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the pastor and social media

It’s early on Saturday morning and since there’s not much happening yet on Facebook … I thought I would write about it!

All joking aside, it’s a topic that pastors ask me about often — “How can I best use social media tools?”  For our purposes, I’m going to limit the discussion to just three over the next three posts: Facebook, Twitter, and blogging.

First a little background: social media has come a long way.  Back in the early 90’s, my first exposure to “social media” was through electronic bulletin boards and FIDO Net.  Then along came listserves which allowed multiple people to create email discussions that would be broadcast to subscribers.  I can still remember sending out a sermon request and having a pastor from Boston respond — I thought that was the coolest thing ever!

My next stop on the digital journey was Silicon Valley and a few months at Christianity.com.  The idea was simple: create an easy way for churches to get online and share content.  Not quite social media as we know it today, but getting closer.

Fast-forward to today.  Social media is everywhere: on your computer, phone, or iPad.  It’s never more than one click away — which is both good and bad.  New forms are created all the time.  Regardless, one thing is clear: it’s not going away.

That’s why we need to know how to use social media outlets in beneficial ways.  More tomorrow …