Earlier this year I wrote about generational differences in online activity based on data from a Pew Research Center study that showed how many people in each generation participate in various online activities. The percentage of people who participate in a given category tends to decline from generation to generation, but even the oldest generations still engage in a significant amount of online activity. Increasingly the digital divide or gap between those who have access and those who lack access to technology isn’t the key issue for ministry. While it remains an issue, I am convinced that especially with social media in ministry the biggest gap isn’t access but knowledge.
So What?
Since the knowledge gap can be overcome with education and is primarily generational it affords many opportunities for churches. In my last two parishes I have had better attendance from those over aged 60 for classes on Facebook than for any Bible studies I led. In one instance, I even had to move the multi-week class to a larger room and gather some teaching assistants to offer hands-on help to students as needed.
- Do you agree or disagree with my assertion that the social media divide in ministry is increasingly about knowledge not access? Why or why not?
- What has your local congregation done in the last year to provide learning opportunities for persons of all ages who want to learn about social media?
- How can providing this education become a beginning point for increasingly intergenerational collaboration within your local congregation?