The Church and Social Networking
Church Marketing Sucks: Where’s the Church on Facebook?
From the article:
“Where’s the Church?
The big question is where is the church on Facebook? Are churches taking advantage of this new community, even if it’s not a formal marketing approach (simply setting up groups and events doesn’t need to happen in an ‘official’ capacity)? This goes back to our discussion of how the church can use MySpace, and a lot of the same principles apply (of course churches need to decide how many social networking sites it’s worthwhile to join).”
“Build a Church Application
But I think one of the big differences with Facebook comes with this new developer’s platform. Now you can build things to interact with Facebook, and the church should be in this space. There are already applications that add daily Bible verses
to your profile, but there could be so much more. And I’m not talking ghettoization of Facebook, but ways for people on Facebook to engage their social network with the church. Facebook is all about the personal connections–the church just needs to find a way to tap into it. Maybe we should forget building another Christian web 2.0 site and just build something that plugs into the 24 million people already on Facebook (or do both).”
These social networking sites are tailor made for the church. The whole idea is bringing people together for a common cause and building relationships. Sound familiar? I was perusing Facebook applications and ran across the “Causes” app. You can invite your friends to join or donate to your favorite cause. A lot of interfaith groups have figured this one out already. Noticeably absent was UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Wouldn’t it be great if we could raise money for Katrina recovery using this tool?
It’s also great for connecting people from different churches. I started a group for the Santa Ana District so that people who know each other from camps and New Life events can connect online. In one day we had 22 people join. Why? Because they were already on Facebook, connecting to their school and work friends. Now they have a place to connect with their church friends, too. And it’s FREE!!! And EASY!!!
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