We've covered the ethics, the landscape, and a bit of the history of social media.
We checked out some of the problems it has caused and how it has affected our society and how it's even rewiring our brains.
Now I hope to argue for why you and your congregation should jump straight into the strange and ever-changing landscape of social media.
I will outline the three big reasons to do so. Please feel free to question, disagree, and add your own perspective here.
1. Old Media is Expensive. New Media is Free.
A Florida pastor decides to host "Burn a Koran Day." Not one of the traditional media channels cover his offensive event. Not print. Not TV. Not even radio (and there's lots of crazy stuff on the AM channels!). Yet this pastor of a church of under 100 sets off riots in the Middle East.
How?
Youtube.
This is a negative example. But it holds power.
Through the use of social media, your church is not just local (like the diner place-mat ads we take out). Your church is not just national (like we can't afford). It's GLOBAL.
Through the use of social media, we can by-pass the traditional channels of evangelisim/marketing/advertising. And we do this at no financial cost. The only cost is learning how to use the tools. Even that is free and easy as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and many others, all have super helpful tutorial sections on their sites.
2. Increased Visitor Traffic
1 in every 9 people on the planet is on Facebook.
Traditional Websites and Social Media Sites reach 80% of those who are already on the internet.*
Odds are extremely good that a first visit to your church will be via the internet. When visitors show up, they already have a sense of what your church is about. What we have on our hands are free tools to help us be "Fishers of People" (Matt 4:9). The mission of the church is to go and make disciples (Matt 28:19) and the web is an invaluable tool to help you attract visitors.
3. If You're Not Online, Who is?
I'm sure your congregation is the nicest bunch of people on the planet. I'm sure your liturgy and theology are rock solid and rooting in Scripture, your tradition, and history of your community. But how will visitors know this if you're not on the web?
And who is on the web? That Florida pastor is. And that's not good for all Christians in general.
The church down the block is.
The mega-church in your area is.
You don't have to have the massive, expensive production that they do. You just have to communicate clearly what your about and that will attract people.
So go out and be a blessing that bends the internet towards the good (like Paul Rausenbush stated).
Get your community online and start fishing for people (like Jesus stated).
*From Toni Birdsong's Social Media presentation
Nice. I'm going to share it on my church's facebook page (isn't that topical?). Here's some reasons I think the church needs to be on the web: 1. The web is open 24/7--that lonely person who can't sleep and is looking for meaning in his/her life is cruising the internet and finds a church that welcomes even insomniacs and loners. 2. The church is global, and so is the internet. We can share partnerships with people all over the world. We can have interest groups (ie: 2030 group) that help us figure out who we are individually, together. 3. If I hear one more person say, "Just look at how many kids are in worship-- this church is dying" and then in the same conversation say, "Well I don't have E-mail so we can't use that as a means of communication" I'm going to scream. Keep up, sister! 4. The uber-conservative voices have taken over social media. I'm tired of people saying, "I wish Christianity was more like your church." It is. We just don't boast as much. So let's boast, right? This is one of the reasons I want to start a podcast of my own, to be a progressive voice in social media.
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