1. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Social Media for
the Scared
Dr Bex Lewis, Digital Fingerprint
URL: http://j.mp/socmedscaredjan13
January 2013, for: http://www.churchcommstraining.org
11. • "digital literacy defines those
capabilities which fit an
individual for living, learning
and working in a digital
society”
Digital Literacy
Image Credit: http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/video-assist
19. • An incredible new technology
enables the transmission of text
on a worldwide basis. It rapidly
reduces production and
distribution costs and for the first
time allows large numbers of
people to access text and
pictures in their own homes.
20.
21. • The new technologies will bring
„every individual… into immediate and
effortless communication with every
other‟, „practically obliterate‟ political
geography, and make free trade
universal. Thanks to technological
advance, „there [are] no longer any
foreigners,‟ and we can look forward
to „the gradual adoption of a common
language.‟
22.
23.
24.
25. • “Furedi suggests that moral panics
have a tendency to occur „at times
when society has not been able to
adapt to dramatic changes‟ and when
such change leads those concerned
to express fear over what they see as
a loss of control.”
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/S
tudents/lcs9603.html
28. • Whether as a Christian or a digital explorer, you‟re a
newbie or an old hat, a rookie or a bishop (and in the
digital sphere, there will be some who fit in all
categories), we all have something to contribute to the
digital space. The concept of the digital as „space‟ or a
„culture‟ is important as we come from a perspective in
which:
• As Christians we live 24/7 for God, in whatever spaces
we live in or engage with (see LICC for more on this).
• There is no such thing as „virtual‟ and „real‟ worlds: only
online and offline space/cultures – the connection
between the two is different for each individual.
• We need to take seriously our Christian presence both
online and offline. Are we the same person, living by the
same values in both „spaces‟?
http://bigbible.org.uk/digidisciple/
29. • What does it mean to ‘love your neighbour’ in a
world in which a ‘friend’ might as easily be the
kid from down the street you grew up with as a
woman in Botswana whom you’ve never seen in
person and only know in the context of
Facebook status updates, photos, and notes?
What is the nature of community at prayer in a
compline service tweeted each evening by the
cybermonks of a Virtual Abbey? What is the
ecclesiological and liturgical significant of
worship in various churches across the
theological spectrum on the quasi-3D, virtual
reality site ‘Second Life’? How can we negotiate
spiritual interaction in these contexts without
losing sight of basic elements of Christian faith
expressed in traditional embodied and
geographically located practices of prayer,
worship, and compassion towards others?
• Tweet if You Heart Jesus, p.xiv
Love thy neighbour?
62. • Find friends
• Post status updates
• Comment on others photos
• Post & Tag people in photos
• Offer pastoral care
• Leave public messages on the „wall‟
• Send private „messages‟
• Join Groups, Like Pages
• Link to other social media
• Set up events
What can you do on Facebook?
73. • A reverse diary (most recent entry first)
• A publically accessible personal journal
• Reflections, comments and hyperlinks
• Commentary/news on a particular subject
• Text/Image/Links including media
• Interactive, especially comments
• Potentially informal tone
Blog Characteristics?
74. • “See what we‟ve been up to”
• Thoughts & Reflections
• Reviews (Books, films, websites, etc)
• Challenging ideas for debate
• Interviews (Text, Audio, Video)
• „Best Of‟ Content
• „How-to‟ Posts
• 10 things you can…
• Guest Posts
82. • Who are you blogging for?
• How often can you blog?
• What style of blog will you use?
• What content can you produce?
• What do you want Google to find?
• Who else can you bring on board?
Think About
Social Media – all about RELATIONSHIPS, so we are going to start by getting to know each other as if we are on Twitter.
[Form: Twitter exercise]
Something about me … often gets people talking to me – esp if I wear t-shirt as in my Twitter photo…
Commonality – finding a starting point & getting to know each other – essential building blocks of any evangelism, etc… with a strong focus on LISTENING! You’re looking to provide information, engage in dialogue, listen to your audience … build a community who will be interested in the other things that you do .. Expect that these next few days will take some time to digest … it can seem like a lot of information, but this is intended to challenge, enable strategy and move us forward.
