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WHY CHURCHES CAN’T
AFFORD TO IGNORE
SOCIAL MEDIADr Bex Lewis
Director, Digital Fingerprint
Research Fellow in Social Media and Online Learning, CODEC Centre for Digital Theology, Durham University
March 2015 for http://www.new-wine.org
http://j.mp/churches-new-wine
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https://twitter.com/drbexl
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Let’s “tweet” each other… “Let’s Tweet Each Other”
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Image Credit: Facebook Meme
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https://twitter.com/hanelly/status/405754162555944960/photo/1
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Even though in practice, face-to-face
communication can, of course, be
angry, negligent, resistant, deceitful and
inflexible, somehow it remains the ideal
against which mediated communication
is judged as flawed.
Prof Sonia Livingstone, Children and the
Internet: Great Expectations and Challenging
Realities. 2009, p26
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The Big Questions
•Why
•Where
•What
•Who
•When
•To achieve
what?
•How do the
digital tools
help achieve
this?
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http://youtu.be/jottDMuLesU
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http://pennystocks.la/internet-in-real-time/
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The Church Front Door?
For many churchgoing is no longer the
‘cultural norm’. People don’t actively ignore
the church: they don’t even think about it.
Matthew 5:13-16 calls us to be salt and
light in the world, and for thousands in the
‘digital age’, that world includes social
networks such Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
and Pinterest. With literally billions in the
digital spaces, the online social spaces
presented by churches need to be
appealing, welcoming, and not look like
they are just an afterthought: they are now
effectively the ‘front door’ to your
church for digital users, and you ignore
those spaces at your peril.
http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/blog/churchgrowth/growing_churches_in_the_digital_age Image Credit: Sxc.hu
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The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual
world, but is part of the daily experience of many people,
especially the young. Social networks are the result of
human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the
dynamics of communication, which builds relationships: a
considered understanding of this environment is
therefore a prerequisite for a significant presence
there.
Pope Benedict XVI (2013)
@drbexl
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"If you want to build a presence in the social
media platform, then you need to be
present."
- @unmarketing
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Networks of Networks
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We are not selling something to the world that will
make more people like us, believe in our story, join
our churches. We are trying to be something in the
world that invites connection and compassion,
encourages comfort and healing for those in need,
and challenges those in power to use that power in
the service of justice and love
(Drescher, 2011, 127)
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Rev Prof David Wilkinson
God is a communicating
God: “In the beginning
was the word, and the
word was God…”.
God is extravagant in
communication – he is not
a silent God who has to be
tempted into
communicating with
people.
Image Credit: Durham University
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Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
Social Media: More than
the cherry on the cake!
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Lots of options….
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Facebook
http://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2015/01/2015-facebook-marketing-success-kit-
infographic.html
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Twitter
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/twitter-facts-2015/612443
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https://www.pinterest.com/revmaryhawes/
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http://blogs.constantcontact.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Articl3-600x374.jpg
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Who sees this?
1. God
2. Parents
3. ‘Kids’
4. Newspaper
5. Enemy
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Human Beings
at machines, not
“are machines”
Image Source: Stockfresh
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http://twitterforchurches.com/blog/2009/06/29/crisis-
communications-for-the-social-media-age/
Don’t overthink. Running through
committees, endless drafts and approval
processes to get a response out there
can cause far more damage than good.
As long as you have taken the time to
assess the situation and can take a
rational, respectful tone in your
response, even an awkward response is
OK to start with, and buys you time to
continue to respond to the problem.
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Principles of Good Engagement
•Be interesting
•Be encouraging
•Be active
•Be helpful
•Be authentic
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Who does social media?
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Find Your Voice(s)
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Saint Teresa of Avila (adapted by Meredith
Gould, 2010)
Christ Has No Online Presence but Yours
Christ has no online presence but yours,
No blog, no Facebook page but yours,
Yours are the tweets through which love touches this
world,
Yours are the posts through which the Gospel is shared,
Yours are the updates through which hope is revealed.
Christ has no online presence but yours,
No blog, no Facebook page but yours.
http://churchsocmed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours.html
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Clarify Audience
• Age?
• Gender?
• Location?
• Educational Level?
• Beliefs?
• What are they searching for?
• How can you make it easier for them to find?
• How can you make it easy for them to want to
share?
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http://small-bizsense.com/the-best-times-to-post-on-social-media/
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http://www.methodist.org.uk/ministers-and-office-
holders/technology-and-church/social-media-guidelines
• The principles applied to this are:
• Be credible. Be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent.
• Be consistent. Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation.
• Be cordial, honest and professional at all times. Be responsive. When you gain insight, share it where appropriate.
• Be integrated. Wherever possible, align online participation with other communications.
• Be a good representative of the Methodist Church. Remember that you are an ambassador for Christ, the Church and your part of it. Disclose your position as a member or officer of the Church, making it clear when speaking personally. Let Galatians 5:22-26 guide your behaviour.
• Be respectful: respect confidentiality. Respect the views of others even where you disagree.
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What is your ONE
takeaway action?
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@drbexl @digitalfprint
QUESTIONS?