Today (June 30) is Mashable's third annual Social Media Day. Several cities (including Tampa) have officially joined the celebration. Individuals can participate by participating in one of over 400 meetups and/or joining the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #smday ( to view the live stream of tweets simply click here). So What? Social media is changing the way we connect with each other. It is a frequent topic here at sowhatfaith: 15% of all posts are Read More …
social media
Social Media Fatigue (#0763)
Alan Rudnick, social media guru and pastor of First Baptist Church ( Ballston Spa, NY), recently blogged about social media fatigue. Those who spend significant amounts of time using social media may find they occasionally suffer from fatigue and would benefit from stepping away from it all for a specified period of time. Sometimes the signs of fatigue are all but impossible to ignore. Those unsure if fatigue is present would benefit from asking someone close for insight Read More …
Considerable Complexity – Social Marketing (#0761)
Many congregations are rethinking how they spend their limited marketing/advertising dollars. In most cases less and less money is allocated for print (phone book, direct mail, etc.) in order to free up additional funds for new media. While this shift seems logical, the next steps are far less clear. One of the troublesome aspects of entering this new arena is the considerable complexity of social marketing. The graphic below, from Buddy Media, illustrates this quite Read More …
A Ministry of Digital Presence (#0739)
Keith Anderson, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (Woburn, MA) and co-author of Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (2012), recently blogged about the importance of social media for ministry. He writes: As the Internet goes mobile and we spend more time there, the line between our digital and face-to-face lives is rapidly blurring. This integration of our digital and analog lives, whether we choose to embrace or resist it, is changing our lives and, therefore, the practice Read More …
Being and Becoming Virtually Religious (#0681)
“Virtually Religious: Technology and Internet Usage in American Congregations," the latest Faith Communities Today (FACT) report, provides insight into the current role of technology in churches by means of an aggregated data set that includes responses from over 11,000 congregations affiliated with over 120 denominations. Congregational use of technology continues to increase: During the most recent decade (2000-2010) congregational use of email and websites more than doubled: email Read More …
Women Are Smarter Than Men (#0655)
Jeff Bercovici's recent article on Forbes.com explains the key findings of the latest poll by the Pew Internet & American Life Project: When it comes to managing their social media profiles, women, on average, behave more like mature, responsible adults while men act like impulsive adolescents. Some of the gender differences include: Allow only friends to view content: two-thirds of women - less than half of men Have deleted people from network: 67% of women - 58% of men Read More …
No Longer Divided: Virtual and Real (#0650)
Elizabeth Drescher is the author of Tweet If You Love Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation and co-author of the forthcoming Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (2012). In a recent guest post for Union Theological Seminary's New Media Project she provided one of the best brief explanations of the shifts in life on and off-line: Social media participation has clearly become a real part of the lives of almost every American in nearly every demographic Read More …
Social Media Interaction with Students (#0552)
Earlier this week Slant33, a part of Barefoot Ministries, posted the responses of three youth ministry experts to the question: "Where do you draw the line on social media interaction with students? Why?" The responses vary widely: D. Scott Miller, director of the Division of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, has a personal policy to never friend anyone under the age of eighteen on Facebook. Additionally, he believes this is the best policy Read More …
Do You AudioBoo? (#0524)
Earlier this week I discovered AudioBoo. I invite you to listen to a two minute message I just created using that tool: My Initial Experience with AudioBoo (mp3) So What? AudioBoo seeks to "be the one platform you use when you want to record audio, share it or keep it safe for the future." Currently you can record new content from your computer or iPhone, Android and Nokia devices. Soon, you will also be able to do so using Blackberry and Windows Mobile. AudioBoo Read More …
Reconnecting (#0518)
It used to be very unusual for me to hear from someone I had not communicated with in years. Now, it occurs on a somewhat regular basis. More often than not, these contacts occur because of (and often through) social media. It is easier than ever to reconnect with someone you lost touch with some time ago and for whom you no longer have accurate contact information. The ease of finding and contacting someone means that some will leverage this opportunity for something Read More …