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Social Media, Twitter, Web 2

Who Are You, Really?

Posted By on June 20, 2009

whoareyou

John Saddington’s post on authenticity a few days ago triggered me to think about why I love social networking & platforms like twitter so much. It’s appealing to be in complete control of the conversational flow I come in contact with.

To me, the main advantage in social networking is that we control what parts of ourselves we allow others to see.  Even the term “social networking” lends itself to the idea that we’re on a perpetual first date with the entire planet, and if we only want them to see the best of ourselves all the time, that’s our prerogative.

Facebook, MySpace, and similar platforms are excellent tools for creating & maintaining relationships that would never exist otherwise.  However, when we feel the need to randomly impress an entire contact list full of people we haven’t seen since junior high, something goes very wrong inside. We tend to speak from who we want people to see us as, as opposed to who we really are.

I suspect that the unhealthy habit of holding hoards of people “at arms length” through crafted communication is what keeps us from ever cultivating any meaningful relationships in the first place.  If we aren’t careful, we can sacrifice the few deep relationships for the many surface ones.

No wonder the entire world is calling for someone, anyone, to display true authenticity.

When we’re branding ourselves through social networking, does anyone get the message that we actually care about them?  When online,  before clicking “Submit” on anything, we must continually ask ourselves:  “What’s my motive for saying this?…To impress someone?…To be entertaining or witty?…To geniunely connect?…….….Am I being authentic?”

What needs to be done to make sure that the “right” message is conveyed and communicated? What should be done?

Communication, Google, Mobile, Web 9

Babelwith.me Launches: Real-Time Chat with the World (and More)

Posted By on June 19, 2009

bablewithme_logo

Babelwith.me, a free new service created by LifeChurch.tv, is a dead-simple way to communicate in real time to anyone anywhere in the world.

I had the pleasure of test driving it yesterday and I was super impressed; I was able to conversate in Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and a little French (a few languages that I know) and the translations were excellent.

Birthed out of an obvious need for the ministry that we do in the online space, we now have the opportunity for more rapid and effective communication. Implementation via Google Translate’s API and Google App Engine’s Python platform looks flawless.

babelwithme_screen

You can also invite your friends via Twitter, Facebook, or email to join you in a conversation without language barriers via a unique URL.

Some additional features for future releases include:

  • Vanity URLs
  • Private Conversations
  • Mobile Smartphone compatibility
  • Desktop to Mobile communication
  • and more.

Really, an unbelievable job by Team Digerati, and what an awesome application with near-unlimited potential.

Did the world just get smaller, or was that just me?

Analytics, Blogging, Strategy, Web 14

A Few Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

Posted By on June 19, 2009

I’ve been spending the last week or so reviewing my goals of the year in terms of this blog and taking a look at my analytics and metrics and seeing if they’re in line with my projected estimates. A few disappointments here and there, but overall it’s looking pretty good.

I’ve also been doing some introspective thinking in terms of my “mistakes” thus far. It hasn’t been a “straight shot” to the top by any stretch of the imagination and I’ve done a few things that I’m not necessarily proud of, but they’ve all been opportunities to learn.

Here are some of my recent thoughts on a few “mistakes” to avoid:

  1. mistakeThere was a period of time where I was a complete statistics nut. What a waste of time. It got me depressed and anxious. I now check weekly instead of hourly. Ah, what a refreshing thought.
  2. Some of the posts that have done the poorest in terms of engagement and traffic are the ones that are just plain “useless.” Posts that “solve problems” or have “high value” have always had better traffic and engagement.
  3. I wasted about a month’s time of design and development on a theme that never went live for ChurchCrunch. Why? Because it was a theme based on monetization rather than content. I quickly scrapped it, but not after sinking about 50 or 60 hours into it. Too bad.
  4. I had a great run of engaging on other people’s blogs. I haven’t done that as well as I have in the past. I want to do that better. I’ve seen some good returns as a result. Spend more time with others than just on myself.
  5. I haven’t always cared about “reputation management” but I care much more now. I could probably speak on this at length, but I’ll leave that there.
  6. I wanted the world and only gained an island. I wish I had pared my content focus even more when I first began; it would have saved me a lot of headaches.
  7. I’ve teeter-tottered on the edge of the “debate-type” posts for a while. I think choosing one side would be better than not doing anything at all. Encourage debate and controversy, but not at the cost of being offensive and rude.
  8. Don’t quit. There have been a few opportunities to take a break but I’ve stayed true to my 1 year goal.
  9. Take a break, strategically. I could do this better.
  10. Spend more time on design. I’ve spent quite a bunch but it’s not completely “me” yet. Design matters.
  11. A few of my titles could use a little more thought. I could spend another 20 seconds on them. Better for SEO and better clickthrus if I did.
  12. Write about what I love. There are a couple times where I’ve “forced” it. Bad move. Burnout. Ugh.
  13. Provide more opportunities for others to write. This has gotten better and I’m proud to be on target for my yearly goal of guest posts.
  14. Even more time on SEO optimization. I cared at the beginning, but didn’t care enough.
  15. Clutter. It gets ugly, and fast. I’ve done a better job, but took lots of time (and grief) that wasn’t necessary.

