In This Issue: In This Issue: Steps to Start – How to Get Going with Social Media
- FEATURE: Steps to Start – How to Get Going with Social Media
- SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION: Trip Reports that Grip Hearts and Minds
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FEATURE: Steps to Start – How to Get Going with Social Media
Today I put off writing Practical Mob awhile in favor of following Steve Jobs’ keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. By “follow” I mean that I bounced between two web pages on which people actually at the meeting worked feverishly to type, photograph, and publish the complete presentation as it was given. Sort of like attending a wedding by Morse code. But I loved it; more cool tools and avenues of interaction between like-minded people.
So it was pretty natural for me to challenge us to jump into the world of social media – to use the tools recently available to advocate for our causes and to build tribes to reach the world. In last month’s article, Four Reasons Mobilizers Avoid Social Media, I asked us to assess whether we resist using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., for some of the same reasons Gary Vaynerchuk puts forth in his recent book, The Thank You Economy. Do we see social media as a passing trend, fear losing control of our message, lack time for one more thing, or believe we’re doing fine without it?
This month I’ll take a wild stab at how some of us might want to actually try out social media for the benefit of our efforts. Since my wild stabs often send the kids running for Band-aids, I turned to a new friend, Peter Slayton. Peter is a mobilizer for Lutheran Bible Translators (yeah, they have a Bible translation agency!) and he knows a thing or two about social media. I asked him for models or examples of ministries excelling in social media.
Shane: “Hey, Peter. Did you get my Facebook message?”
Peter: “I did.” [So far so good, but not for long.] “I don’t have any examples of ministries that are really excelling at social media. It’s something I’m struggling with now, trying to figure out who actually has good conversations going. I probably need to widen my circle to find the ones who are doing it well. At the same time, in social media, if they don’t become visible without much effort on my part (or anyone’s), then they probably aren’t doing it right. I truly wonder if there are any good social media ministry examples out there.”
Shane: “Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if there’s good stuff going on, but just on a more micro-level, really niche tribes or something like that?”
Peter: “Yeah, that could be. [Woo-hoo! I live for guru affirmation!] I just can’t find any, specifically on an organizational level. I recognize though that I define good social media by the conversations it generates, not just the content pushed out. Lots of organizations push lots of content out, but I don’t see many actually engaging in conversation or generating conversation among their followers. Pushing out good content is like printing the most amazing brochure in the world that no one picks up or reads. Who cares if the brochure is good?!? I want people reading it and then showing it to their friends and talking about it over dinner!”
What about you? How might you get some of those conversations going? For a quick, insightful overview, check out Peter’s social media sum-up video from a recent gathering of mobilizers.
Ready to jump in? Here are some starting points for Facebook, then Twitter.
Facebook Quick Look
A good friend of mine (in my dreams!), Guy Kawasaki has made it his goal to dominate emerging media. He’s authored great books, oversees a world-class blog, and racked up a bazillion Twitter followers. In his article, How to Use Facebook to Enchant Your Customers, he gives ten great tips that will help you get going (or get better) with a presence on Facebook. Step Three is “Create a Great Cause.” You’ve already got that one down, right? Only nine to go!
If you want to know what you’re up against, go to DJ Chuang’s post on Top Church Pages on Facebook. DJ provides a table with the Top 20 “liked” church pages. Find some good ideas, and maybe some things to avoid! As you look at some of these pages, remember what Peter said: It’s not as much about getting good content out the door as it is getting people interacting with each other over the content.
Tips on Twitter
If you think you might help your organization, tribe, or cause by using Twitter, you’re probably right. If you have no idea how to get going, Mazarine Treyz says, “My friend asked me to write a guide for Twitter ‘so simple a monkey could understand it.’ And I was so inspired … that I wrote Twitter for Monkeys!” “Twitter for Monkeys” will give you a step-by-step plan to make a big dent via Twitter.
What I’m Going to Do
There’s a little post-it note on a big blank wall above my desk that says “2, 1, Up2Date.” That’s my social media plan right now. Two worthwhile tweets a day, one decent blog post per week, and a personal website that’s up to date. (If someone is thinking about inviting me to speak, it should only take a couple clicks for them to find me and decide.) So far the tweets are manageable, the blog a little less so, and the website is Lame2Date. But this will change!
If all this social media jabber leaves you feeling a little achy and isolated, check out 14 Ways to Love Your Neighbors, courtesy of the Navigators. Not media, but very social.
>> Thoughts? We’d love to hear from you.
SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION: Trip Reports that Grip Hearts and Minds
Some pals and I are in final countdown for a month of scouting cities in Europe and hanging out with Muslims. Really, I could have a happy life just doing that, especially since two of the pals are the Sweet Thing and our oldest daughter. During and after our trip I want to report in to our church in absolutely the best, most gripping, non-cheesy ways possible. Will you help me?