Don’t’ forget the SOCIAL in social media … about engaging rather than broadcasting (FOR MOST) thought argument for e.g. just not possible…
Be aware that ‘social media’ is not someTHING, but a group of THINGS … here’s an idea of how many … and
Qualman – 4 mins (business focused, but worth thinking about…)
Ever seen this? Quite old now (last year!), but quite helpful in demonstrating the purpose of different spaces online and which aspects you may emphasise.. E.g. on Twitter looking to build relationships around common interests, whereas Facebook to develop those you already have – will change the kind of things that you can say… We’ll come back to this after the break!
What you’d expect from working missionally…
Within the church we need to think about how we engage more - this is the model many churches have now… (as a educational developer, I note that many teachers do this too….)
Can we move towards something more like this – what does this mean for church leaders, especially you as youth leaders…?
This is something that I work with… explain…
Apologise to those of you who may already have seen this … seem to produce a new one each year, and last year it was June, but I think it helps set the scene really well as to why this online space is SO important to engage with! (2-3 minutes)
This was kinda summed up at a recent conference…
This is something we’ve done a couple of times with Big Bible – love to see more – great way to get people to engage with the Bible – think about how to “change” the words to apply in the digital age…
Post-it note exercise…
So – plenty to mull over there in the break time. Got a slightly more condensed session after the break… working our way through a range of tools!! So caffeine up!
Online/offline = REAL – not the same, but real!
Expecting this to take about 15mins to discuss in 2-3s, then 15 mins as a group. What values do we share – and how do these look in the digital space?
Not PUBLISHING, but looking for CONVERSATIONS/relationship building
Always remember that there is a human being at the other end of the keyboard - each uniquely created by God… and as is noted by many communicators is not what you’ve said, but what others have ‘heard’ … not everyone receives the message that you send in the same way .. And one message definitely doesn’t fit all… we’re in the world of what is described as “the long tail”, where rather than being able to send out a mass message, we have to have more concern with individuals (which I always hope we as Christians do anyway, but…. ) – Google searches for ‘niches’ (small keywords/multiple entry points, etc.) So…
Another worksheet…
Here’s my suggestions for a ‘daily workout’ – anticipated to take around 20 minutes a day… worth the investment – really has to look active to generate interest!
It’s not uncommon for a pastor to live in an entirely different neighborhood or community than the people in their church. So, if there’s little opportunity for face-to-face interaction throughout the week, it’s only natural for pastor(al team) to find ways to immerse themselves in the online communities that their congregation is spending so much time in. Zuckerberg – community
7 min vid – not planning to show all!
Worksheet – we can work through this at the end if time… but it’s fairly straightforward … and thinking about WHAT you put on a video is more important in many ways…
Create video – and amplify…
3:41!! Probably would have worked better at 30 seconds …
Interesting – viewing numbers – lots re weddings (always a good touchpoint for the church), from Alan Wilson – blogging bishop/celeb … much smaller/more typical numbers for other videos…
If you want to see what people have enjoyed in the past year … what will people watch?! Yes,… cats… no we’re not going to look!!
1:47 – what puts this kind of smile on a child’s face – and would you guess the brand before the end if you didn’t already know?
1:40 – v. clever – tapping into a huge phenomenon … finding the right hooks…You’ll see we’re looking to the secular world for inspiration here … we are in the world (if not of it) – how do we speak to people…
Tying into current memes and taking the time to do it well (enough) – this went viral! V good quality – usually immediacy more important than quality. People listen because these are fun (not preaching) – people also like to insights into a particular way of life … Cultural understanding – does this make sense in an increasingly globalised world – probably – especially after so much focus on Britain/the Royals in the past couple of years…
Final word – remember – there is always a human being at the other end of the keyboard… think before you type…Questions?
So – plenty to mull over there in the break time. Got a slightly more condensed session after the break… working our way through a range of tools!! So caffeine up!