Finally, I think the reality of running a blog of this size for myself (instead of a big business or organization) is very different than I had imagined. Reality really sets in after a while…!

Code, Plugins, Web, WordPress 13

Backing Up WordPress: The Essentials

Posted By on June 19, 2009

backingupwordpress

Backing up your blog is super important. You need to make it not only a priority but a habit.

Now, you can easily go overboard and do full-on copies of everything, which is fine, but it’s not absolutely essential.

In this brief tutorial, I’ll show quickly how to backup the “important stuff” so that you can get backup and running if something goes bad.

Please note that I’ve attempted to simplify this process to the point where you’ll have the smallest backup (size) possible in the quickest time possible in a way that anyone can do it, without having to use some fancy plugin or phpMyAdmin or mySQL databases, or voodoo magic.

No excuses!

Ready? Here we go…

Continue Reading…

Strategy, Twitter, Web 7

A Pastor Who Leverages Twitter Effectively Is…

Posted By on June 19, 2009

A few days ago I asked this question via Twitter:

human3rror_tweet

Here are just a handful of the responses that I got:

tweet_anwers

I would have to agree with these folks, these are definitely qualities that Pastor’s who “get it” are using to leverage Twitter effectively.

Here are some additional thoughts which I have found work. What would you add to this list?

A Pastor leverages Twitter strategically and effectively when:

  • Very concious of their Ministry and Church “brand” and are obvious advocates, but at the same time do not oversell or spam ministry-centric tweets only.
  • They share, provide value, link to others, retweet, but do not “sell.”
  • They appear to be “real” humans; no canned responses, auto-tweets, or have their admin do it for them.
  • They actually spell correctly and have decent grammar.
  • They are committed long-term to the growth and use of their Twitter account.

What else?

Blogging, Web 11

Flickering Pixels – Group Blogging Project – Chapter 6

Posted By on June 19, 2009

samuelmorse

Chapter 5 covered by Paul Steinbrueck as part of our Group Blogging Project discussing the book Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps. If you need a quick overview to what Flickering Pixels is about, please go here.

Who is the Antichrist? Barrack Obama? Osama Bin Laden? Harry Potter? Um, he’s not even a real person?

No, the Antichrist is… [roll the creepy music]… Samuel F.B. Morse.

If you slept through history class, Morse is the guy who invented the telegraph.  Legend has it this devious device was hand delivered from the bowels of Hades to Morse’s laboratory by none other than the Prince of Darkness himself in exchange for his soul…. Or so one Shane Hipps would have us all believe.

The evil invention of the telegraph has resulted in the end of civilization as we know it and led to the to the eternal demise of more than a billion souls!

The Snowball

snowball

Sure, I’m being a bit melodramatic, but in chapter 6 of Flickering Pixels, Hipps makes the case that the telegraph is the snowball that rolled down the snow-covered mountain to become the avalanche of post-modernism and moral relativism.

Prior to the invention of the telegraph, information was always communicated in context for the purpose of increasing understanding and wisdom.  But with the invention of the telegraph information was ripped out of its context, and our capacity to understand it was diminished.

Since then we have moved through the eras of radio, broadcast television, cable TV, and Web 1.0 (institutions producing information for the masses).  Each advance in technology has enabled more information to be produced by more people and spread faster than ever before.  That has brought us to the social media era where anyone can produce an almost unlimited amount of information and disseminate it to billions of people around the world instantly.

Hipps states, “Today we are swallowed by a swarm of unrelated facts accorded equal importance.”

Not only are we left with an overwhelming quantity of information to try to sort through (much of it trivial), but we often know little about its source or the credibility of that source, which makes it difficult to know what to believe.

“I saw it on the Internet, so it must be true.”  Right?

How has this Impacted Society?

dataThe modern era was based on the underlying principle that universal truth exists for all people, in all places, for all time.  In the modern era information came slowly.  People had the time to pick up a piece of information like a piece of fruit – squeeze it, smell it, shake it, and put it back if something didn’t seem right.

But in today’s world people are bludgeoned by an overwhelming barrage of information.  We are left to try to process hundreds of bits of information every hour.  So for the most part we skim and don’t really evaluate too many things too carefully.  And even when we really want to know the truth about something – What really happened on 9/11?  Is there extra terrestrial life? Is there really a God? – it seems there are a thousand websites with conflicting conclusions all claiming to be experts.

