Churches Embracing Social Media
The Nashville Tech Story (7/5/2009)
Twitter has become a popular communication tool for nearly all businesses, young professionals, etc. However, one organization that is overlooked when talking about social networking is the church. Yes that’s correct, even your pastor is beginning to rely on Twitter.
One of the first churches to experiment and tweet about a hosted major event on Twitter was Trinity Church in Manhattan on Good Friday this past April. While it seems like a great marketing tool for the church to get folks interested, there are also a lot of negatives that have to be addressed. Besides, most that use social media are young people, so what better way to increase your global marketing presence.
As church staff members twittered on the church’s annual Crucifixion event, thousands from around the globe followed the event via smartphones. Great visibility and marketing for this denomination, right? Some of the quotes from those tweeting included “Darkness and earthquake,” “Crucify him!”
…so much for that idea.
However, even though Trinity church experienced unexpected feedback on their first run with the social media world, the discussion about further involvement continues. While Twitter has no bar against crude tweeters, churches and religious leaders all over the world are questioning whether they should incorporate, not only Twitter, but other social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Even though Trinity church had a bad experience, they continue to tweet about their Sunday services and their following continues to grow. However, religious organizations still have some serious questions to answer. Should there be limited access? Censoring? Is it appropriate for a clergy member to “friend” a minor?
While these questions continue to surround the merger of religion with social media, church goers only need to ask themselves one question. WWJD – What would Jesus do?
Tags: church, facebook, linkedin, religion, social media, twitter
July 5th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
[...] Churches Embracing Social Media | Nashville Technology Council The Nashville Tech Story (7/5/2009) Twitter has become a popular communication tool for nearly all businesses, young professionals, etc. However, one. http://www.technologycouncil.com/2009/07/05/churches-embracing-social-media/ [...]
July 6th, 2009 at 9:17 am
[...] that embracing social media has always worked out wonderfuly for churches. Last April Trinity Church in Manhatten decided to Twitter about their Good Friday service. While they gained thousands of followers some of the responses for [...]