I’m not leaving Facebook because it is and will continue to be a powerful global communication tool. Being missional involves being where the people are regardless of my preferences – we see this repeatedly modeled in Paul’s ministry.
Campus Crusade for Christ, the ministry that I’m a part of, recently made an internal push for more fans on our fanpage (we are now at 24,500 and counting) that coincided with the overly reported/hyped concerns over Facebook’s privacy controls.
I had a few people ask me if I was leaving Facebook, tell me they are leaving Facebook, or tell me why I should consider leaving Facebook and here’s where I stand: I’m never leaving Facebook. EVER EVER NEVER (as my four year old son says to me often).
Here’s my view:
There were two pieces of communication and facts sealed it for me:
According to comScore, Facebook attracted 130 million unique U.S. visitors in May, 2010, an increase of 8.6 million people. That jump represents the third largest single-month increase in unique visitors since comScore started measuring. Pageviews were up 11 percent in May to 55.5 billion. – Techcrunch
and…
Two Campus Crusade staff members from two different countries hostile to Christianity have reached out to me via Facebook, which has led to significant conversations about using social media strategically for evangelism and discipleship.
It’s easy in the United States to take Facebook for granted and focus on the problems more than the opportunities.
For many of our overseas ministries that lack a quality website Facebook provides a powerful home-base (fan page or group page) to drive engagement and facilitate communication and an easy way to build relationships with friends who do not know Christ.
So, yes, Facebook is pushing its culture of oversharing across the Web and that does raise serious privacy concerns. But are people quitting Facebook over the privacy issue? The data suggests the opposite. They are relying on Facebook even more than before.” – Techcrunch
If “they are relying on Facebook even more than before”, then I do not want to miss out on leveraging that dependence for Jesus. Ever.
Matt says
I am one of those that have quit Facebook. I agree that we need to do something to reach people online and I am thankful that there are those out there that are meeting that need. One side effect of all of this “social-ness”, however, is that we seem to be withdrawing more from the physical community and are becoming more distracted by being constantly connected. We need to remember that there has to be balance. People around us need us just as much, if not more than, our virtual connections (and our wives and kids are screaming for attention, too!).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html
Brian Barela says
valid points matt. have read that ny times post as well as others that have convicted me in regards to investing more focused time w family and friends.
modestly curated is what i shoot for in relation to facebook–meaning i’m not posting every update and picture possible, or replying/commenting on everything possible.
i really like using lists on fb bc it really does keep me focused and saves a ton of time.
thanks for sharing your perspective!
Vince Marotte says
The interaction and shared value we have with our community via FB is more valuable than even our own website!
on another note; i’m never leaving MySpace either
Brian Barela says
i’m not leaving myspace either vince—i can’t figure out how to delete my account 🙂
Vince Marotte says
yeah I tried and failed to delete. couldn’t get it to work. But i have my twitter feeding it content.
Mike Loomis says
Agreed! (never leaving Facebook)
FACE it – they deliver tons of value for (kinda) free
David Tonen says
For the reasons you suggest, I absolutely agree. It is our responsibility to use a tool that helps us represent Jesus to those who need to see how relevant He is in our culture – where they are gathering.
Interesting that you wrote this today Brian, as I wrote a related topical post for Media Salt early this morning titled “Why Every Church Leader Should Be On Facebook”:
http://bit.ly/aTCYxf
Brian Barela says
awesome david! just bookmarked the post. hoping the discussion continues on using facebook strategically and intentionally!
Brett says
I agree. Don’t leave Facebook. In fact, we need more churches to get involved in Facebook. Nothing is better than a personal Invest & Invite strategy, but it is awesome to hear about people who attend our small, new church after finding us on Facebook or Google ads. And for individual Christians, why not interact on Facebook and be a light to the world instead of isolating ourselves in private, Christian social network sites. Facebook is also a good tool to equip individuals for Investing and inviting others through Events, etc. Just my opinion.
Trevor says
Ok, how do I say this?
I am sure people raved the same way about MySpace(and I still say it has it’s uses). I am also certain similar claims have been made about other online phenoms.
