In keeping with the theme yesterday of social networks, I came across a graphic today (a portion on the left) that illustrates the average age of social network users.  Churches have to realize that these are the tools people use when they are not in church (or sometimes while in church).  If this is where people are…shouldn’t ministry happen there as well?

See the full infographic here…

What do you think?

Having a technology strategy is critical for your ministry. The reason I say strategy is that not every social media tool is a right fit for every ministry – yet as we move towards 2011, church marketing must include some elements that are “social”. Your church website is no longer just an online brochure – it is active and personal.  Integrating a Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube component into your site is an absolute must. Take a few minutes to get further acquainted with the the growing force that is social media:

Please indulge me for a moment.

I need to rant.

One of the core tenants of social media is that it is supposed to be social.  Social means that there is conversation.  Conversation is a two way or multi-player communication channel.  It started out that way at least.  In the past year, I have noticed a very glaring shift.

The Conversation is Starting to Wane

People may be reading, consuming, and filtering information from blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, but the interaction within these channels is not what it was even six months ago.

I subscribe to about 60 blogs in Google Reader.  I have begun to notice that there are fewer people commenting now than there used to be.  Many excellent posts garner few if any comments at all.  On this blog as well, fewer and fewer comments are left (hey maybe in this case, it’s my writing) – It was time for an experiment –  I decided to start leaving more comments across the blogs I read.  Some of the comments would reveal my identity, others would be anonymous.  In the past month, I have left upwards of twenty five comments on almost as many blogs,  The result – not one author or reader of any of these blogs has commented on or followed up on the comments I left.

I opened a conversation and the air is dead.  I am left to believe that no one is listening.

What surprises me the most is that the post authors are silent!  Tons of work goes into writing informative blog posts.  If the author is writing but not responding what does that say?  Maybe I am late to the game and people have already discovered long a go that there is no point commenting because there will be no response.  What is the problem?  Seriously, I am at a loss here!

On the blogs that I do see comments, forgive me, but they are so pithy.

“Great post“. “Thanks man“. “Cool“.  ”Word“.

What is that all about?  The channel has no substance.  No one adding to the thoughts, few disagree, and most say nothing at all.

Is The Conversation Dead?

So can it be that everyone is so busy talking that no one is listening?  Has social media just built up a cacophony of noise and no real substantial conversation.  The problem is not a lack of great content – ideas, teaching, and philosophies.  They abound!  Where is the conversation?

OK – now here’s a gutsy move …

What do YOU think? Come on, don’t just read – speak up (yes, you).

Share what you think!  Start a conversation.  I promise to respond.

Rant. Done.

Five Months. Twenty seven weeks. One hundred and ninety days ago.

Over this time period I also refrained from active use of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media channels of our day.  I went cold-turkey – off the grid…because I had to.

Burnout

Without going into it in too much depth, I hit the wall, burnt the candle, fried a circuit.  Plain and simple I was exhausted.  I knew in September and October that I was really tired, but it wasn’t until I was placed on doctor sanctioned rest that the full realization of just how exhausted I really was.  I had suppressed a lot of exhaustion – and far further and deeper than I had even realized.  I was off work, off line, and essentially spent the first 6-8 weeks of the rest period sleeping.  Yes sleeping.  It even amazed me.  I slept 14-16 hours a day for weeks.  Thankfully, this really helped.  The crazy physical symptoms that manifested in my body in October began to subside and by Christmas I was about 50% of the way towards recovery.  My doctor continued the rest prescription and I remained on medical leave until March 8th, 2010 – 18 weeks!

The Social Gap

Through this season of recuperation I laid low.  I was silent.    I had plenty of support – from my family, close personal friends, and my church community.  The physical relationships were strong networks of support and healing.  I am very grateful for all those who compassionately poured into my life.

However, social media proved its weakness during this time for me.

My social media community is relatively small compared to many.  I have just over 200 friends on Facebook, 666 followers (ya, I know) on Twitter, and 71 subscribers to my blog.  A tight little online community.  Granted, I never specifically said anything about my plight.  But given the immediate and outright absence of posts and tweets, only one “follower” noticed.  Michael Holmes.  Michael sent me a couple direct and personal messages throughout my ordeal.  He noticed the silence.  He was paying attention.  He saw the “quiet on Twitter”.  He noticed the missing blog posts.  He was tuned in…and he responded.  I have never met Michael face-to-face.  Our entire friendship is in the pixels.  Yet Michael acted as a true friend.  Thanks Michael!

People Not Pixels

This is not meant as an indictment on my other friends and followers.  I know that I have failed others in the same way.  Social media loses the personal-connection amidst in the noise of distribution.  Social media’s primary benefit is for relaying and collation of information.  Sure, there are ways to deepen the relational-divide online.  Yet social media in its essence is best for keeping a social “tab” on people’s lives who you feel an informational connectivity with.  It is not a substitution for the real value of genuine community.  We are after all people, not pixels.  We are conversations not keyboard characters.  Sure we can post pictures, details, stories, and sagas.  All this is still limited and often drowned out in the rush and noise of the-online-life and can easily get lost in the “feed”.

