Category Archives: Internet

Social media & missions

6 Replies

I’ve been asked to give a class on the use of social media in missions. I’ve got lots of ideas, more than I would have time to share in one class period. However, I’m slowly learning that my cyber-friends are much wiser than I. So I’m appealing to you. Help me out with some thoughts on this topic. To make it easier, let’s keep it broad. Rather than focusing merely on missions, let’s think about non-profits in general and religious groups in particular.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on things like…

  • What are some non-profits that do an especially good job with social media?
  • Who are some individuals who excel in the use of social media?
  • How have you seen Facebook used effectively by religious groups or individuals?
  • How have you seen Twitter used effectively by religious groups or individuals?
  • How have you seen blogs used effectively by religious groups or individuals?
  • What about some of the other social media, like Google+, LinkedIn, etc.? How do you see them being used well?
  • What are some “best practices” that would span all social media?

Is that enough to get some thoughts rolling? Can you see how I’m not worried about having enough to talk about?

Thanks for any input you can give.

Am I reading too much?

8 Replies

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the time I spend reading things on the Internet. It’s a bit ironic to be writing this in a blog, but I’m wrestling with the “dispersion” of my thoughts as I read so many short articles. Obtaining information via blogs and Internet articles is not the same as getting it from books (though it does bear a certain resemblance to newspaper reading).

Years ago, my watch was stolen during a home invasion. I used that as a time to try and lessen my time addiction; I waited more than a year before I bought another watch. Week before last, my laptop was stolen (OK, Herald of Truth’s laptop). One thing I lost were all of my RSS subscriptions, all the feeds to articles, blogs, etc. that I read regularly. I had over 200 subscriptions.

I’m going to wait a while before replacing them. I’ll try and still read some blogs, and I invite you to feel free to point out to me good things that I might be missing. But for a time, I’m going to slow down my Internet reading (fully recognizing the irony of doing so while continuing to write).

This may be through the end of the year. It may be through the end of tomorrow. We’ll see.

But I want to get back to the deeper question: does reading widely on the Internet keep us from focusing on deeper thoughts? Or does it help us to be well rounded? I’d very much appreciate your input.

Online church

4 Replies

There’s been some discussion around about the “online church.” Some think it’s great that people can now “go to church” in their own homes; others decry the lack of fellowship. I’ve joined the discussion in an article that’s out on Heartlight today.

But I’d like to hear about you. I don’t think any of my regular readers substitute Internet websites for actual church fellowship. But do you listen to sermon online? Do you watch videos of sermons? How often? Are there certain preachers that you listen to regularly?

Do you listen to Internet sermons?
I hear more sermons on the Internet than in person

I regularly listen to several Internet sermons per week

I typically hear about one Internet sermon per week

I listen to sermons on the Internet every once in a while

I never listen to Internet sermons

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