I am a pastor who has bloggged for about a year, while trying to abstain from going farther with Twitter, Facebook etc. even though my previous position was as a CIO at a small missions agency in Colorado Springs. Didn't want to get 'hooked'.

This week I followed Todd Rhoades suggestion for understanding better the schedule/lifestyle of certain pastors and leaders. I began Twittering (folowing a few guys), and then jumped into Facebook.

Your posts, and then Ed, this article on social networking have been very helpful already. Lots of good practical points.

I have gotten in touch in one week, with: an old high school work buddy, the leaders of my youth group from twenty years ago who I'll join for a reunion next Friday, missionary friends from my ten years in Asia, and tons of pastor friends and ministry leaders.

So,I'm 'hooked', which simply gives a new curve to what was already a Laptop Life. I built my churches intranet and had focused on those discussions, schedules, task lists etc.

Wanted to say thanks Ed, for good books, and very practical social networking post.

A lot of good points made, Ed. Electronic social networking is key to maintaining relatioships in this age. The sad part about all of this is that while we are more connected than ever in terms of information, we have become less connected with some people on a personal level. We have allowed facebook and twitter to be good enough in terms of some relationships.

I can deal with bad manners from fellow twitterers and I can tune out the commercial plugs, my only real hang up is the decay of real social skills. Let's face it, when my wife and i have issues, we can't solve it over twitter.

Thanks for the blog. Quick question: as the amount of communication increases, so does the noise. What have you found helps get you through the pure mass of communication and still hold on to the value of the messages?

My wife and I recently joined the Facebook network upon hearing how much our children and grandchildren were involved--sharing pictures--updating their status--chatting with one another--even as two of my daughters have moved away to other states.

I must say that as a pastor, and one who has over twenty five years working in IT, I thought that I was on the cutting-edge of technology by having a church website but my recent introduction into social networking has made me feel as if I was still working behind a typewriter and our church technological outreach efforts were likened to smoke signals.

Since my introduction to Facebook, I have discovered what Social Media Optimization, RSS feeds, blogging, digging, stumbling and twitting is all about and now I'm mulling over how we might use this new technology to bring people to Jesus and edify the Body of Christ.

My wife and I are enjoying the opportunity of social networking with our family and some of the many new "friends" we have made.

We've also just celebrated the birth of our first grandson. And while we have not seen him in person, because his parents live in another state, we have had the pleasure of seeing his handsome form on Facebook.

My wife and I plan to continue our social networking pilgrimage--though I may have to disable my cellphone from buzzing each time I get an update.

BTW, just yesterday I invited my mom to join her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the blogosphere! LOL! ;-)

Social Networking has been more effective than I ever imagined. I joined Myspace and then Facebook just to keep in touch with the youth I work with, both in the inner city as well as the ones who have served with me on mission teams and as summer missionaries. Of late I have connected with many people outside that realm. Twitter has opened many opportunities to share my passion for reaching at-risk communities and multi-housing communities.

The negatives is that it can really dominate your life and take your focus off your task or calling. A good example is that I have been trying to work on a book to chronicle my journey in at-risk communities, but with my blackberry buzzing with every twitter and facebook post it is hard to maintain focus sometimes.

I do enjoy the cyber-interaction and will continue with it.

I guess I think like a magazine editor. My media interactions as a whole are my "magazine". My blog posts are often the "articles" - the biggest and most complex production. You need them, but you're lucky if people even skim them. My facebook, twitter, etc are the sidebars - quick attention getters that might lead you to interest in a blog post, an activity, or just a general curiosity about who I am or my church is.

The danger is that people will think they know everything about me because they know my sidebars. That's probably a danger Jesus could relate to.

in Christ,
jW

Good comments... very thoughtful

Will wrote:
>> I can deal with bad manners from fellow twitterers and I can tune out the commercial plugs, my only real hang up is the decay of real social skills. Let's face it, when my wife and i have issues, we can't solve it over twitter.

Good point.

Brett Crimmel
>>Thanks for the blog. Quick question: as the amount of communication increases, so does the noise. What have you found helps get you through the pure mass of communication and still hold on to the value of the messages?

Brett,

I am not sure I have. That is one of the downsides. And, I tried to make that a little clearer in the post since I know many who are concerned about more noise and less real interaction.

I just talked to Matt Chandler and he is a good example. He is doing a great job through his pastoring and speaking, but he does not Twitter because he is concerned about more communication with less return. That's an important issue to think through.

What do others think?