It’s so much, so confusing, and so frustrating that many people have simply thrown in the towel that any universal truth can really be known.

And so here we are in the post-modern era, where…

a)    You have your truth, I have my truth, and God is whoever you want Him to be, if you want Him to exist at all, and

b)    We are long on facts but short on understanding and wisdom

IMO, Hipps makes a pretty good case showing the correlation between the advancement of communications technology and most-modernism.  Agree? Disagree?

I think other factors have also contributed to the rise of post-modernism, but they are largely technology-related too.  Transportation technology has dramatically increased world travel and immigration making it much more likely a person will live and work with people who have completely different worldviews.  The busy American lifestyle has caused us to devalue reading books, deep thought, and education, leaving many adults without the background or capacity to evaluate and understand all the information they encounter.

Questions to Ponder

I came away from this chapter with two important questions I want to give more thought to – if I can find the time and capacity to do so ;)    I hope you will as well:

1) How am I responding to people with a post-modern worldview who are skeptical of universal truth and put off by the claim that Christianity is the only real faith?

2) What am I doing with technology to produce not just information but understanding and wisdom?  And not just in me but in others?

[Image from Redjar, Toby]

Internet Church, Strategy, Web 15

Does Success for a Web Campus Mean a Customized Experience?

Posted By on June 18, 2009

customcar

There’s already a great conversation already swirling around on Nick’s blog about Customization and Web Church and how “success” might be measured in one’s ability to “customize the experience.”

A few comments pointing to “spiritual authority” and issues of “consumerism” point out the obvious holes in the argument, but I think I understand the essence of what Nick is saying.

There will always be a fine line of keeping the authority of scripture fast as well as providing “relevancy” and “culture contextualization” into the mix. It’s a tension that we must live with and one that we’ll be grappling with for a while, especially since Web Campuses and Online Experiences are still very young and new.

And culturally, we in an economy of choice online, where we desire the ability to “customize” our experiences. What do we do with that?

I’d like to think that we’d strive to be creators of experience, in the boundaries and guidelines of Scripture, in a way that is both in line with the context in which we serve and being cognizant of the culture in which we find ourselves in. The problem, of course, is that what I just wrote is laden with issue and interpretation.

One of our goals, then, should be to provide avenues of discussion so not as to dogmatically proclaim one particular practice and methodology as right but rather be open to humble dialogue.

But back to the question: “Is customization a sign (or differentiating factor) for the web campus experience?” Or perhaps, if you dare, what does “success” really mean for the online?

Social Media, Strategy, Web 7

12 Tips for Developing a Social Networking Policy and Usage Guidelines for Your Church

Posted By on June 18, 2009

policy

People are talking about your ministry, both within the walls of your organization and outside as well. It can’t be helped nor stopped.  But, it can be managed, if necessary, and with wisdom.

Having a Social Networking Policy and Usage Guideline for your Church is only needed if the ministry decides that it is needed; there are a number of church’s that don’t have one and they’re doing just fine without it as well. It’s up to you.

I’ve blogged a bit about the tensions that may arise and what a good base-line strategy might be, as well as the reasons to be anxious as well.

But, assuming that you’re moving forward with creating one, for whatever reason, here are some things to consider:

  1. Define – Make sure you define what “Social Networking” and “Social Media” is to your organization specifically so that every one knows exactly what you mean when you use the terms. You can be as specific or as general as necessary.
  2. Purpose – Make sure that you have a clear and defined reason and purpose for the policy and guidelines. The question that may arise is “Why have one?” You need to be able to answer that appropriately.
  3. Benefits – Make sure you innumerate the benefits of not only Social Media and Social Networking but also the benefits of having a policy as well. Focus on the positive and how it can be extremely beneficial to not only use it but manage it wisely and appropriately.
  4. Audience Matters – Make sure to consider all parts of your audience, from those that “get” it to those that may be “new” to it. Make sure you can account for your audience and provide guidelines that matter to both.
  5. Educational Opportunity – Make sure that you present a clear stance and platform for educating your staff. This is a great opportunity to teach as well as “preach” to them.
  6. Rights and Privileges – Define these, if you can, and if necessary. What are you able to do versus what you can’t do.
  7. Contextualize – Sometimes you may need specific guidelines per ministry segment. Some guidelines may be different for those engaging with young teenagers in social networking as opposed to just engaging generally.
  8. Legal – Make sure you take into consideration the legal ramifications of not following some governmental laws. Also, make sure that you can pull from the Terms of Service and Privacy Policies of the Social Networking services that you congregation and staff use.
  9. Connection and Community – Ultimately social networking is about connecting and community. Make sure to tie it back to this and to acknowledge this powerful fact.
  10. Confidentiality – Make sure to touch upon proprietary information as well as confidential information that may be at risk. Make note of what this information is and where/when it can be shared.
  11. Productivity – Talk about productivity in terms of social networking. We all know how quickly these sites can take away from our busy work days.
  12. Value – At the end of the day this policy should create value, not limit it or discourage it. Can you say that your guidelines made things “better” or “worse?”

