Have you ever had one of your social media accounts hacked? I have...yesterday in fact. Well, it wasn't quite "hacked" as my Facebook account was left logged on while I was at church (my computer was in my office). Two students thought it would be fun if they changed my profile picture to a piece of poop in a toilet. Then, they tagged a few others and posted it. I didn't even notice it until I got a few texts and my Facebook messenger went off with a person who said they were offended by my pic and asked me to take it down. Thank goodness for their very rude message to me.
So, I was hacked and although I changed it quickly I was really mad. In fact, I was livid and confronted the student immediately (it was pretty obvious who the primary offender was). I told him that it was completely inappropriate for him to do that and that I was going to tell his parents about it. That scared the living daylights out of him and he apologized left and right. Now, I ended up not telling his students but about an hour after the incident I went and processed it with him, letting him know I still liked him but, as I do with my girls, processed through why what he did was wrong.
Can't I take a joke? Why was it wrong? Yes, I can take a joke, but considering I am a Pastor, people look at me and my actions differently than others. So whether or not, it was funny or not, having something like this posted on my Facebook wall and as my profile picture crossed the line in my eyes.
But maybe I was wrong. Have you ever had this happen to you? What did you do? If this hasn't happened to you, how would you have responded and done? Post your thoughts or experiences so that we can all benefit and learn from each other. After all, I'm sure I haven't been the only one
Stat to Chew on...14% of students have no idea of their parents' political viewpoints. (reference Stageoflife.com)
Quote to Digest..."You don't get anywhere in life looking backwards and dwelling on things that have gone wrong. And maybe the counter to that is that sometimes you have to lose something that you really hold precious and dear to really realize how much it means to you." - Chris Hansen (guy trying to relocated the Sacramento Kings to Seattle)
Just in case you were too busy the past 2 weeks to catch up on what others are doing in Student Ministry, here are some interesting posts I found in the blogosphere recently. So grab some chow, sit down and enjoy...
Youth Leaders Academy talks about making your youth ministry more relational. There are some great suggestions here!
Kara Powell shares some talk tips she was reminded of from her 1st grader
Ok so I'm late to the Instagram party. That sounds a little odd considering that I'm big into the social media stuff. I'm always promoting the youth group stuff and my blog on twitter and Facebook. But Instagram, that wasn't for me. Why would I need to post pictures of me or the youth on Instagram? That is what I thought until the past month.
See, I have a middle school daughter now and she has an iPhone . I know, I know, I'm one of those dads who got their daughter an iPhone when a simple phone would do fine. But honestly, I have good reasons and if you really want to know why she has an iPhone, email me and I'd be happy to share. So my daughter has an iPhone and I won't let her have Facebook or Twitter yet. But I did let her have Instagram as long as it was private.
What I began to notice about her was that she was on it all the time! Literally, she's always on it ALL THE TIME! That's when I discovered that not only her, but a ton of middle schoolers are on it as well. They are on it for many of the same reasons my daughter is...because their parents won't let them on Facebook and because they like to share pictures about their lives to others.
So, I joined the Instagram craze...but not me personally, my "ministry" did...nlstudents. I am now using Instagram to promote my ministry. I don't use it for me personally...I don't need to as I have other social media outlets I can do that on. But I realized that if I wanted another way to reach out to my middle school students, I need to be on what they were doing. I needed to be on Instagram to see what they were into, what they were doing and who they were. Pictures tell us a thousand words about each other and just seeing some of the pictures on my students Instagram profiles have enlightened me greatly...they have even enlighten me about my daughter.
So the question is, what social media platforms are you on...not you personally, but your ministry. Are you taking pictures to promote what you are doing and drawing people in? Or is that too "tech" and "new school" for you? Are you on these platforms to get to know your students better?
Whether these platforms like Instagram is for you or not, I want you to TAKE A MINUTE and give them an honest look. What could you use it for and how could your ministry benefit from it? Then, I want to encourage you to try them out. What platforms work best for your group? Then go with it. If we are really serious about reaching this generation of students, we have to be where they are. Which means whether it may seem too "tech" for us, we have to engage in it. Because again, that is where our students are.
Thoughts? Comments? Experiences? Post a comment so that we can all learn and benefit from it.
This seminar was led by Matt McKee. Matt is a fellow blogger and founder of ROAR which focuses on mobile apps for Churches and Ministries.
SOCIAL. STRATEGY. Have Both.
Every civilization has tried to connect. The world today is very connected. There are more cell phones in the world then tooth brushes.
We use social on a personal level but we have a hard time connecting socially on an organizational level.
Social Media is any digital communication. It’s not just Facebook or Twitter. It’s photos, YouTube, text messages, email.
Social Media redefines how we communicate. “Text me don’t call me”.
Average person has 130 Facebook friend. Average church has 70 fan likes.
When you combine an Online Strategy with an Offline Strategy you will have a greater impact.
We need to anticipate where people are now, where are they going. Groups like Bufferapp.com and Hootsuite allow you to post and tweet on a schedule. So you don’t always have to be online to be reaching out socially to people. Anticipate when people are online and schedule a tweet or Facebook post.
We have to think critically. Programs like Evernote allow us to store information away that we will be able to process later.