Spring

With the dawn of spring I return refreshed, rested, rejuvenated, and restored.  I feel better physically, mentally, emotionally, and most importantly spiritually, than I have in years.  With great anticipation, I look forward to the dawn of a new season, new career, and new online influence.  I know personally that God has used the last 5-months to teach me alot about himself, myself, and my career.  This is the dawn of a new day and I spring forward on the adventure that will continue to unfold over the coming months.  For you my friends and followers…I appreciate you and I look forward to sharing new insights and perspectives on how churches can embrace technology and marketing tools to communicate with greater excellence and impact in our culture.

Please join me on the journey!

Image via Flickr: gfpeck

“Do you have some suggestions for HOW to foster two-way communication through a website? Or how Facebook/Twitter factor into that?”

Rather than answer this excellent question as a comment reply, I figured it warranted a post of its own!

Integrate Media

Today, web sites, if they are “good” are far more than online brochures.  Yes, your site provides basic information for first-time visitors but it needs to go deeper.  Your church has a golden opportunity to connect, engage, and minister to people:

• when they are ready to engage
• where they can “replay” what they need to learn
• in a dialogue that is respectful and encourages them to grow

How can you do this?  It is not simple but the opportunities are there if you are willing to implement them.  So what kinds of media am I talking about?

Online Video

Services like YouTube, Vimeo, and Blip.tv allow you free broadcast of video that can be integrated into your site.  Yes, this requires you video taping your service or creating some other video teaching piece.  It takes work – but it is very affordable.  Essentially the cost of a video camera and your time.  The more editing you do, the more time.  The impact however is undeniable.  This resource will also allow people to leave comments, ask questions, and create online conversation on the topic if your site is built using a CMS (Content Management System).

Audio

Like video, you could create podcasts which are replicas of your Sunday service or a more content specific podcast that specifically is oriented around web-teaching.  Again, the ability to generate conversation around this is powerful.  The beauty of audio over video is that with today’s mobile devices like iPods, your content goes where people go and they listen when they are ready.

Blogs

Integrating a blog into your site is an excellent way to share teaching, life applications, and the pastor’s personal thoughts.  The pastor (if the one writing the blog) has a venue to become more transparent and “real”.  Their personality comes out more than it often does behind the pulpit.  The cost is time.  The benefit is online conversation and the potential to engage the church community beyond the Sunday service – several times a week.

Social Media

The most common social media to integrate into a church website today are Facebook and Twitter.  These may become more extensions of the site than actual active components within the church website.  They are real-time life relational elements.  A church gets to see the lives of their people outside the church.  Pictures, comments, thoughts, and emotions.  People share a lot about themselves through these tools.  You get to listen and engage at the same time.  By developing a Facebook site for your church gives people a common place to connect and share their pictures of church events and add commentary on any topic that resonates with them.  There are a ton of additional social media tools emerging.  The opportunities will continue to grow.

The Challenge

In closing, though all these tools are great ways to foster two-way communication, there is one challenge to all of them.  They need an “owner”.  People in your church have to drive this stuff.  A Facebook site without someone to drive, monitor, and encourage the content will die a painful death.   A blog that only has one post a month becomes quickly stale.  Your church needs to build and maintain momentum with these tools and the only way that happens is if someone with passion for the conversation is willing to “own” it.

So, those are my thoughts.  What are yours?  Share some of your experiences (good and bad) in using these tools.  If you haven’t tried any of these things…what are your hesitations?

I like what they have done.  I don’t watch Huntley much on TV – their audience is typically the over 50+ generation.  I like that they are stepping out of their traditional ministry platform (TV) and at least attempting to integrate social media.  Their social media following is still in its infancy (they only have 97 followers on Twitter for example) but they are trying!

They are not “following” anyone and I would hope that their social media integration would become more of a two-way connection and conversation.  Social media is not a one-way channel.

Blogs: Allow you to write your message of hope daily…and people can subscribe via RSS.

Facebook: Allows a church to connect people so they can see pictures, have conversations, and share their lives online – to be a community.

Twitter: Allows a church to broadcast short messages out to many people in 140 characters!

YouTube: Allows a church to post interesting videos online so they can bring their message to life.

Podcasts: Allow a church to record and distribute their Sunday sermon or any other commentary cheaply and let it go around the world to be listened to whenever and wherever the listener chooses.

Their are tons of other tools too and more being developed every year.  I would encourage churches to embrace some of these tools.  The ability to be a publisher for little or no cost has never been available before like it is today.  Seize the day!

What tools does your church use? Are there any others that you think would really help a church be an effective publisher?

• Your web site can not be an online brochure
• It can not be just facts and figures
• It needs life – people want an experience
  

People expect to “connect” with organizations – they need basic information but it is far better if you interact with them then just tell them through text who you are.  They want to see the life in your organization.  They want to hear, see, and touch what you are all about.  This is done through video welcome messages, podcasts, real-life pictures, testimonies and stories of real people who call your community home.  They want blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and more.

Please know that you do not need to do all this all at once.  However, you do need to start to transition your church web site from a static brochure into an interactive experience.  People want to see you are real.  Don’t tell them what you think they want to hear.  Let them experience who you really are.