I have found great benefit in social media.  I’ve written about social networking HERE.  Primarily, I use Twitter (you can follow me HERE) and Facebook (you can follow me HERE) when it comes to sharing short bits of information.  Right now, though I find great benefit in both, I much prefer Twitter to Facebook.  Why?

5 Reasons I prefer Twitter over Facebook:

1. It’s quicker. Facebook takes a lot of time.  When you read a status update, especially one that you like, you feel the need to read all of the comments.  Then you find a friend that you haven’t talked to in a while, and you click on their page.  And find a status update…and the cycle continues.  Facebook can quickly become a never-ending pit of time-wasting.

2. It’s more information-driven. I’m a “learner” (according to Strengths Finder), so I love gathering information.  Twitter is a great tool to share news and ideas quickly and efficiently (especially because it’s limited to 140 characters).

3. There’s no Farmville. Or Mobster.  Or Cafe World.  Or Treasure Isle.  I just can’t get myself excited about that stuff.

4. There’s no poking. I’ve been poked by somebody.  Seriously.  I just looked at my Facebook page.  And I have no idea what that means, why they poked me, or what I should do in return.

5. With Twitter, you can reach well beyond your circle of friends. On Facebook, for us to interact, you have to accept my friend request before I can see anything that you’ve shared.  Facebook seems to me to be designed for you to interact with people that you personally know.  Twitter is built for interaction with a broader audience.

What about you?  Do you prefer Twitter or Facebook?

I posted this on Twitter the other day:

Church politics are stupid.

It was based on a conversation I had with a guy about his past experiences with local churches.  He had been burned many times, and still carries some of those wounds.  It wasn’t based on anything that’s happening in the church where I serve on staff.

I’m all about challenging my system.  And I’d encourage you to continually evaluate the effectiveness of your system, too.  Tweak it, hack it up, throw it out.  Make your system do what you want it to do.  Criticize it.  Mock it.  Stomp on it.

But if you’re a leader in your organization, don’t do it on Twitter.

Why not?

6 reasons to not use Twitter to bash your organization

1. It’s too easy. For me, wisdom doesn’t roll off of my tongue.  Stupidity does.  If I’m going to say something that’s dumb, it’s going to be because I don’t think before I speak.  I just rattle off something without putting diligent thought to my words.  Twitter makes it incredibly easy to post whatever you’re thinking.  It’s as easy as a text message.  And though that’s one of the beauties of social media, it can be one of the uglies when you don’t think before you update. (Which makes me so thankful that social media wasn’t a big deal when I was in high school…because I would have publicly said some dumb things)

2. There’s little accountability. You can fire off an update and then just let it ride.  Although there’s the false sense of accountability because Twitter operates on the public sphere, it’s not really accountability.  Because you can always wriggle your way out of what you said.  ”Oh, that was just what I said on Twitter…”  And an @reply or a direct message (for you Facebook users, a wall post or a message) is much more easily ignored than a coworker sitting across the table from you.

3. All of the right voices don’t hear it. As much as we Twitterers would like to think, the whole world hasn’t adopted social media.  Though it’s changed the landscape of information sharing, not everybody has bought in.  And even for people who have bought in, there are varying levels of involvement.  Some people check it once/week.  Others check it once/hour.  Lots and lots of information is shared…and lots and lots of information is never read.  If you’ve got some scathing criticism to say about your organization, there are other key leaders who need to hear that…not just your friend from 2nd grade.

4. You’re limited to 140 characters. How would you feel if your boss came into your staff meeting and said, “Can’t believe the decisions our finance team is making! Hope they enjoy getting fired…” and then walked out of the room?  You’d want a little more explanation, right?  You want more than 140 characters to help you understand where you went wrong, and possible solutions to the problem.  There’s too much left up to interpretation when criticisms come through Twitter.

5. You have little control over the conversation. If criticisms are introduced in person, they can be immediately addressed and explained in person.  If they are introduced via Twitter, your words are stewed over, conversed, and twisted before you can ever fully explain yourself.  It could be days before you are able to sit down with those you criticized, and in the meantime, your words have taken on a life of their own.

6. It could get you fired. Read the story about the Cisco employee HERE.

If you feel the need to be critical of an organization you don’t work for, that’s a different story.  I’ve done that…and it’s worked out well.  Read my story HERE.

But if you work for, or are a leader in an organization, and you feel the need to be critical, that’s fine…just don’t do it on Twitter.