Facebook will one day be obsolete. Any person, business, ministry, organization, etc. must not leverage themselves too much into one social medium. Yes, FB is very useful and all the rave right now. So was AOL.(Do they still exist?)
Like everything on this Earth, everything comes to an end (thank you sin).
I understand and agree that FB among others have been very useful TOOLS in ministry. They should be used as long as they are viable. If you really think you will never need to set down FB in the future, then you will eventually be like Evelyn the organ player with her death grip on the hymnal.
I am just going to assume you are just really excited about FB and that you really don’t believe the whole “never ever ever” thing.
Everything has an end and in the tech world the end usually comes real fast
Brett says
I don’t think that is his point. Of course, I would leave Facebook if it dies. We just can’t hold back because one day it will be gone. Like you said, we need to treat FB like a TOOL. It is just one of many tools. If the masses migrate to another newer social network then I’ll go there to see how it can help the mission of the Church.
Brian Barela says
hey trevor there is certainly a lot of hyperbole in my post.
i’m seeing fb become an even more powerful tool than in year’s past and want those ministry leaders who “get” social media and are seen as leaders amongst their peers model a temperance in relation to the latest and greatest platform, and to be okay w a little bad in exchange for a lot of good.
i HATED all the spam on myspace but five years ago it was the best tool to communicate with the students in my ministry–we also saw a lot of evangelism take place there.
w myspace there was a very clear jumping off point–i’m sure facebook will have one, but it’s not now.
Trevor says
See, I knew you were just being funny. You do NOT want to be Evelyn the Organ Player.
The challenge of social media is how do they stay small when they grow so big. FB will become obsolete because it will get so big and complicated, filled with a bunch of spam(games) that what people feel as personal connection will evaporate. Actually, FB could possibly save there demise or at least slow it down if they would eliminate the annoying games. Yes, its popular and giving them some instant cash, but it is annoyances like them that will turn people away.
It is possible to be connected only to so many people.
Brian Barela says
good points.
i like one of scoble’s recent posts on just how far and fast fb has come:
http://scobleizer.com/2010/06/06/why-mark-zuckerberg-should-have-a-carol-bartz-moment/
if anything it reinforces the reality that fb is very much just getting started even though most of us that read this blog may feel as though it’s old.
Andre' Barnes says
Hey Brian:
Very good points. Facebook is a tool and for us not to treat it like one honestly is not smart on our end. Good post!
joanna says
I agree. Its all very well for people to say quit facebook and go elsewhere but the best designed social network ever would be pointless without this people there. There is little chance that I could get the people I want to interact with to all migrate to a new service. Facebook is where the people i interact with are and the best way to contact most of them considering few of them tweet and most aren’t a fan of email. It is an invaluable link to people I cannot interact with often offline because we are no longer living in the same country or city as each other. I’m sticking with facebook but keeping my privacy settings pretty tight and watching what I post.
Brian Barela says
i thought brightkite had great features (geo location being one) and tried to get my friends to join, but they were all just starting to use fb. however like you said even though it had “better” features not enough people used it.
jaked says
i’m totally with you brian. i’ve seen new relationships start (ones that happen in real life) and new bodies drawn to ministry events through facebook. facebook is, (right now) the-end-all-beat-all-you-will-have-to-struggle-to-find-someone-under-30-without-it ‘fad.’ it’s like when you get your birth certificate they also give you your facebook account.
as for myspace, i haven’t seen it used well for anything other than band promotion. that’s the only reason i’ve ever gone there. i have all my twitter and blog stuff pushed to facebook and actually when i look at where my blog post hits come from 99% is from facebook.
privacy issues or not our ministry can’t afford to ever leave facebook.
Brian Barela says
awesome jake! agree on the new people drawn to events…my student leaders have found it to be the best way of reaching out to new people–instead of texting, email, phone.
Brian Barela says
good post from mashable: “in defense of facebook”
http://mashable.com/2010/05/16/in-defense-of-facebook/
“I defend Facebook because it is the wrong target for our anger. It has done more to bring people together than any technology of the last five years, and the good it has brought far outweighs the bad. We made the decision to turn our personal information over to a private company, and for the most part Facebook made good use of it.”