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Online Social Networking

If asked two years ago if you "tweeted," most of us would have replied, "What do birds have to with anything?" If asked, "What is the probability that 150 million people across the globe will be sharing detailed personal information on the Web and creating networks of hundreds of 'friends'?" many would have said, "Close to zero." If queried on the fastest growing platform for interacting with friends, hardly any of us would have said, "My mobile phone."

The reality is that online social networking has taken hold, and it looks like it's here to stay. We as ministry leaders will become irrelevant should we choose to ignore it. Recent statistics from Compete.com indicate that 68.5 million unique visitors interacted with Facebook last January. Add to that the 58.5 million unique visitors who went to MySpace that month, and you have a staggering number of people relating and communicating in an entirely new way.

We might be tempted to think that this phenomenon is only related to those who grew up typing with their thumbs on a device many of us use for talking. An April 2009 Harris Interactive study indicates this might not be the case, at least in the United States. Consider that while 74 percent of those ages 18-34 have a Facebook account, 47 percent of those ages 35-44 and 41 percent of those ages 45-54 have one. That's nearly half of all adults under the age of 55.

We also might be tempted to ask, "What does a social site for engaging friends have to do with me or my ministry?" The short answer: plenty. Social networking is more than just another website. It is fundamentally changing how people engage with one other, and, in a very real way, conditioning people to think differently about who makes up their community and how they interact with them.

As a result of the widespread and incredibly quick adoption of online communities, we can reach and engage many more people than ever before. We need to deploy online communities as an extension, not a replacement, of traditional forms of community. Blogging, online forums and chats, and the ability to post individual, personalized content are important components of developing an online social presence. We need to become familiar with these tools and develop strategies to leverage them to broaden our reach and deepen our impact.

Statistics show that your current and future constituents are familiar with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, MySpace, and a host of other sites. They want and expect to have similar capabilities when they engage with your organization and those who are part of it. The social-networking phenomenon has taught them to be comfortable engaging with likeminded people, and equally comfortable engaging with those who might have a different opinion. What's critical is that they have a place to engage others in meaningful dialogue around a common topic or interest.

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Posted: September 23, 2009 7:26 AM Really?

I got to the end of the article and thought, so what? What, exactly, can we do to use social media. Stats are important, but we need to minister to people in a real way. Stats rarely tell the whole story, either. I, for example, am a 49 yr old woman who was sent a link to this page through Facebook. I am now writing this response from my iPhone. I often "attend church" through my phone on the Northlandchurch.com site (excellent sermons,by the way). All this to say, social media is not only important for the younger crowd. It touches all ages of congregants. This article is misleading and offers no meat... No substance. No "how to." Evernone with a Facebook page thinks they're a social media expert these days. If you want more substance, look to the experts, not to those who use a lot of words to say nothing more than "Social media is good."

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Posted: October 03, 2009 1:18 AM Bernardita Y. Dadole

I thank you for having social networking. I have just open a facebook account but I am still studying on how to use it. I am not familiar on how to work with social networking. I received several e mail from different organization. Thank you I hope you will be patient with me to learn the networking .God bless all of you

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Posted: September 22, 2009 8:20 PM I Hate Liars

First rule about talking about social networking -- make sure you are honest in representing yourself. Cyberspace always sniffs out the phoneys and will expose you. This author doesn't have any real social networking experience and it is a shame that he is pretending he does in this article.

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