I want to do this in part to see what really is best. But I also want to do it (and here’s the subversive part) because I want the people to fall in love with the vision that’s core to this trip. I want them to sell out to what God is giving our church, and I think we’re going to see the start of it this summer.
So, what to do? I’d love to hear what you’ve seen work, what has taken a ton of effort and produced pathetic results, and what has inspired scary strong passion.
Specifically: What platforms have you seen work? A team blog? A Twitter stream? Facebook page? What about Skyping in to a Sunday morning service? Texts? Email? How frequently should we report in? What should we do after returning home? What should we avoid like pulled pork in Pakistan?
>> Your five minutes in the comments section might save me, and many others, a ton of grief. Thanks for reading and weighing in.
Shane Bennett has served in missions mobilization since 1987, much of his energy going to recruiting, training, and sending short-term teams. He’s been on research teams in Bangkok, Bombay, and Turkey. He coauthored Exploring the Land, a guide to researching unreached peoples, and has written numerous articles.
Shane now works as a public speaker for Frontiers and is part-time missions pastor at Union Chapel. He and his wife, Ann, have five school-aged children. They live and work in Indiana.
Thanks so much for this article. I’m trying to delve into the land of Facebook with our tenth annual Int’l Day of Prayer for the Maltese Islands coming up on August 8th so it was quite useful. Appreciate your ministry! Robin Pinkston
Good article, Shane! I’ve found that sometimes my efforts at starting up deep conversations over social media are effective, primarily among my Christian friends. If people care about what you’re talking about and they are willing to think about it, then it produces a good discussion (this is particularly over Google Buzz, among my friends). I’d say it depends on your audience. I’ve had various conversations over different media because people were willing to engage.
Robin: Thanks for the comment. I appreciate you taking the time to write. May God bless your efforts to raise prayer for the Maltese Islands. Feel free to put a link to your FB page here, if you like.
Shane
Evan: Thanks for adding to the conversation here. Google Buzz, eh? I’m glad that’s proving effective for you. I don’t hear of it much and know even less about it. If you want, throw out a little primer for us here. Tell us why you use it.
I think you’re right that the quality of conversation depends on your audience, at least to a degree. One of the tricks is learning how to bring people to the fringe of your tribe, then bring them on inside. I confess, I dont’ really know how to do that. I also want to keep in mind Jesus’s tendency to gather crowds, then drastically thin them out. I don’t want to be too obsessed with growing numbers, but I do want tons of people to get passionate about people currently unengaged by the Gospel.
Great stuff, Shane. Now I have even more stuff to explore. Sometimes I think my obsessing with learning postpones my just jumping into social networking. New services are coming too fast! I’m thinking about putting my 2 cents in but for now I will just share a site that looks useful for mobilizers even though it is meant to serve non-profits and libraries. Check out TechSoup. This link is not to the homepage but to the article on Mobile devices which some say is THE future!! http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/hardware/page13073.cfm
Shane:
I appreciate your article and I love getting your newlsetters every time they come out. I handled social media, and the web site for a missions organization for several years and had some trouble getting buy in from my leaders and our board. Our missionaries embraced it, but having a social media strategy was lacking. I’ve been priviledges to be invited to help develop social media strategy for both our church at large and the missions ministry. I’ve also worked on a project developing a web platform for missionaries that ties links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and allows donors to submit contributions. I think you’d be really interested in the project. Check out ArkPages.com. And let me know if you have any questions.
Bryon
Thanks for chiming in, everyone. If you try to include a link in your comment WordPress may get suspicious and think you are a spammer. But we like your links, so feel free. I’ll keep an eye on things and try to rescue all valid comments. If there’s a snag of any kind, feel free to shoot me an email ([email protected]). Or a DM on Twitter! (@zukrahon, @M_Catalyst)
Marti Smith
Managing Editor
PS: As you may know, Miss Cat is on Twitter and Facebook – though we’ve never done much with them. Maybe it’s time for a cup of tea with my social media adviser who might be able to embolden me for the next step! After all, if a monkey can do it…
Hello Pat,
Great to hear from you and thanks for sending along the link to tech soup. It looks like a pretty rich site. Here’s a link to their Social Media Curriculum, “curated from our top nonprofit partners and social media experts, to bring you up to speed on the six most common and effective tools for nonprofits.
Each section includes tips, videos, and links for further information so that you can get going with building your online communities. We also include examples of nonprofits who are using each tool well, to enhance your understanding.”
http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2011/04/18/introducing-techsoup-s-nonprofit-social-media-curriculum.aspx?cg=knowhow
(Uh oh, a comment from the managing editor. It’s like the principal has stepped into the room!)
Hey Marti: Thanks for the reminder on the links. Do you feel ok about posting the links to Miss Cat on Twitter and Facebook?
