In the spring of 2009, I decided I'd like to enter the world of blogging. At the time I was serving First Presbyterian Church in Naples, Florida, and felt blogging would be an easy way to share some of my thoughts with congregants between newsletters and other more formal communications. And, from colleagues I knew who had started blogging ahead of me, I expected my content would have the potential of reaching a much larger audience. Naming the Blog Before I could begin, I needed to Read More …
Social Media in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic (#1885)
Social media has played such a significant role for so long that I rarely think about life before social media. Perspective When I stop and think about the arrival of social media - and the onset of my utilization of it - I recognize that I spent most of my life in a pre-social media world. I started using social media in my thirties. In 2009, I entered the world of social media when I joined Facebook. Later that year I started this blog and joined Twitter. I added LinkedIn in 2011 Read More …
40 New Online Worship Experiences (#1864)
Online worship is what many are calling the new normal. Earlier today I asked my Facebook friends to share links to the online services they planned to participate in today. I was overwhelmed by the response! The following list is comprised of the first forty replies I received that included online English language services available on Facebook, YouTube, or the congregation's website. While I recognize that many congregations provide worship on multiple platforms, Read More …
The Latest Step in My Social Evolution (#1692)
I was born in Texas and have spent most of my life as a resident of this great state. Over the years I have heard the following expression used and seen it on bumperstickers and tee-shirts many times: I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could. Getting Social I was not born in the age of the internet. I was taught that a social was an occasion for people to be together in the same physical space. While I was not among the first to create a robust online Read More …
Bible Over Facebook? (#1397)
Around 143 million people in the US and Canada check their Facebook accounts on a daily basis. By comparison, the number who read the most popular book of all time - the Bible - in those countries on a daily basis is around 40 million. In other words, the daily Facebook users outnumber the daily Bible readers by more than 3 to 1. So What? I will admit that I check Facebook more often than I open a Bible (in any and all formats both online and offline). Is the same true for Read More …
Why Facebook? (#1332)
According to a recent Pew Research survey, men and women share many "major reasons" for using Facebook. The top reason women use Facebook is to see photos/videos whereas the top reason men use Facebook is that it allows them to share with many people at once. So What? Whether you are a relative newcomer to Facebook or have been a part of this social community for many years, it is likely your own major reasons for using it have evolved over time. While some of the change may have Read More …
The Problem with Facebook (#1306)
Derek Muller of Veritasium, an educational science channel on YouTube, recently posted a 7-minute video exploring the current problems with Facebook. If you and/or your organization spend any time on Facebook, then I encourage you to listen to Muller's video in its entirety. So What? Muller comments, "The beauty of social media is that it's the user who gets to control the content, who they interact with and how." As Facebook increasingly limits what content users see and Read More …
What Impacts Your Mood? (#1290)
A new two minute viral video from BuzzFeed, "Everyday Things That Affect Your Mood," has been viewed nearly 1 million times. As you watch it, consider your own life experiences. So What? Among the "surprising" things that can affect your mood, the video lists disorganization, colors, smoking, Facebook, job promotions, and your bedside lamp. Mood matters. What additional factors do you find affect your mood? Do you try to control the variables on the video's list and Read More …
Liking = Protected Speech (#1183)
According to a court decision made last week, clicking "like" on a Facebook post or page is now considered to be free speech protected by the First Amendment. This ruling by Judge Traxler of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, VA overturns the earlier ruling, and has significant implications for employment (the matter at hand in this case) and beyond. So What? The online world has grown and evolved at a rapid rate. Laws developed before the internet expansion often do not Read More …
Taking a Break (#1151)
Time for a Break A great deal has changed in the world of blogging since I started writing on a daily basis nearly three years ago, and much has changed in my own life as well. What Next? Over the next few weeks, I plan to gather input from many sources. I encourage you to leave your thoughts as a reply to this post. More specifically: What about this blog do you find most helpful? What type of content would you be most interested in reading in the future? When you think of Read More …