Social Networking Doesn't Change People, or Ministries

When Ryan posed the question to me, "How has social networking helped/harmed the social skills of college students?" several thoughts ran through my head. After they swirled around in my head and on paper all morning, I was able to summarize them into this one statement. Social media doesn't change anything about you, your students, or your ministry. It amplifies predispositions. It accelerates communication. It increases the scale of communication. But it doesn't change people, or ministries.

You might be unsettled about this idea, because you know people who are quiet in public, but boisterous online, or vice versa, but I would be willing to bet that in the absence of social networking, those "online" personas would find their way out in some form or another. But I think we can neither expect, nor rely on a tool to change a person's behavior.

So, what does that mean? It means that if your ministry is struggling, a Facebook Page isn't going to help. If your students aren't responding to your emails, they probably won't respond to your Facebook messages either (unless you've got their email wrong, which is one REALLY valuable asset of social media).

If you as a leader want to take advantage of social media, there are several steps you should really take before you start evaluating communication platforms.

1.       Take the time to develop your vision frame (read Church Unique [http://www.churchunique.com] for help with this process).

2.       Identify the platforms your students are already using (through research, like surveys and interviews).

3.       Identify what your ministry does well, or what is important to your strategy (events, discussion forums, small groups, worship service, etc).

4.       Find a way to leverage the platforms your students already use to strengthen the things your ministry is already doing well.

5.     Stay focused on those things.

The intent of the team blog website and format is to aid collegiate/young adult leaders in their ministry to college age students in Texas.  The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention does not necessarily agree with or condone all of the thoughts in every blog written by ministers, they simply are providing a platform for resources and thoughts to be shared through this blogging opportunity. If you have any questions contact our offices.