Anything else would you add? Are you going to have one for your Church? Do you see it as necessary?

Social Media, Web, WordPress 14

Why WordPress is a Social and Technological Platform of the Future (and the Church)

Posted By on June 18, 2009

wordpress_logo

I can’t believe that it’s only been 6 years (less I suppose) when WordPress first got started back in 2003.

I picked it up about 6 months after it’s initial release and at the time had no idea what it would eventually become. Like many, I just used it to blog. In fact, I still do. But it’s much more than that now, and it’s growth and success is legendary, and continues to steamroll forward with calculated abandonment. It’s now the largest and most-used self-hosted blogging platform the world has ever seen, and is growing daily.

It’s also used by pretty much everyone, from the individual publisher to the Fortune 500 and even in government (Air Force, Army, Navy, and the CIA!). Organizations like Yahoo, New York Times, CNN, Ford, Nike, Martha Stewart Living, are just a few names of those who are betting their business on WordPress.

wordpress-iphoneWordPress, though, is even more than just a semantic publishing platform; it’s now been used as a CMS (Content Management System) and boasts the capability to do almost anything that you can dream of. In addition to the custom configurations and development, you can download millions of themes and plugins for increased functionality.

In fact, WordPress is such a large and successful platform that not having a plugin or tie-in with the system is seen as a loss for the business, especially anthing related to social media and social networking. One’s ability to connect with much larger social economies, systems, and cultures (like Facebook and Twitter) is a snap and is almost too easy, even for a beginner.

Where does come from? The simple answer is it’s users, and the amazing community that surrounds the technology. Advances in the code base, extensions, and experiments are all part of it’s healthy lifecycle, which continues to get better every single year (if not daily). WordPress is the epitome of social collaboration, collective ingenuity, and open source technology. It’s “culture” is peerless, and it’s fans are raving.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as WordPress is going to become even more “social” and integrated with platform like it’s Multi-User brother WordPress Mu. Talks of merging the two are already been discussed, and it’s not too hard to imagine the next jump into BuddyPress, with advanced media features and social connectivity.

Why is it one of the social platforms of our near (and long term) future? Because it’s transforming the way we do life and business. It’s transforming complicated, time-wasting, and expensive processes and activies and making them fast, affordable, and cheap. It’s enabling people to reach new, untapped markets, and even enable us to be multi-lingual with the push of a button. It’s giving us the ability to create better feedback loops, launch new products, with more effective integration and implementation into almost any scenario.

Quite simply, it’s just better for business, especially for the Church. It has already enabled us to do everything mentioned above and more. What’s nice is that culturally and historically we’ve been all about that since day one. WordPress, for us, is one of our weapons of choice.

My hope is that the Church will continue to become leaders in social technology, platform development, social computing, and practical use. I think we’re uniquely positioned to do just that and we can do it with WordPress.

Web 5

Gospel Software – Online Tools for Church Administration

Posted By on June 18, 2009

This is a Sponsored Post. We never take sponsorship from anyone that we can’t endorse or that conflicts with the interest of this community.

gospel_software_logoGospel Software was something I was made aware of when Scott Moonen contacted me a while back.

I was struck by their simplicity, their apparent approach was not to overwhelm (and then underperform) but to provide simple solutions for obvious needs.

As we exchanged emails, Scott in his own words says it like this:

I think this notion of simplicity, of software not taking up much of your time, and of your hardly noticing when you are using it, is one of the marks of excellent software.

Because of our history of having organically developed this in and for a church, with a goal to serve, this value of simplicity has been important to us.

We have tried to evaluate every feature and decision in terms of whether it actually made life easier for our pastors, administrator and fellow members.

I honestly tend to agree.

As a product developer myself I have seen “scope creep” unlike anything you’ve possibly imagined, where a once-slim-and-trim product that functioned extremely well becomes bloated as additional “candy-like” feature sets are slapped on.

directory

That’s probably the best thing about Gospel Software’s lineup; they just do a good job at what they were supposed to do, which may just be all that you need:

  • Directory – An online photo directory and member database for your church.
  • GuestView – A complete guest management solution for your church.
  • SongBook – Manage your church’s worship songs and set lists.

They’ve got Free Trials all around and a simple visual display of screenshots to show what you’d get.

songbook

I went one step further and asked Scott to share a little more via an email interview. Here are some of his thoughts:

Continue Reading…

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