What a great column. I'm continually conflicted each time I log onto Shoutlife, Twitter, and Facebook. On the one hand, I want to reconnect with people and let new people know what I'm doing, but on the other hand, I'm a very private person who has written two new, inflammatory books, both about Mormonism. Since I've published four books about Mormonism and cults in the past, I know all about threats and hate mail, believe me. I want to be responsible and helpful to the publishers (Zondervan for The Mormon Mirage and Moody for the novel, Latter-day Cipher) and point readers to bookstores. But only time will tell if this new and not-so-comfortable transparency is going to have too heavy a price tag.

Anyway, your article was very helpful (good to know somebody else does NOT want a virtual Christmas tree, hug, or any elfing, thanks) and I appreciate the chance to vent a bit.

Yours and His
Latayne C Scott
www.latayne.com

1. I use social networking and I admire its affect on society. I dig the fact that I can talk about my "wall" with a 7th grader and he knows automatically I'm not talking about home improvment. I use facebook, my blog, google reader to make it all convenient and twitter. I use twitter the most because it incredibly convenient and endlessly entertaining.

2. To address the "online video conference" question I would support it and most likely participate at some point. I think it's a great step in connecting to an audience you wouldn't otherwise be able to.

In your area of work, Accessibility = Impact.

You think?

I think one of the reasons people read content on your blog, on Facebook, and other areas, and then respond to you on Twitter about it is because they believe you'll receive the info and respond right away. While most people only check their blog comments a few times a day and sign on to Facebook for a few minutes at a time, it is more likely that you are constantly connected to Twitter through your phone.

I agree with you 100% thought that Twitter is not the best tool for in-depth conversation. It's more of an avenue to let people know there is conversation going on elsewhere than a place to discuss things in detail.

What's amazing to me is 'meeting' someone online, and then actually meeting them in person. It truly gives you a sense of connection with total strangers, and breaks down communication barriers in person. While social networking may seem less personal in some situations, I believe it allows people to be more personal in others.

I've got (quite) a few thoughts that you can read at my blog linked to in my name. Thanks to Ed for his willingness to dialogue.

Thanks, Latayne. Being a public figure adds to the challenge. I did not include much about the hate mail, but that is a big part of it. I get a few each week.

Justin wrote:
>> In your area of work, Accessibility = Impact.

I am not 100% sure, but I think I agree with you. It is funny. Had a guy send demanding notes to get my response today via Twitter. And, on a day off no less. I am not sure how that added to anything other than a wasted few minutes.

So, it is a mixed bag.

Ed

"My name is Ed, not 'Google.'" That's one of your best quotes of all time. :P

I've been using twitter and facebook for about a year or so now and I agree with your basic feel about the depth of conversation. While I do tweet my thoughts/questions/status throughout the day I generally get more response from facebook than Twitter. I think that's because the people I'm friends with on facebook are mostly people I already know in person but people I follow and who follow me on twitter (@kevinrossen) I mostly don't know in person.

I think that the most viable use of twitter for churches is using it to point to other sites or information. Basically it could become a publicity tool for both ministries and churches. But you're right that it's not the best context for having conversations. FriendFeed has a better setup for that as does facebook now that they've enabled commenting on specific items/statuses.

I like the length of your blog posts. The generally have something insightful and helpful for me in ministry. Don't try to shorten them.

I'll try to stop inviting you to join my blog network on Facebook!!

Seriously though, I get tired of all the invites too.. I've started blocking the apps and it helps.

Ed, I agree with your summary of the various social networking opportunities. Although, I have to say I don't use Twitter the Facebook status works for me and I'm too cheap to get the internet on my phone.

I do blog at Wordpress and use Facebook a lot. BTW are you sure you don't want to join my mob? :)

You mentioned a sort of online video conference. That idea is intriguing to me. I think it has a lot of potential to use social networking to influence people for Jesus, especially in your role as supporting and encouraging pastors. My only concern is how much time would I have to invest in it to engage in it. It's a lot easier for me to invest in a conference that I go away to because the context changes I don't know that I could really engage in an online conference because I would not be able to disengage from everything else.

Thanks for this. I look forward to seeing how else you use social networking to help us be more effective at engaging people for Christ. I'd also like to see a post on how you recommend pastors use social networking in their ministry roles. Perhaps that can be a discussion at your first video conference.

Bryon,

My main idea about the video conference is to direct the regular questions I receive to there. I get about four or five requests per week for some sort of coaching or advice, very often on the same subject. So, I was thinking, let's have people log on and ask them live and we will post them on YouTube after the session.

