a ministry some churches may wish to delegate to youth to set up and maintain as they’re already experts at it!
The growth of Facebook has been extraordinary. In fact, Morgan Stanley recently pointed out that Facebook use has overtaken email usage. I’m a huge fan of Facebook. I believe any organization, church or ministry that is sitting on the sidelines not participating on Facebook is missing the boat. But, as someone who advises nonprofits, ministries and a few pastors on strategy, I’d caution using Facebook as any organization’s primary platform. I may be misunderstanding what LifeChurch.tv is doing, but from what I read, I’d have 3 cautions: 1. Facebook controls/owns your content. Unlike an organization that hosts their own website, Facebook is in charge of your content. Sort of like handing the keys to your office to people you don’t know. 2. Facebook constantly changes their rules. Facebook is steadily revising and changing what you can and can’t do on their pages. And if you don’t like that, too bad see #1 above. 3. Finally, there is a reasonable concern about Facebook accounts being hacked. The big-time blogger Denise Wakeman’s FB account was hacked. It’s pretty scary reading. You can find the narrative here: http://bit.ly/E5deY Love the concept and agree 100% with many of their uses of FB but the practicalities of using Facebook as a primary channel make me nervous. Coincidentally, I blogged about this yesterday, so it is on my mind. Love your work and blog. I hope I don’t sound critical, but just wanted to offer a caution. Thanks for your great work. st
Enjoy your website and blog. Our company is a heavy Facebook user and constantly recommend it as a key strategy for our clients: ministries, nonprofits and some pastors. There are some difficulties in making Facebook your primary online presence (or even your primary dynamic presence). 1. Facebook owns the pages. Unlike a hosted situation, Facebook can literally do whatever they wish with your pages. They probably won’t do something you won’t like, but they can. 2. Facebook is constantly revising and changing their rules. With little or no warning they have rolled out game-changing rule changes. Because of item #1 above, the church will have little or no recourse. 3.Facebook gets hacked. A big-time blogger Denise Wakeman had a serious problem with her Facebook page. You can read the drama here: http://www.biztipsblog.com/2009/07/facebook-hack-update-on-the-saga.html It is pretty sobering reading. 4. Facebook content is not typically backed up by the user. There are 3rd party applications that allow backups, but most users don’t employ them. Which considering these cautions, isn’t wise if Facebook is your primary active platform. All of that said, Facebook is THE social media platform, but anyone making it their primary should think carefully about these (and other issues) before putting all their eggs in this one basket. Facebook is growing like crazy, not only in number of users but in the percentage of users. Clearly Facebook will be the Social Media platform, but it isn’t perfect and might not be the best, single platform without careful consideration. Thanks for your blog and thoughtful, timely topics. Love your organization and your work. st
I’m glad to hear it’s working out for you. I know some organizations that have multiple admins will put initials or a first name in parentheses at the end of a post. That way people know who from the church is writing the post. Just a thought.
Good points Steve and thanks for the kudos. Sorry that those comments got lost in the spam folder. I went ahead and put them both up to make sure all of your thoughts are shared. There is definitely some concern about letting your content live on a platform you don’t own or control. Unfortunately, that’s part of being in the social media realm. I think at the end of the day that’s why it’s probably optimal to have a main website as well.
I am actually very much interested on the way lifechurch was able to customize their fan page. I partner with a bible school that is looking to enlarge its presence on facebook and gain more students for it’s semesters. Does anyone have any knowledge on how they were able to do this? Thank you!
It seems like you need to know some HTML code to create a custom landing page. Here are a couple of blog posts that might give some insight. http://www.timschraeder.com/2010/03/17/parks-facebook-page-why-your-church-needs-one/ http://churchcrunch.com/creating-a-facebook-page-for-your-ministry-part-4/
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