Social media strategy & the church

SI Filings

“By the time churches have fully embraced Facebook, many of their members and those they are trying to reach may have left it behind.” - BPress

Discussion

Being Salt and Light in the Middle of a Twitter Mob

SI Filings

Jaron Lanier: “Whatever you say will be contextualized and given meaning by the way algorithms, crowds, and crowds of fake people who are actually algorithms mash it up with what other people say.” - CToday

Discussion

Tweets & Peeps: When Social Media & Friends Collide

Guest

Republished from Baptist Bulletin April/May 2017 with permission. © Regular Baptist Press, all rights reserved.

by Daryl A. Neipp

In 2013, researchers conducted an online survey and discovered that 78 percent of users have experienced a rise in arguments and hostility within social media platforms.

Specific findings include these:

  • 3 in 4 have witnessed an argument on social media;
  • 4 in 5 report rising incivility online;
  • 2 in 5 have blocked, unsubscribed, or unfriended someone as a result;
  • 1 in 5 have reduced in-person contact with someone over a cyber argument;
  • 88 percent believe that people are less polite on social media than in person;
  • 81 percent say emotional conversations held on social media are most often unresolved.

Discussion

Don't Allow Facebook Groups to Replace Personal Discipleship

Susan R

I have joined many parenting- and homeschool-related Facebook groups over the last few years, as well as groups for mom bloggers. Most of the groups I belong to were started by Christian women seeking to help others.

I think it’s fun to log on, see what people are asking about, give a short answer, and move on to the next item in my news feed, because I enjoy the apparent efficiency of digital communication. It’s on my time, and my terms. I answer what I want, when I want. I can think about what I want to say, write and edit and rewrite until I’m satsified. It feels good to think I might have helped someone work out a problem. So that’s a good thing—right?

Not when you realize the extent to which we can choose what we want to reveal and conceal, and the lack of consequences if we don’t exercise wisdom and discernment. I believe these are reasons Facebook groups offer an enticing alternative to personal discipleship.

Discussion