get your bishop on twitter… and keep him there!

Get your Bishop on Twitter…and keep him there!

Annette Gonzales TaylorDirector of Communications, Catholic Diocese of Dallas

Cynthia Gill BatesNew Media Specialist, Catholic Diocese of Dallas

Why should your bishop

be on Twitter?

And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Acts 2:4

Believers are increasingly aware that, unless the Good News is

made known also in the digital world, it may be absent in the experience of many people for whom this existential space is

important.- Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the 47th World Communications Day

Twitter StatsMonthly Active Users:

255 MillionDaily Active Users:

100 Million

Average time per month spent by users

on Twitter:170 Minutes

Percentage of Twitter users that check

Twitter multiple times a day:29%

Percentage of Twitter users that use it at least

once a day:

46%

Source: http://mashable.com/2014/03/05/american-digital-media-hours/

Source: Catholic New Media Use in the United States, 2012Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University , Washington, D.C.

Catholic New Media Use

• 9% visit parish website regularly• 4% visit their diocesan website• 2% regularly use a website

associated with one of the Church’s educational institutions (from elementary schools to colleges)

• 2% regularly use a Catholic news website

Source: Catholic New Media Use in the United States, 2012Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University , Washington, D.C.

Source: Catholic New Media Use in the United States, 2012Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University , Washington, D.C.

Catholic New Media UseOne of the main concerns for the Church’s presence online

• Reluctance by Catholic Church leaders to use the internet (42%)

Source: Catholic New Media Use in the United States, 2012Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University , Washington, D.C.

Image Credit: http://instagram.com/p/nm695/#

Making the proposal

Talk to your Bishop about getting on Twitter

Step 1:Do your homework and have a plan

What will be expected of

Bishop?

Find options to support Bishop

with tweets

Automated content?

Select Technical Support and

Graphic Design contacts

Define chain of command for crisis

management

Step 2:Open the discussion with Bishop

Make sure to say:

EASYSIMPLE

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Show the benefits of a Twitter

account

Show examples of other Tweeting

Bishops

@BishopBarnes@BishopSeitz

@BishopMorlino @OCBishop

@bishop_conley@ArchbishpSample

@CardinalSean@abp_carlson@Bishopoftyler@BishopStika

Mentions:• A Tweet containing

another user's Twitter username, preceded by the "@" symbol

Negative Mentions – what should you do?

Refine your plan as needed

Refine your plan as needed

Step 3:Get your Bishop set up on Twitter

Sign Up for TwitterSelect a good Twitter name!

FirstLast - @BishopSeitzFirst_Last - @bishop_farrell

@Bishop_Jenky Location - @Bishopoftyler (Strickland) @ArchbishopOKC (Coakley)

Abbreviations - @BpDavidRicken @abp_carlson

Catchy Phrase - @Pontifex @OCBishop

(Vann, Orange County)

Find people to follow

Create a bio (160 characters)

Bishop Kevin Farrell was appointed Seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas on March 6, 2007 by Pope

Emeritus Benedict.

Twitter GraphicsHeader Photo

1500 pixels wide by 500 pixels high(Tip: Upload high-res or

3000x1000)

Profile Photo400 pixels by 400 pixels

Step 4:Teach your bishop to use Twitter

Easiest Way:Twitter phone app for iPhone or Android

Tweet online:Twitter.com

Twitter terms• Tweet• Retweet• @Replies• #hashtag

Tweet:• 140 Characters of

text• May include

image• May include link

Source: Twitter.com

Mentions:• A Tweet containing

another user's Twitter username, preceded by the "@" symbol

Source: Twitter.com

Reweet:• Sharing content

of others with their handle

• Two-click update

Source: Twitter.com

Reweet:

@Replies:• A reply to another

Twitter user’s Tweets

Source: Twitter.com

Source: Twitter.com

Hashtags:Trending topics made searchable#cmc14

BONUS ROUNDAdvanced support and maintenance for Twitter accounts

Follow tweets via text msg

Text follow [username]

to 40404Source: Twitter.com

Schedule tweets with

Four steps for getting your Bishop on Twitter:Do your homework and have a planOpen the discussion with BishopGet your Bishop set up on TwitterTeach your bishop to use Twitter

Source: Twitter.com

For More Information on Twitter as well as a copy of this presentationwww.cathdal.org/tweet