Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
"I Just Texted To Say I Love You" -- A Video
Relationships and dating in our technological age. This is beyond where I am right now. But I think I know some folks who would fit right in.
Should Annual Conference Ministry Boards Require Access to All Your Social Media?
That was then.
What about now?
See, I'd still have to turn in all of the papers and do the interviews and enter a period of discernment. But, now there is a lot more information about me and by me that persons could potentially have access to. I've posted over 1000 posts on this blog. (And, let's be frank, not all of it is wonderful). I have Facebook friends who make occasionally rude and inappropriate comments on my posts and whose rude and inappropriate comments show up on my Facebook page. While the blog is public and I knew that getting into it, I've always kinda' thought I didn't have to let everyone have easy access to my Facebook stuff--not that I'm ashamed or embarrassed, but because I figure I don't need the whole world knowing I'm going on vacation and will be gone or that I'm a lousy fisherman or am just having a bad day. I know, believe me, that Facebook isn't private. And, Lord knows, I have "Facebook Friends" who are merely acquaintances and I really don't know and probably don't trust (although if you're reading this because you came to it through my Facebook Page, please know I'm not talking about you). That's what all of those so-called "privacy settings" are for.
But, what if, as I went through the ordination process, the Board of Ordained Ministry had full access to, yes, all of my blog posts but also everything written about me or by me on Facebook? Have I said anything that painted too politically liberal or conservative a picture? Did I express doubt? Have I shown myself to be careless with words or insensitive to the needs of others? Did I "like" a comment that someone else might find offensive? And if I didn't do this all the time, did I let something slip once...or twice? Or are my friends on Facebook too liberal or conservative or hedonistic or do they use foul language? If so, why am I friends with them? Why, someone might ask, would a person with these friends see themselves as a pastor?
In our family, we adhere to the notion that "you shouldn't do something unless you'd want to shout it from the rooftop." That's a great rule of life. And yet I know my life has had many an exception to this rule. And I'm not going to get into the details here. There are things in my life...things I've said and done that, while I know God knows, I don't really want EVERYONE to know. And I wouldn't want folks assessing my ministry to know...particularly know out of context to the entire picture of my life.
Which is why I'm uneasy about some news I read last night. I found out about the actions of the Kentucky Annual Conference from Jeremy Smith's Hacking Christianity blog. He got his information from a post from Rob Rynders' blog, which is so good I subscribed to it on the spot.
Rob notes that there is a "sign in" agreement for social media for those persons seeking ordination in Kentucky. It goes as follows (italics mine):
I, ________________________, agree to allow the Kentucky Annual Conference to examine any and all MySpace, Facebook, or other blog and website accounts that I may have. I have added the Kentucky Annual Conference as a friend on these sites. If I do not have a MySpace, Facebook, or other website account at this time, if at any time I should create one of these accounts, I agree to add the Kentucky Annual Conference as a friend. I agree that access to any part of these accounts will not be blocked to the Kentucky Annual Conference. I understand that any information of a questionable nature on these sites that are written and/or posted by me, could affect my status as a Candidate/Resident in the Ordination process with the Kentucky Annual Conference. Further, I also understand that my Barnabas Team will regularly check these sites for inappropriate content. I agree to and understand that material that would be deemed questionable in light of the Social Principles and Doctrinal Standards of the United Methodist Church or that would show lack of judgment in understanding the standards and ethics of a United Methodist clergyperson will be determined by the Board of Ordained Ministry and my assigned Barnabas Team.
Wow. That's quite a response to social media.
Jeremy posts some follow up thoughts that I think are important to understand:
Look, I am sure that in this world of social media, of YouTube views, of comments on blogs, of wall posts, and "likes," and "posts" and "retweets" how persons called to ministry behave in these settings and in these forums is not unimportant. I would hope, however, that interviews with those I have been in ministry, with answers to questions where I have applied care and consideration, and personal conversation with me is a much more honest reflection of who I am and the legitimacy of my call to ministry.
- This is not a “policing” effort because it is an impossible request to police. The privacy features of Facebook means that you can hide individual posts from individual people (click the lockbox at the bottom-right corner sometime and play with it). Thus, you would still be able to have private thoughts from a BOM account and they would have zero way of knowing.
- This is not an “online awareness” educational effort because people already know. Looking at the last 10 people the account has friended, every single one of them has their privacy set so that non-friends can’t see their wall (or at least status updates/links). Smart and appropriate…clearly at least those clergy don’t need education on “what not to put on Facebook.” So education of “watch what you write” is not the reason.
- This seems to be an effort to exert control and instill fear. It really seems like a power-trip OR a policy set in place because of a candidate who flamed out fabulously because of online writings (Chad Holtz-ish?). Either way, it feels too overbearing to let slip by.
If you take one word (or tweet...maybe even one sermon) out of context you might fail to see the great spiritual gifts coming through in the whole person.
