Happy 6th birthday to Twitter! Writing for Mashable.com, Stan Schroeder effectively captures the significance of this milestone in the first two sentences of his post, which was publsihed earlier today: On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey tweeted the first ever tweet on Twitter. The sheer fact that you can understand that sentence shows you how far Twitter has gone since then. So What? Twitter passed the 500 million user count last month and Read More …
#FF – Follow Friday (#0656)
Every Friday morning I wake up to a Twitter stream that differs from the other six days of the week because of #FF or Follow Friday. This weekly event is a way that those on Twitter can share who they value and encourage others to consider following those individuals (or entities). So What? Months ago I found that with each new Follow Friday I asked myself "who do I follow?" While this was a good way to evaluate my ever expanding list of those I follow on Twitter, it also pushed me Read More …
What About Twitter is Appealing? (#0574)
Carol Howard Merritt, a Presbyterian pastor and the author of Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation (2007 - read my review here) and Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation (2010 - read my review here), recently was interviewed by the Christian Century. Among other things, she was asked to "say more about what you find so appealing about Twitter." Her response, in part, follows: I use Twitter in a couple of ways. It's a news stream for me . . Read More …
Teens & Social Networking (#0551)
The Pew Internet and American Life Project released "Teens, kindness and cruelty on social network sites" last week. Educators, parents, and those who work with teens in any capacity should consider the report a must read (click here to access the full 86 page report). It reviews the multi-stage research that began in December 2010 with a meeting of experts to help refine the project, continued with focus groups of middle and high school students in January and February of 2011, 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 …
Twitter – Religious Leaders & Religious Content (#0515)
Claire Diaz Ortiz - leader of social innovation, philanthropy, and causes for Twitter - attended Catalyst's recent Be Present conference to network with the speakers and many of the 13,000 attendees. This appeal is a part of a larger effort by Twitter to reach out to religious leaders. So What? In her article on this story, Sarah Pulliam Bailey quoted Diaz Ortiz: It's about relationships and social media is about relationships. A lot of companies don't understand that. They Read More …
Do Church Members View Your Website? (#0508)
In the July/August 2011 edition of Presbyterians Today, Joelle Anderson and Ida Smith-Williams wrote an article about trends in how Presbyterian congregations communicate digitally. They reported on research that shows a significant increase, between 2001 and 2008, in the percentage of congregations who use e-mail and websites to communicate with members. So What? While congregations have moved toward websites, perhaps congregants have moved beyond them. More specifically, Read More …
In 5 Words or Less (#0502)
Jonah preached what is arguably the shortest sermon in the Bible (Jonah 3:4): just 8 words in the NRSV: Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! just 7 words in the Message: In forty days Nineveh will be smashed just 5 words in the original language (Hebrew) So What? One need not be long-winded to be effective. The results of Jonah's five word sermon were nothing short of amazing. In our sound bite culture where big ideas are often conveyed or Read More …
Reflecting on 500 Blog Posts (#0499)
In 2009, I moved from an observer to a participant in the growing world known as social media. In January, I joined Facebook. Within a few months, I was logging in to Facebook several times a day. In May, I secured a domain name. In June, I launched this blog. Initially, I wrote a few posts a week In September, I joined Twitter. Within a few months, I was tweeting several times a day. As I wind down my third year in social media, I recognize that statistics tell a Read More …
Social Media Tools for Churches 101 (#0497)
Alys Drake, communications manager for Howell Marketing Strategies, recently wrote a guest commentary in the Commercial Appeal that provides churches with a "social media primer." She includes six basics: Blogs Twitter Flickr and Tumblr Facebook Geolocation (e.g. Foursquare) Other (YouTube, Ustream, Vimeo, podcasting, QR codes, Google+) So What? In the article, Drake states, "Information is spread at lightning speed via social networks like Facebook and Twitter in a way Read More …