Listly by Bruce Reyes-Chow
Help me put together my Questions that Churches Ask About Social Media" as part of my book (2nd edition due Summer 2013). Please rank, comment and add your questions to the list.
I think this will lead to greater authenticity in the pulpit. IMO, the pastors who are best-equipped to function in a social media world are those who are prepared to be more of an "open book" to their people. It puts more pressure on us to "walk the talk" - and it puts more pressure on congregants to accept their pastors as flawed human beings.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
This is the question I get asked all the time. I have an answer, but I'd love to hear others on this.
This may apply to how regional bodies handle this as well, but it is at the local church where social media could result in awkwardness online for both parishioners and the "next" pastor.
What type of content should we share? How often do we post? What kind of settings should our page have - IE, do we allow anyone to post, or only the Page Admin, and if we allow anyone to post, do we set the default to show ALL posts or only posts by the Page Admin? Do we use a PAGE in Facebook, or a GROUP? Do we try to have a presence on multiple platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, etc) or do we focus our efforts on one?
When I asked this elsewhere the question was declared "silly" because SM is no less secure than phone, email or other methods of communication. Not a helpful response.