Hey Bryon: Thanks for chiming in here. I appreciate it. And thanks for passing on the link to ArkPages.com. I dug around a bit and found the whole idea fascinating. I think I saw that there are 15 active pages right now. What are you guys doing to push that to 1500 or 15000? (Or whatever the goal is presently.)
Shane:
Thanks for responding and checking out ArkPages. ArkPages hasn’t been officially launched. There’s been a bit of a Twitter campaign, but since it’s still in beta, there hasn’t been a giant push yet. Conversations with a few large organizations and a sales manager has been hired to begin moving forward with a strategy. CSN Media (http://www.csnmedia.com/home.aspx) is providing the vision, design, back-end support for the project. They’re up and comers in the digital Christain world working with Focus on the Family and a few others as well as some big customers in the business world. Feel free to email me directly if you have any other questions.
Someone is using Buzz???? Wow. And I just posted on my FB status yesterday about how it was almost defunct. I turned it off a while back because I got no value out of it that I couldn’t get from Twitter or FB. It was just one more thing to update.
If you guys are looking for other sources on social media, mashable[dot]com and socialmediaexaminer[dot]com are very good sources. Notice how you can avoid your links getting confused as spam? 😛 Of course, now you all have to type those into your browser instead of just clicking on them…sorry! For those of you who have browsed Techsoup, is there a specific social media area or anything? I pulled it up and just got a headache looking at it…not very user-friendly. I left pretty quickly.
Buzz for me is just something that is a convenient sharing method for a certain group of my friends. I don’t see any particular value of it over any other social media site.
Hey Peter, Thanks for joining in. You may want to reactivate your Buzz account so you can be friends with Evan. 😉
Maybe Pat will reply with TechSoup insight. Pat?
Can you take a second and give us a quick idea what Mashable.com and socialmediaexaminer.com can do for us? I’d appreciate that. Thanks.
Evan, You keep using Buzz as long as it’s meeting your needs. Google (and your friends) appreciate it. BTW: I don’t tell many people this, but I still have an aol email address. Had it longer than I’ve had my wife. (But if it came down to one or the other of them going, I ditch the address!)
A good friend of mine in southeast Asia emailed some helpful comments. He gave me permission to post this slightly edited version here:
“Jumping on your theme of social networking for mobilizers, perhaps some of your readers might find it helpful if you had a few suggested twitter feeds that they could ‘stalk’ for a while to get a feel for the medium; and to find out what is usable, helpful, and manageable. Along with a few suggested feeds that that might have a solid mobilization bent.
For example…as I’ve been trying to step onto the learning ramp in the Twitter realm, I started following/stalking a few folks that I thought might be useful.
The usuals you might expect:
* John Piper, DailyKeller, etc for some regular pastoral wisdom (along with Rick Warren)
* Some folks with a more specific M-flavored focus like Carl Medearis, Rick Love, Joe Cumming, etc
* Some emergent folks who think outside the box (all along the continuum): Alan Hirsch, NT Wright, Scot McKnight, TallSkinnyKiwi, Donald Miller, realrobbell (yes, I like him) ;-), Brian McLaren, TonyJones, etc
* And then a couple of pure mobilizers: Marti Smith (@zukrahon), Justin Long (@justindlong)
* Feeds from our key churches (esp the pastors’ tweets if they have them). Nice to stay on pace with where they’re tracking.
* I’ve been regularly impressed with Michael Hyatt’s feed (although I think his social media goals post-it note reads something like ‘100-25-Up2Date’)
I’m convinced that Twitter is a good tool. Much more helpful than the ‘What are you doing now?’ that it was initially hyped to be. Yes, those tweets still happen. But this has been a surprisingly good way to connect people with resource links, opportunities, etc.”
Hi Shane,
I was deeply inspired by the team Jesus in the Q-an out of Georgia.
Amazing. I think because of the nature of missions to the unreached, it can’t be broadcast in the usual fashion due to
sensitivity…security… that’s what missionaries tell me. Get in touch if you want to talk about it. I don’t want to write….
In response to your quest to have folks fall in love with the vision at the core of your trip, I personally enjoy receiving daily updates and photos. It does not matter the method. As a prayer partner, I appreciate being connected with the team and their work.
Kirsten: Thanks for the recommendation for Jesus in the Quran. I’ve heard many good reports on them.
Hello Noreen: I’m glad to hear about your commitment to praying daily for people. That’s awesome. I’ll use you as the “gold standard” for trip reporting when I ask my pastor to allow us to make daily updates! 😉 I’d also like to have you praying for us. Let me know if you’re game for that. Thanks.
Did anyone catch Steve Shadrach’s recent article on the use of social media in support raising? See what he has to say at http://www.supportraisingsolutions.org/newsletter/itemid/1632/moduleid/5016/dos-and-donts-of-using-social-media-in-support-r
Marti