Having laid out a couple of conceptual matters regarding social media, let’s talk about a practical matter to help you improve immediately. This idea is urgently needed for churches in particular, using social media as a church account, but it is also helpful for individual Christians.
There is a reason it’s called social media–the social aspect. So if you want to use it well, you probably should lean into the social aspect. People enjoy sharing and being drawn into things. Many people go to social media to be heard or share their thoughts, or hope to find a listening ear. People like to talk. Social media facilitates that. That may sound more annoying than helpful, but isn’t it a good thing if we get to hear what people are thinking or interested in?
You can scroll through the social media pages of OPC and Reformed churches. But let me spare you and tell you the most common examples of what you will find:
* 31 posts in a row of the sermon audio link or sermon video
* 23 posts in a row of the Sunday bulletin telling everyone they are welcome to visit
* Either or both of the above, with various other information about church events, etc.
There are exceptions, of course. But fewer than you would think. This isn’t really using social media according to its purpose. You have a place to store walls of information—it’s your website.
You can still share these things on social media, of course, but they should probably be the minority of what you are sharing. Social media is a tool to engage people and to be engaging. Even if few, if any, outsiders are going to it, you can still display an engaging presence for when people do come. And if you are going to be heavy on information, at least vary the kinds of information so it’s not a wall of bulletins and/or sermons
So, what does that look like? Here are some ideas:
* There are many great videos on YouTube from trusted sources and Christians. Bookmark a few and share them from time to time with a comment about them, encouraging people to comment.
Pro Tip: We share videos and good Reformed & Christian quotes and ‘memes’, hoping you will simply swipe them and use them for your own.
* Ask some questions. Sure, it may be slow at first, but over time, maybe some people interact or maybe you get that one person who becomes a God-ordained contact. A few leaders can answer, and you can encourage a couple of people in the church to keep an eye out and answer as well.
Examples of Questions:
– What is your favorite book of the Bible and why?
– If you could only have 5 books of the Bible, what would they be and why?
– What’s a great Christian book you read recently, and what lesson stuck out from it?
– What’s a great book you read recently, and why did you like it?
– What’s your favorite hymn and why?
And 100 more we could come up with…
* Share things or ask things about your community
– share an occasional article about something in the community—trends, culture, good deeds, human interest stories
– share some great photos of the community-gathered from you and your members
* Share about your congregation and members
– ask people to write a short testimony about how they became a Christian, or got to your church, or what they like about your church; share them occasionally, no major undertaking
– share things that your members do or achieve as part of life and the Christian life
Now, we recognize this takes some intentionality and a bit of work—probably not as much work as you are picturing in your head right now. Do you have someone in the congregation who would be good at serving in this capacity to help gather some of these things to post? A great opportunity for sensible, younger individuals.
But even if not, there are churches looking to use social media a bit more effectively, and these are the things you should be thinking about. If you are a smaller church and find it tough to do much with this, you can still make an effort to liven up your SOCIAL media with a little effort.
Hope this helps you think through and improve your SOCIAL media presence.