As I close this post, I'm reminded of my own ordination interviews where we spent far too much time on one sentence in the pages and pages of documents I had turned in. I had said in answering one question in the papers, "If the Bible is only partly true, then perhaps we're only partly saved." This was in the context of stating the importance of Scripture. However, one person in my interview kept hammering me on this, telling me that it wasn't "Wesleyan." I don't remember where the quote came from at this time, but I kept thinking that there were other important things to discuss.
As I left the interview, I spoke with a pastor-friend who was on the Board of Ordained Ministry for the North Indiana Conference and told him that my interview was taken up on tiny issues, out of context, and I shared the Scripture discussion with him. His response was, "That's good. That means they didn't find anything big."
My sense is that, policing social media isn't really going to find anything big. The BIG stuff will come through in other ways. My fear, however, is that some ordinations will never happen because of the SMALL stuff that gets found and one of the members of the board latches onto it and can't let it go.
I Love My Facebook Friends...BUT...I'm Not Doing This
Apparently this has been revealed as a hoax. It's not a real tatoo.
But, still, I'm not going to do it.
"The Internet Is My Religion"
I think this is an important video, telling the story about how one man's faith in God is replaced (to some extent) by the internet. It's where religion becomes the interconnectedness of separate individuals working for good. There are a lot of very Christian themes that come through this talk and I think it's an important video to watch.
It might make you tear up.
It might make you want to tell him all about Jesus.
It might make you wonder where the church is in the story.
It might help you see technology in a new way.
You might just agree with everything he says.
(Also, know that you might be asked to offer up an email address in order to watch more than about five minutes of it.)
HT/Matthew Paul Turner
Watch live streaming video from pdf2011 at livestream.com
Gotta Share This Video
It's a video about people who need to share everything they do and see and view and say on social media.
It only made sense to share it here with you.
It's by the group "Improv Everywhere".
The Christmas Story According to Facebook. WELL DONE.
This is one you can order and use in church. It's from www.ignitermedia.com.
Social Media Changes in 2011 and What it Means for Me as Pastor
ReadWriteWeb has an article out, "10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2011" which I think can be important for ministry and how we look at our own use of social media. Just take a look at Ravit Lichtenberg's opening paragraph:
Whoa !! That kind of blows my mind.
There were 10 changes that the article points to. I'm going to highlight several that are at least of interest to me. Plus I'll provide a very brief interpretation by me:
1) Social Media Will Be Supersized -- Lots of things are going to be connected with each other. For instance, even right now, this blog post gets put on my Facebook page and all of my Tweets (which I really don't understand but do anyway) get put on Facebook as well. But then Facebook notifications get sent to my e-mail inbox. And I can do all of this on my little iPod Touch. This will change as Social Media sites do more and more stuff. Says the article:
3) Mobile Will Become Our Gateway to the World -- iPhones, iPads, Androids, Tablets. How will your church reach those who are getting most of their information and connection via mobile devices and not at their computers at home?
4) Video Will Be Everywhere -- People will be looking at Video as a connecting tool and as a worship tool and as an advertisement for your church. We don't do near enough with video. Perhaps I should learn.
5) The Next Big Online Social Network Will Not Be a Network at All -- People are looking for more intimate, private experiences online. This can play right into where the church needs to be. Think of Facebook as a big net...that then feeds into more personalized experiences. If this is true, this is important for the church to be one of those ways for persons to connect in a more intimate setting.
7) Psychology is Shifting -- Not sure about this one. But I think the following paragraph sums up what the author was trying to say:
I know this is a question I've looked into as it pertains to death and grief. What does it mean to grieve via Facebook? Is that enough? Should we be concerned? I don't know.
8. Citizen Activism Brings Back Purpose and Power -- Through social media we can actually work together (if only financially) for change. Haiti's earthquake. Tea Party. Environmental issues. Obama's election. Water.org. How can the church tap into this for some of its activist issues?
9. Social Business Intelligence Will Heat Up and So Will Privacy -- I think we're already there on these issues. The "Big Brother" who is watching us is the business world. Companies want to know our habits our histories and sell us their stuff. How much information out there is too much? I think the church needs to have a voice in how this information gets shared. And, clearly, the church needs to be aware that privacy is going to be a concern for people in the church as well.
Well, what do you think? Do these changes affect ministry for next year?
Read the whole article over here.
With more than 550 million people on Facebook, 65 million tweets posted on Twitter each day, and 2 billion video views each day on YouTube, social media has become an integral part of our connected lives. But this is just the beginning.
Whoa !! That kind of blows my mind.
There were 10 changes that the article points to. I'm going to highlight several that are at least of interest to me. Plus I'll provide a very brief interpretation by me:
1) Social Media Will Be Supersized -- Lots of things are going to be connected with each other. For instance, even right now, this blog post gets put on my Facebook page and all of my Tweets (which I really don't understand but do anyway) get put on Facebook as well. But then Facebook notifications get sent to my e-mail inbox. And I can do all of this on my little iPod Touch. This will change as Social Media sites do more and more stuff. Says the article:
"By the end of the year, using today's à la cart solutions will seem as efficient as buying a pocket knife with only a bottle opener in it."