Today marks 2 years for my blog!

If you’ve just gotten on board, welcome!  Here’s a snapshot of what goes on here at Life and Theology:

If you’d like to get updated every time a new post goes live, click HERE to receive it by email, and HERE if you use an RSS reader.

Before the invention of newspaper deliver services, if you wanted the daily news, you had to visit a newsstand.  And if you wanted more than one newspaper, you were having to go to more than one newsstand every morning to purchase the papers (in hopes that they were still available by the time you arrived).

But then things changed.  Enter the newspaper subscription service.

Wake up.  Walk to your front porch.  Bam…you’ve got your newspapers waiting on you every day.  Genius.

Convenience for you.  Guaranteed service for you.  Guaranteed sales for the newspaper industry.

But when news began to be offered increasingly online (through media outlets and blogs), we as a consumer industry fell right back into the days of walking to multiple newsstands.  We would peruse multiple sites, visit countless blogs, and still not get all of the great news that was available.  Because for every site you checked, there were 1,000 others you didn’t check.  And it just wasn’t feasible to keep up with all of the blogs you found helpful, because you would forget to check them for a few days (or a few weeks), and when you finally remembered, you were way behind.

It’s time to make the internet work for us.

Google Reader

Enter the automated delivery service for digital media: RSS (Really Simple Syndication).  Google Reader is my feed reader of choice.  It gathers all of the new content from the blogs and sites that I visit, and keeps me from having to visit each of those sites individually.  And I can read this content on any computer or mobile phone by simply logging into my account.  Here’s how to get started:

1. Register for a Google Reader account.

2. Come back to my site and click the “RSS” link.

The next step is to visit the sites you love, and look for this symbol: Just click on that button (to the right), and it will prompt you to subscribe to their content.  Simple.

Here are some of the small group sites (some not solely focused on group life) that I have on my Google Reader:

• Triple Threat Leadership (Alan Danielson)
• Bill Donahue
• Simply community (Eddie Mosley)
• 2 Or More Resources (Reid Smith)
• Simple Small Groups (Bill Search)
• Small Group Resources (Mark Howell)
• From Messiness to God’s Masterpiece (Kirby Holmes)
• Small Group Trader
• Small Group World (Rick Howerton)
• Small Groups Guy (Spence Shelton)
• SmallGroups.com (Christianity Today)
• The Naked Truth about Small Groups (Randall Neighbour)
• Thinking Small (Dave Treat)
• Wineskins for Discipleship (Heather Zempel)
• Adam Workman
• Allen White
• Community is God’s Design (Josh Rose)
• Serendipity Team
• Just Thots (John Ratz)
• eFlections on Doing Life (Randy Kinnick)

Google Reader is free.  And it keeps you from having to visit multiple newsstands every day.

Did I miss any blogs that are small groups-related?

More and more, Bible apps are dominating the landscape of churches and small groups over physical Bibles.  At least in the circles that I run.  And you’re welcome, as a church or small group, to fight against that.  Maybe it’s a battle worth waging.  For me…I’m happy that people are interacting with the Scriptures, whether it’s on tablets carved from stone or on a mobile device they carry with them all of the time.

I’ve been using my computer and phone to read and search the Scriptures for some time now, and thought I’d highlight for you the two options I believe are the strongest.

YouVersion (developed by Life Church in Oklahoma) has quickly become the industry standard for Bible apps.  It’s interactivity, combined with the depth of translations and resources available, leave nobody questioning why over 350,000 people subscribe to one of their reading plans.  The unofficial poll that I conducted via Twitter was overwhelmingly dominated by YouVersion.

YouVersion (desktop HERE, mobile app HERE)

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I’ve used Crossway’s (publishers of the English Standard Version Bible) app for less time, and though it only contains one translation, I have found great value in it.

ESV Bible (iPhone app HERE)

* Available whether you’re connected online or not
* Free
* Quickly and easily find a specific passage/verse
* Record personal notes/highlights and save for future use
* Share verses easily via Facebook and Twitter

What Crossway’s app lacks in power (as compared to YouVersion), it easily makes up for with its ease of use and beauty. It’s incredibly simple to jump to various passages, and the user interface improves readability (as compared with YouVersion and other apps). The font and style of the app matches the font and style of the ESV Bible (my translation of choice), so when I’m reading this app on my phone, I almost forget that I’m looking at an electronic device.

