The January 2010 Synod Communicators' meeting was a 'How To' on Social Networking. Beyond being a basic tutorial, we also talked about the why's and why not's of using services like Facebook and Twitter. It ultimately means that each situation - congregation, organization, group, etc. - has to evaluate the situation.
If you're still exploring the "To Tweet or Not to Tweet" (or Facebook...or MySpace...etc.) question, here is some more food for thought.
Another gem of information is a blog post that summarizes a webcast from the Emerging Media Research Council, the research arm of Three Ships Media, on how little-known Senator Scott Brown used social media to win. This presentation gets more into the "what to do with it" end of social media. In his summary, Len Mason writes, "When tweeting, ask yourself, 'Does this help my constituent become better, smarter, wiser?' Substance trumps the mundane every time. This can be applied to all social media, as well." Posts should be positive, useful, proactive, interactive. Make your posts matter!
Join us at the July 8, 2010 meeting at Faith, Dodge Center to further discuss how to engage audiences in your online social networks.
Have you ever noticed that when you create something, you get so personally wrapped up in it that you fail to see glaring mistakes? It's especially easy to miss "mistakes" in layouts, which are meant to quickly draw attention to the most important features. When you know every bit of the design intimately, it's hard to look at it with fresh eyes.
If you're looking for fresh eyes on your website, try a site called fivesecondtest. This site allows webpages to be loaded and other users to complete a test involving clicking on what they notice most in the span of just five seconds.
My disclaimer is that I have not yet uploaded a page to it, so I can't speak to the pros or cons of it as a designer user. I did perform a few tests for other designers. It's kind of fun! Take a look, help someone out, and consider using it next time you take a look at your site's overall layout.
Today participants in the web sessions of the annual synod communicators' workshop heard and discussed some thoughts on using Facebook in communicating to members and the public. Besides being assured by the Geek Girls that it was possible to create a page on Facebook (a for your organization, not the same as a user profile and preferable to groups for this use) without connecting your fans to your personal profile, participants were encouraged to use the web (including Facebook) to create relationships.
For some ideas of ideas to create conversations, and therefore relationships, online, check out the ELCA's Facebook page (you don't have to be on Facebook to see that link).
A topic that has come up for me several times in the last few weeks has been what attracts and retains members. While great website and engaging newsletters are useful communication tools and while good programming gives people stuff to do at church, they're not the end of the story. The comment that made the most sense to me is that the most appealing congregations are excited about something.
Another concept I've been exploring lately has been making sure an organization's image and written mission statement match up. If there is dissonance in the actual and formal descriptions of a congregation, that creates confusion. The formal description may attract a member expecting one thing and turn them off when they find another (or they may like the actual identity but feel uncomfortable with the formal written statements).
Putting these two together leads me to today's advice - study your congregation, find what it is excited about, and reflect that in your communication. Be creative with that excitement, don't just end every sentence with an exclamation point! That can get really old, really quickly. Use adjectives (but sparingly, that makes them more meaningful), make sure what's important to the congregation is actually getting talked about, and share good news when it happens rather than just listing upcoming events like items on a grocery list.
If you have any examples from your congregation or elsewhere, please feel free to share them in the comments section.
Obviously I'm not the best at following through with goals to keep in touch - this blog being a case in point (I haven't QUITE made it two months without posting, but I'm going to try and pay attention again). Maybe that's why I'm resisting Twitter so strongly. I also resisted Facebook for a long time but eventually got sucked in too. We'll see how Twitter goes!
That being said, Twitter is one of the most popular, fastest growing social networking services online right now, so it does deserve attention. For those who don't know, it basically is a way for users to update their "followers" (for most people, their friends and/or colleagues, for celebrities it would be their fans, you get the picture) in 140 characters or less.
One way that it can be used is as a way to provide the latest news without having to create a feed or send out an e-mail (remember, though, it's SHORT news!). For example, several synods are "tweeting" their assemblies this year.
To push the idea a little more, some congregations are even encouraging tweeting in worship. While it's probably not going to replace fellowship hour, and I wouldn't even go so far as to recommend it, I think it does present some good "food for thought." Read this article from Time for more information.
by Julie Niehoff, Constant Contact Regional Development Director, Texas
This morning when you opened your email inbox, did you notice that some emails immediately jumped off the page at you, demanding your attention? Maybe there was a message from your boss, something from a coworker or a key customer that needed your assistance, or a newsletter from a store that you love.
Some emails get your immediate attention, while others are flagged for later or go relatively untouched. A compelling subject line can make all the difference.
Most of us just don't have time to get to every email message. We all live in this reality. We all play the same game of managing our inboxes and flagging emails that we'll "get to later" -- I call this the battle of priorities. We all play it, and as a marketer, you can win that battle.
When someone first gets your email, you have on average three seconds to get them to open it. The first second is spent on the From line, recognizing who sent the message. From there, you have just two more seconds to compel them to open your message with your subject line. That is why I came up the2-2-2 Principle:
Have you ever wanted to share a website with your congregation, but the URL (the web address) is SOOOOOO long and complicated that you wouldn't want to publish it (and they wouldn't want to type it in)?
The website TinyURL.com can help this problem. This site lets you enter a long URL and it transforms it into a short one.
Pros:
The result is MUCH shorter
The URL doesn't expire (at least as long as the original URL is valid)
The site now lets you name the result yourself (ex. at last August's workshop, Paul Edison-Swift wanted to provide a list of resources at http://archive.elca.org/webministry/workshops/index.html, so rather than use the randomly generated URL, he named it tinyurl.com/stepitup for the name of the workshop)
It's REALLY easy to do
There aren't any ads or any other visual signs when re-directed
Cons:
It doesn't include the name of the site, which could be seen as less publicity for the original site
Every TinyURL has to start tinyurl.com (so it could be seen as promoting this site, but it's a free service, so I say why argue?)