3) Mobile Will Become Our Gateway to the World -- iPhones, iPads, Androids, Tablets. How will your church reach those who are getting most of their information and connection via mobile devices and not at their computers at home?
4) Video Will Be Everywhere -- People will be looking at Video as a connecting tool and as a worship tool and as an advertisement for your church. We don't do near enough with video. Perhaps I should learn.
5) The Next Big Online Social Network Will Not Be a Network at All -- People are looking for more intimate, private experiences online. This can play right into where the church needs to be. Think of Facebook as a big net...that then feeds into more personalized experiences. If this is true, this is important for the church to be one of those ways for persons to connect in a more intimate setting.
7) Psychology is Shifting -- Not sure about this one. But I think the following paragraph sums up what the author was trying to say:
As the constructs of relationships, privacy and our ability to influence others evolve, we will also face important questions: How do we respond to the changing definition of relationships? How does the elimination of behavioral cues, only available face-to-face, impact our ability to connect? How does our need for emotional balance get addressed in the face of constant change?
I know this is a question I've looked into as it pertains to death and grief. What does it mean to grieve via Facebook? Is that enough? Should we be concerned? I don't know.
8. Citizen Activism Brings Back Purpose and Power -- Through social media we can actually work together (if only financially) for change. Haiti's earthquake. Tea Party. Environmental issues. Obama's election. Water.org. How can the church tap into this for some of its activist issues?
9. Social Business Intelligence Will Heat Up and So Will Privacy -- I think we're already there on these issues. The "Big Brother" who is watching us is the business world. Companies want to know our habits our histories and sell us their stuff. How much information out there is too much? I think the church needs to have a voice in how this information gets shared. And, clearly, the church needs to be aware that privacy is going to be a concern for people in the church as well.
Well, what do you think? Do these changes affect ministry for next year?
Read the whole article over here.
Utah Attorney General Announces An Execution through Twitter!
Ummm... Ewww
I saw over at Mashable that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff sent out a highly unnecessary tweet. Earlier today a Utah firing squaud executed a convicted killer by the name of Ronnie Lee Gardner. In the above tweet, Shurtleff announced the execution. In an earlier tweet, he wrote: “A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct, & with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer. Mourn his victims. Justice.”
I can't say I've done "a lot" of funerals, but I've done my fair share...particularly during my time in Indiana. With all the emotions that go on at a time of death, I can't imagine summarizing in this fashion. There's no place for emotion. There's no place to talk about, really, life or death.
Whatever Mr. Gardner may have done, there is something about a 140-character message that seems inappropriate as a medium for the announcement.
I would hope this is the last time we'll hear of this happening.
Some Advice About Social Media and the Church
At this point in time, I'm learning. I serve a small church in a small community. While some of our folks are social media savvy, many of them find it gets in the way of their fishing and skiing and biking and all of the other things we like to do far away from a computer screen. But, I'm always looking for ways to help our churches get into social media and understand it a little better.
How much do you know about Facebook?
Again I am sitting here, pondering:
- social media,
- its reach into our lives,
- my own use of it, personally,
- how it can be used as a tool for ministry,
- or, conversely, how ministry can become a "tool" for it.
Is Social Media a Fad?
I'm writing this in GMail, with my "Google Buzz" count prominently displayed to the left.
This post will then get published on My Posterous Blog, The Prodigal Blog before it goes to its final home, my main blog, "The Epistle of Jim." On that site you can "follow me" on Twitter, check out the Girdwood Chapel website, or subscribe to my posts. The post will then appear on my Facebook page.
I manage two other websites (very poorly) and two more Twitter Accounts plus another Facebook page. No MySpace. No LinkedIn. No YouTube. No Vimeo. But they may be coming for me.
So why do all of this?
Maybe I'm easily captivated by the new technical stuff out there...even if I have little to no expertise.
Maybe, as Communications Chair of the Alaska United Methodist Conference, I thought I'd better understand these things.
Maybe I'm avoiding the other work that is staring me in the face.
Maybe I want to understand all of this so I can understand our culture and understand how these tools can be used in evangelism and discipleship and the forming of relationships.
Maybe I'm concerned about the "branding" of our church and our churches.
Regardless, I don't think "social media is a fad." Things will change and the next new thing will come up. Earlier today I read how some social media experts have been giving up on Facebook and putting their collective energy into a new service that will, they say, better protect personal information. There will be something new.
And this all brings up interesting questions for the church. Just a handful...
- Just because we can use social media, does that mean we should?
- What does it mean that so many thoughts (good and bad) are not private anymore but are broadcast?
- How does the church use social media constructively for evangelism and discipleship? Or, can it at all?
- How should the church deal with the social media issues of privacy and cyber-bullying?
- For our larger churches, how much of our staffing should be directed towards this area?
If you have answers, let me know.