Might be a dud, but I am tying to think of how to best balance time issues and help pastors and leaders.

Ed

I'd definately be willing to give it a try once you've got it rolling. I think there's a lot of potential of connecting pastors in that way. Let us know when you get things rolling and I'm sure all of us on your blog will help you work the bugs out.

As a youth counselor and worship leader in our youth ministry at church, I would say that I am the most "techsavy" (yes, I have myspace, facebook, twitter, Phonevite, and other technology to help connect with our students), and it has made keeping in touch with our kids easier than without it! But, there have been instances, more than once, where I inadvertently have seen posts, comments, pics, and videos that our students have put online that wasn't appropriate for a believer, wasn't appropriate for their age, and definitely wasn't appropriate for a youth counselor to view. It plays with my heart when I see the students at church, all the while knowing what they have posted. It also puts me in an awkward and peculiar place because I personally know their parents and feel obligated to make them aware of what their children are doing online. (It does make me question why the parent doesn't already know!) But at what expense do I betray trust with the student, all the while knowing the necessity of partnering with the parents when it comes to spiritual guidance for their child. I do however notify the youth pastor when something is questionable and/or inappropriate so that he is aware of it. At that point I turn it over to him to determine if a course of action is called for. I just know how my knowledge of less than appropriate content by a student, affects my view of them. I just have to acknowledge that they may be a child of God, and that they are finite beings, just as I am. But for the grace of God go I, you know?!
Our youth counselors had the opportunity to sit under the teaching of Lifeway Lynn, at Centrifuge in Ridgecrest this past Summer. It was a great series of interactions. Lynne shared with us stats on students and social networking, and I agree with much of what he stated, as I have been witness to much of it. The kids just don't seem to have a concept of what they put out there, for almost ANYONE to read, especially their youth counselors.
Now for me . . . I could get lost the world of online social networking. It has been awesome to reconnect with those I graduated with, or played music with in the past. I am a twitter fanatic. It also seems that social networking has become the cellphone of the 90's . . . must have.
Another great concern that I have is with this concept of "The Internet Church", where there is a push to utilize video conferencing (TokBox, Mogulus), facebook, and other social networking technologies, to work almost like a cell group or church planting solution and situation. I know businesses have been using this model of communication for a while now, and those forward thinking church planters and young pastors are aggressively pursuing this. I was recently in a chat with other pastors, worship leaders and youth ministry leaders about this evangelical model. I am concerned about how social networking may take away from the personal social interaction in the Brick and Mortar of the church. All I have read of Scripture tells me to be within a body of believer for accountability, equipping of the saints, edification, etc. At what point does this "Internet Church" initiative step on the neck of scripture that commands physical community, and is it justifiable to say that God give us the technology - why not use it as technological evangelism?
Blessings!

Hi, found your blog through "In the Coracle". As a long-term blogger but someone really new (a few weeks) to both Twitter and Facebook, I have been heartened by the connections I've made on both.
I've found a few additional voices I really value through the Twitter app Twubble which shows who your Twitter friends are following.
The one thing I am finding, though, is that if you're not careful they can really suck up time, along with other online goodies (like chasing down links from other blogs!). In thinking about this over Christmas I've decided to put into practice an extended Sabbath for all my online activities - from next week I'm going to stay offline completely from Friday evening through to Monday morning. I think that will reclaim for me some more reflective and family/friends time over the weekend. Mind you, I can already feel the addiction pulling at me :-). We'll see how it goes.

Ed,

I think the video conference is a great idea, from my perspective. You have unique insight in the realm of mission, church planting, etc. For young guys, like me, who are in the early stages of planting a church, you insight is invaluable. I was in the process of sending you an email to ask questions about context and community in downtown Atlanta, where I am planting, because I know you used to live here. I am also in phase 2 with Acts 29, and thought you could give insight on that as well. Long story short...do it! It will be awesome.

Hi, Ed.
Some of your ending complaints about Facebook, etc. is just part of the danger of using a computer program as the primary connection point. Sure, we can start to ignore applications that send us invites (as suggested in one comment above), but then we run into the danger of missing everything that comes in or out. Instead, we need to find a way to teach our "friends" some general etiquette for using the programs. When you join a group, a cause, or an application take the time to think, "I know most people don't want to do this, so I won't suggest to everyone." The honest truth is that because so many have hundreds+ friends, they're not going to take the time to determine who might actually be interested in what they've joined. In that case, my rule is to not pass it on to ANYone. A little courtesy goes a long way, even online.

thanks for the info Ed. :)