WCACYM – Brainstorming about Social Networks

Here are the results from our brainstorming session about our usage of social networks.

(And it goes without saying, but we should say it anyway: without communicating with the Lord in prayer, we won’t be able to share him online.  (Can’t give what you don’t got!))

Social Networks (General)

  • A couple of major uses:
    • Broadcasting information
      • May be effective or not, depending on audience and subscriber size
      • Most of us will not have large numbers of followers
      • But we can target items for our follower base.  E.g. a parish account could publish parish announcements
    • Social interaction
      • I’d argue this is the most effective part of social networking.
      • It seems to really get at what Pope Benedict referred to in the 47th World Communication Day message.  Extends what already happens in real life to the online world, with a greater reach.
      • Can be strictly faith-based, which might be appropriate for an official parish account.
      • Memes are a way to convey information in a very brief but poignant way.
      • However, interaction can increase when we share more of ourselves – our likes/dislikes.  E.g. I recently had a HUGE response from a tweet that said Star Trek DS9 was the best.
      • This can open up to deeper discussions.  Or at least break down stereotypes concerning church people.
  • Important question: What is my primary, target audience for a given social network?
  • Is this a personal or corporate account?
  • How do I limit what I share (boundary issues)?

Twitter

  • Short messages (140 character limit).  Called “Tweets”
  • Informal – can message anyone, unless they have locked their privacy settings.
  • As public people, locking our accounts might be counterproductive.  This is ESPECIALLY for an official parish account. (I have seen parish accounts that were locked! Very counterproductive. Want to encourage followers.)
  • Examples of people using Twitter well?
  • What should we share?
    • Small snippets of what Jesus means to us
    • Retweeting (repeating) what others say – e.g. Pope Francis, Some other Catholic personality, the Saskatchewan Roughriders…
    • Other updates from daily life: share who we are, hoping to draw people into a deeper conversation.  This is very important for authenticity purposes.
    • Food
  • Important to set your profile picture! (The default egg often implies lack of engagement). Can also create a cover pic and change your background.
  • Best times to post?
  • Some messaging tips:
    • to send a public message to someone, begin with their “@” handle.  It’ll be like a postcard – anyone who follows both of you will see it in their feed.  Anyone who clicks on your profile will also see it.
    • To mention someone else in a tweet, DO NOT start with the “@” handle.  If a tweet starts with an “@” sign, it will only show up in the feed of people who follow both of you.
      • Workaround: start with “.@”
    • Hashtag: Begins with “#”. Cannot have punctuation. Enables easy search.
      • e.g. #RememberJMJ
      • #cathmedia is often used for promoting Catholic media
  • Connect to Facebook through the Twitter App on Facebook.
    • Pro
      • Easy to send messages to both platforms
    • Con
      • Messages are not tailored for each platform
    • It’s also possible to use cross-posting services such as Hootsuite.
  • Vine is a cool part of this, now owned by Twitter.  6 second repeating video.  App is available for smartphones.  Good for short little videos.

 

Facebook

  • Facebook can be personal accounts and/or public pages.
  • Personal accounts:
    • By definition, seem more personal.
    • You share among “Friends”
    • You can enable people to simply follow you (like Twitter) without friending you.  They usually cannot comment or like anything of yours
    • Friend limit of 5000. (Not a problem for me yet!)
    • Might be harder to separate boundaries. I’ve seen youth ministers limit their personal Facebook account for just real friends and family.  Students and others can “like” their public page instead.
  • Public pages:
    • People simply need to “like” the page in order to be able to interact with it.
    • Unlimited number of people can like (vs. 5000 friends on personal account)
    • Might be more suitable for a public person like a youth minister or a priest. (Note: I’m thinking about it…. not quite there yet.)
    • Can have multiple public pages tied to one account, and multiple administrators of the public page.
    • E.g. Hot Cup of Ministry
  • What do we share?
    • Similar to Twitter, but can be deeper
    • Discussions can also be deeper.  But these can also go out of control quickly on controversial items.
    • Can also share something of ourselves (text, photos, etc.), hoping to draw people into a deeper conversation.
  • Privacy settings: How much do you want to share?
  • One safe assumption: Assume that whatever you share on your personal Facebook account is public. Then you won’t be embarrassed. :-)
  • Boundaries: Need to be concerned about sharing photos, especially of minors.  Depends on the setting.  Public events generally don’t have expectation of privacy. But we’d want to be careful about this.
    • Posters/brochures at an event can be helpful as a disclaimer for people, to let them know that photos are being taken and may be shared.  Giving the option to opt-out of having photos shared is important as well.
  • Profile pic and Cover pic are very important! Consider having a professional-esque photo for a public page.

Instagram/Flickr

  • Photo sharing communities
  • Instagram is owned by Facebook.  It now allows 15 second video.  Has always been known for its many creative photo filters

 

Pinterest/LinkedIn/Google+/Other

  • Google+
    • Photographers are starting to use Google+ more.  Seems like a nice interface.  Tied more closely to Youtube now.  Google appears to be trying to unify their multiple communities.
    • Cannot create an account that is not a person.
  • Pinterest
    • People can quickly share a number of things and browse easily.
  • LinkedIn
    • This is more professional-oriented.  My guess is it’s not the most common thing for youth to be using.
  • Tumblr
    • Blogging site with social networking aspects.
  • Other