WHY CHURCHES CAN’T

AFFORD TO IGNORE

SOCIAL MEDIADr Bex Lewis

Director, Digital Fingerprint

Research Fellow in Social Media and Online Learning, CODEC Centre for Digital Theology, Durham University

March 2015 for http://www.new-wine.org

http://j.mp/churches-new-wine

https://twitter.com/drbexl

Let’s “tweet” each other… “Let’s Tweet Each Other”

Image Credit: Facebook Meme

https://twitter.com/hanelly/status/405754162555944960/photo/1

Even though in practice, face-to-face

communication can, of course, be

angry, negligent, resistant, deceitful and

inflexible, somehow it remains the ideal

against which mediated communication

is judged as flawed.

Prof Sonia Livingstone, Children and the

Internet: Great Expectations and Challenging

Realities. 2009, p26

SOCIAL media

The Big Questions

•Why

•Where

•What

•Who

•When

•To achieve

what?

•How do the

digital tools

help achieve

this?

WHY?

http://youtu.be/jottDMuLesU

http://pennystocks.la/internet-in-real-time/

The Church Front Door?

For many churchgoing is no longer the

‘cultural norm’. People don’t actively ignore

the church: they don’t even think about it.

Matthew 5:13-16 calls us to be salt and

light in the world, and for thousands in the

‘digital age’, that world includes social

networks such Twitter, Facebook, YouTube

and Pinterest. With literally billions in the

digital spaces, the online social spaces

presented by churches need to be

appealing, welcoming, and not look like

they are just an afterthought: they are now

effectively the ‘front door’ to your

church for digital users, and you ignore

those spaces at your peril.

http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/blog/churchgrowth/growing_churches_in_the_digital_age Image Credit: Sxc.hu

The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual

world, but is part of the daily experience of many people,

especially the young. Social networks are the result of

human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the

dynamics of communication, which builds relationships: a

considered understanding of this environment is

therefore a prerequisite for a significant presence

there.

Pope Benedict XVI (2013)

@drbexl

"If you want to build a presence in the social

media platform, then you need to be

present."

- @unmarketing

Networks of Networks

We are not selling something to the world that will

make more people like us, believe in our story, join

our churches. We are trying to be something in the

world that invites connection and compassion,

encourages comfort and healing for those in need,

and challenges those in power to use that power in

the service of justice and love

(Drescher, 2011, 127)

Rev Prof David Wilkinson

God is a communicating

God: “In the beginning

was the word, and the

word was God…”.

God is extravagant in

communication – he is not

a silent God who has to be

tempted into

communicating with

people.

Image Credit: Durham University

Push/Pull Media…

Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh

Social Media: More than

the cherry on the cake!

WHERE?

Lots of options….

Facebook

http://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2015/01/2015-facebook-marketing-success-kit-

infographic.html

Twitter

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/twitter-facts-2015/612443

YouTube

Blogging

https://www.pinterest.com/revmaryhawes/

WHAT?

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Articl3-600x374.jpg

Who sees this?

1. God

2. Parents

3. ‘Kids’

4. Newspaper

5. Enemy

Human Beings

at machines, not

“are machines”

Image Source: Stockfresh

http://twitterforchurches.com/blog/2009/06/29/crisis-

communications-for-the-social-media-age/

Don’t overthink. Running through

committees, endless drafts and approval

processes to get a response out there

can cause far more damage than good.

As long as you have taken the time to

assess the situation and can take a

rational, respectful tone in your

response, even an awkward response is

OK to start with, and buys you time to

continue to respond to the problem.

Principles of Good Engagement

•Be interesting

•Be encouraging

•Be active

•Be helpful

•Be authentic

WHO?

Who does social media?

Find Your Voice(s)

Saint Teresa of Avila (adapted by Meredith

Gould, 2010)

Christ Has No Online Presence but Yours

Christ has no online presence but yours,

No blog, no Facebook page but yours,

Yours are the tweets through which love touches this

world,

Yours are the posts through which the Gospel is shared,

Yours are the updates through which hope is revealed.

Christ has no online presence but yours,

No blog, no Facebook page but yours.

http://churchsocmed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours.html

Clarify Audience

• Age?

• Gender?

• Location?

• Educational Level?

• Beliefs?

• What are they searching for?

• How can you make it easier for them to find?

• How can you make it easy for them to want to

share?

WHEN?

http://small-bizsense.com/the-best-times-to-post-on-social-media/

http://www.methodist.org.uk/ministers-and-office-

holders/technology-and-church/social-media-guidelines

• The principles applied to this are:

• Be credible. Be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent.

• Be consistent. Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation.

• Be cordial, honest and professional at all times. Be responsive. When you gain insight, share it where appropriate.

• Be integrated. Wherever possible, align online participation with other communications.

• Be a good representative of the Methodist Church. Remember that you are an ambassador for Christ, the Church and your part of it. Disclose your position as a member or officer of the Church, making it clear when speaking personally. Let Galatians 5:22-26 guide your behaviour.

• Be respectful: respect confidentiality. Respect the views of others even where you disagree.

Hootsuite

What is your ONE

takeaway action?

@drbexl @digitalfprint

QUESTIONS?