Category Archives: Internet

Social Networking for Kingdom Advancement

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On Friday, I gave a class at the Global Missions Conference on the subject of “Social Networking for Kingdom Advancement.” As I prepared, I’ll admit that I envisioned speaking to my peers, either people promoting a non-profit, a mission effort or a church. There ended up being a few college students in the class; I’m not sure that they got as much out of it.

I shared much of what I’ve shared here. I spoke of some of the history of the church and social media, looked at some myths about social media, then discussed the “best practices” that I presented on this blog a few months ago. From there, we looked at some practical tips for special media. I ran out of time, which is unusual for me. I realized that it would have been easy to do a whole class on Facebook, another on Twitter, etc.

At the end of the class, I offered some resources I’ve found. I won’t include all of them here, but if you’re interested in the subject, here are a few good sources of information:

I may get the chance to do similar presentations in the future. If you were going to attend, what would you want to learn? If you were going to teach, what would you want to share?

Don’t Do What You’re Told

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I was listening to the news this morning as they talked about a new practice called “smishing.” It’s related to what’s been called phishing, where you get an e-mail telling you that your bank account will be closed unless you take action or that the FBI wants to contact you or the IRS has money for you or some such thing. Their goal is to get you to go to their site and enter your personal information.

Smishing is similar, except it uses SMS, otherwise known as text messages. People get a text with a link to follow or a number to call, along with instructions that they need to take action about their credit card/bank account/refund or whatever.

The basic problem is that too many people do as they’re told. When it comes to computers, be careful who you’re listening to. Don’t just do as you’re told.

  • Take control. If Wells Fargo bank says you have a problem with your account, go to the Wells Fargo bank web site (which you find via Google if you don’t already know the address. Never follow a link sent to you in an e-mail or text from a stranger!)
  • If an error message box pops up saying that you have a virus, don’t use the anti-virus protection they offer. Choose your anti-virus software ahead of time, and run it if there seems to be a problem.
  • Ignore computer warnings that come in an e-mail that a friend got from a friend who got it from a co-worker who received it in a mass mailing. If “Microsoft said this is the worst virus ever,” the info will be on the Microsoft site.
  • Please don’t repost things on Facebook just because someone says “Repost this to everyone you know.” If it’s good advice on how to fix a Facebook setting, it should tell you where to read that advice on a reputable site. (And if it’s just some guilt trip about “if you really care, you’ll do this,” then please spare the rest of us)

Basically, don’t do what you’re told. Except in this case. Do what I’m telling you.

‘Cause I’m right. As always. :-)

What social media do you use?

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I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was preparing a class on social media to be given at the Global Missions Conference. Well, the conference is next week, so it’s time for me to be finishing up my preparation.

I wanted to get one last bit of input from my readers. What social networks do you use? What websites do you use to interact with other people? I’ll throw out some suggestions. Please feel free to point me to things I might not have considered.

I hope you’ll vote in the poll, and I especially hope that you’ll use the comments section to describe your usage.

 .[polldaddy poll=5574767]

Best practices in social media

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Thanks to all who’ve responded the last few days. It’s been very helpful. I’ll share some of my views on yesterday’s question about tech savvy vs. people savvy.

I think that you need a moderate amount of technical competence to be successful in social media. I would say an average amount, but you have to set averages by generation. What’s average tech knowledge for a 19 year old is above average for a 65 year old. To be honest, the most important thing you need to know about technical things is how to find the information you need. There are wonderful step-by-step guides on the Web for just about everything.

What’s more important, and more difficult to come by, is people competence. Communication skills. Diplomacy. Understanding of what people want.

  • Above all, you’ve got to have something to offer. If you’re a superstar athlete or famous actor, the mere chance to interact with you may be enough. Doesn’t work for most of us. For many, it’s knowledge. Information. Either you have learning to offer from your own experience, or you are very good at identifying and evaluating sources of information. Content is king.
  • We have to remember that social media is a two-way street. It’s hard for many of us to get out of the mindset of traditional media, which was largely one directional. Social media is about giving the recipient a voice. They can comment. They can submit videos. They can do something that helps them feel a part of what is going on.
  • Beyond merely being a two-way street, social media comes to focus on the recipient. That seems obvious, but so many people want to spend their time talking about themselves and their projects. That’s all right, but it needs to be made relevant to the audience. On Twitter, people “follow” one another, choosing to receive the information the other is producing. It’s common to “follow back,” to follow someone who starts following you. Many businesses and individuals seek to use this to their advantage. They follow others, then when the other follows back, they send them an advertisement. “Hi, thanks for following. Visit my website at www.timothyarcher.com.” Major mistake in my view. The best are those who say, “Thanks for following. I’m really interested in hearing your views.” The guy who commented on the name of my blog was a superstar in this regard.

OK, those are a few “best practices.” Want to add to the list?

Social media savvy

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I was asking yesterday about social media. For some people, all of the changes in social media are exciting, creating new opportunities for sharing and learning.

For others, it’s a frustrating experience. The cutting edge website that they spent a fortune on five years ago now looks out of date. They’ve created a Facebook page that no one visits and have a Twitter feed that no one wants to read. What makes it even more frustrating is that it’s hard to find two “experts” who give the same advice.

Doesn’t help that the social media landscape is ever changing. I went to a Christian Internet conference a few years ago. Lots of different ideas and projects were discussed, but there was one service that dominated the conversation: MySpace. It was feared and revered.Debates raged about whether the goal should be to create a Christian alternative to MySpace or use MySpace itself for outreach. The answer is obvious now: MySpace didn’t deserve all the attention it was getting.

Or take the example of the “social media expert” who sat in my office a couple of months ago, trying to explain to me the secrets to optimizing your Google results. I tried to smile and look attentive as he explained that all that mattered now for Google was ____. If he hadn’t been lecturing me as the expert he believed himself to be, I would have pointed out that Google is constantly modifying their algorithms and any attempt to identify one element as THE element is futile. Like the rest of the social media landscape, Google is a constantly moving target.

It’s my theory that, while there are some basic principles to using social media, much of what makes for good social media usage is the same as what makes for good communication: awareness of audience, interest in audience, authenticity, etc. The technical details will shift over time; the core of what makes for good interaction will remain the same.

What do you think? Is using social media effectively more dependent on tech savvy or people savvy? Or do you need a combination of both?