We need to interpret. We are flooded with data constantly. We have to take that data and connect the dots and send it out to people. Google Reader helps collect the data so we can interpret later. As an organization you have to filter information for your community.
Once we filter, we need to decide what goes out to our community. Instapaper is a read later site that you can filter through later.
Then we align what you put on your blog, twitter, Facebook, etc. Twitterfeed.com allows you to send all your info out to all your outlets.
Throughout this whole process you will learn. Get a team around you to help you. Flipboard helps you see things differently and you can learn things.
To better reach your community in this day and age…to have a great impact, you have to have a strategy and you have to be social.
As an Organization:
You have to create a Hub. Wordpess is a great hub for your community.
The OC12 Pre-conference begins this morning at 9:30 am!! I'm really excited to be here after the great meet and greet. By the way, check out my new friend...
Anyways, here are the Pre-conference seminars I'm gonna hit up and will be posting the notes later if you want to follow my blog today:
HOW TO: Intentionally Connect to Your Community Through Sports. I'm excited about this one because of the nZone back home and how New Life Christian Church can better use sports to minister our community.
HOW TO: Prioritize Social Media in Your Ministry. I am always looking for ways to get more social with our students and how to produce a great social media product so we can keep getting the word out to them.
HOW TO: Creatively Tell Stories to Preschoolers. Being the "Family Guy" at New Life (not just the Youth Guy), I have a vested interest in making sure ALL our students can hear about God and Christ in an effective way. So I'm really excited about learning how to better communicate with these young children.
HOW TO: Implement 252 Basics Over Multiple Service Times. Having 3 services at New Life and being a new converter to 252 Basics, we are still learning so much. So going to this seminar will help me understand 252 more and bring home more info for our Children's Ministry Director as she works through it as well.
Social Media are media for social interaction. Social media is the wrong term. Social media is interaction. When they are looking at social media they are looking for a relationship. Social media is the #1 activity on the web, taking over pornography. It really is social communication, not social media.
Social media is not a fad and it has come to stay. As ministers this is where the people are and we have to engage in this. There are connections that are being made. It does work and it is a tool.
Where do you start?
Look at all the social media and see if that media meets your needs.
Twitter is asking the question, what is going on right now. It is not about the past, but what is present, right now.
Facebook is asking the question, who am I. They want your pictures, your interests, your past and all info about you. As a ministry they are looking at who you are. Do you have sermons, announcements, info? You come to Facebook and you hang out for a bit and learn about others.
RSS Feeds (Blogs), you are looking at someone’s thoughts and what they think about a subject or ministry. Posterous is an simple, excellent way to blog and get information out. All you do is just email your thoughts to Posterous. You can attach video or audio and they will organize it for you. If you want more elaborate, WordPress is a better medium.
Groupme is text messages to 25 people or less. When you send a text it sends it to everyone. It is a private group and a great way to talk to others. Be forewarned, if you do Groupme, better have unlimited text messages because you get everyone’s responses. The great thing about text messages is that 98% of them get read!!!
Integrating and how would you use them?
Twitter – What do parents need to know right now? You can tweet pictures and letting them know what is happening with their children. If you are running late returning from an event, let the parents know so they aren’t wondering where you are. If this is not “you” there are plenty of young people who are dying to help out. This is a great way for them to have a vital role in your group. Andy Stanley, “the less I do, the more I accomplish”
Facebook – Your ministry need it. Make sure it is a Fan Page, not a Group Page. Fan pages show up in google search. Use these as outreaches to others.
RSS Feeds (Blogs) – people can come and learn more about your ministry. Here people can come and get information because it is permanent and always there.
Groupme – Utilize information to send out to people who need to know the information.
If you are not reaching people both online and offline, then they may not feel like you know them.
Below is a video I recorded just before the session started. Check it out.
Last spring I gave up Facebook for a week or 2 because of some transitions I was going through in life and ministry. Well, that didn't last long as I got re-engaged in it. The reasons I gave up Facebook is found here. The reasons I came back are simple. They are found here. Even though I have moved on from that position, I am glad I am back on Facebook.
Today, I'm especially glad to be back on Facebook. It is because I got encouraged by 3 comments I read. They are:
"1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
"just heard a great message about being strong and courageous in the face of adversity...knowing God is with you..."
"Love is patient..."
Life is tough from time to time and people get discouraged - it happens to the best of us. Well, this morning, I was discouraged. Even after reading Psalm 63, I was discouraged. However, after reading these 3 comments (all based on scripture) on Facebook, I was encouraged and I felt that God ministered to me then. God can even use Facebook to minister to people.
I don't know where you are at in life, but TAKE A MINUTE and spend some time with Christ right now. Open up the Bible and turn to any of the Psalm or start going through the Gospels and see how God encourages you today.
Have you ever had one of your social media accounts hacked? I have...yesterday in fact. Well, it wasn't quite "hacked" as my Facebook account was left logged on while I was at church (my computer was in my office). Two students thought it would be fun if they changed my profile picture to a piece of poop in a toilet. Then, they tagged a few others and posted it. I didn't even notice it until I got a few texts and my Facebook messenger went off with a person who said they were offended by my pic and asked me to take it down. Thank goodness for their very rude message to me. 
The OC12 Pre-conference begins this morning at 9:30 am!! I'm really excited to be here after the great meet and greet. By the way, check out my new friend...