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When I’m in small group, or just needing to look up a specific verse, I use the Crossway app. When I’m reading through the Bible on my own (daily), I use a combination of the desktop and mobile versions of YouVersion.

Do you use a Bible app?  Or do you think it’s better to use a physical copy of the Bible?

I’ve written quite a few blog posts.  On my blog alone, it’s over 250.  And though that doesn’t make me an expert, I can say that I now know quite a bit more about the art of blogging than when I started.

So how do you write a successful blog post? While I could delve into SEO, social media marketing, and strategic timing of information, and while those things are important, I’ll talk more in this post about the actual nuts and bolts of writing a successful post.

What goes into writing a successful blog post?

1. Get creative with your title. If your title is lame, you’ll lose most readers.

2. Grab people with the first paragraph, at the very latest. If possible, grab them with your first sentence.  If you don’t, people will never read your content.

3. Be provocative. Your momma (and Thumper from Bambi) may have told you, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all,” but I’m telling you, “If you don’t have something interesting to say, don’t say anything at all.”

4.  Leave people thinking about what you wrote all day long. Try ending with a memorable, original statement.  Think, “How can I say this in a catchy, repeatable way?”  If your ideas are provocative and easy to remember, you give people the chance to marinate on them.

5.  Don’t be afraid to offer your opinion. That’s why people are reading…they want to hear what you think.

6. Reread and reword any extraneous material. I don’t mean for you to take out illustrations.  But think how you could word them more succinctly.

7. Provide lots of links. Go crazy with the links.  Making your posts interactive allows your readers to crawl from your posts to other related info.

8. If your post has to be more than 250 words long, make sure it’s scannable. In other words, make use of bullet points and numbered lists.  Bold and italicize words so that somebody could quickly scan and get what you’re talking about.  If they want more info, they’ll read more carefully and click the links that you provide.  If there’s no way to get your idea across in less words, and no real way to make it scannable, you’ll need to offer the info in multiple posts.

9. Invite conversation. If you always end with a conclusion that’s definitive, and leave no room for discussion, readers will check out.  Make sure you give the freedom for differences of opinion.

10.  Consistently post quality information.

Perform a Google Search for “How to Increase your Twitter Follwers” and you get plenty of websites/services to follow.

Many of these are services, where you opt in to following 10 people then auto-following everybody else back, guarantee that you’ll have 20,000 Twitter followers in 30 days.

Others give ways to buy Twitter followers.  I’m not kidding.  For only $87, this site will get you 1,000 new followers.

Other sites tell you things you need to do with your Twitter account, such as making sure to fill out your bio section, learning the language of Twitter (Reply, Retweet, Direct Message, hashtags, etc.), and following the people who update about things you want to read. (these are all good things, and should be done, but they’re not what I’m focusing on in this post)

But my goal in using Twitter isn’t to have more and more followers.

I would much rather have influence than followers.  Because followers often represent people who aren’t listening, but are merely speaking.  They don’t care anything about what you have to say…they just use Twitter as a platform to get the word out about their business/life/hobby.

If you want to increase your followers quickly, it will cost you $87.

If you want to build your influence, it’s a little tougher and takes longer.

(If you need a refresher on the language of Twitter, read my post HERE.  If you need some reasons to start Twittering, click HERE.  If you have no idea what Twitter is, click HERE.)

9 Ways to Increase your Twitter Influence

1. Be authentic. Give people a snapshot into who you are.  What makes you tick?  What do you enjoy?  What unique angle/wisdom can you give on an event that you’re attending?  A book that you’re reading?  A blog that you follow?

2. Share helpful content. If your posts only benefit you and your dog, people probably will tune out after a short period.  For example, I’m a small groups pastor, so I try to post content that applies in my field.  I try to be authentic, but I make sure the content is broadly applicable whether you live in Tennessee or California.  Whether you’re young or old.  Whether you go to my church or meet in a house church.

3. Invite conversation. Try to phrase some of your updates in a way that invites others to join in the conversation.  Pose a question.  Leave your update open where others can share their thoughts, opinions, and disagreements.  If it’s broadly applicable, helpful, and uniquely you, others will want to join in.

4. Post consistently. If you only post occasionally, people will tune out.  If you only post once/week, you’ll never show up in your follower’s timelines (because they’re based on the latest posts), and people will never see your updates.

5. Create conversation with others. I’m making a distinction here from #3, above.  Creating conversation means that you reply to others.  Retweet things you find important, inspirational, helpful.  Continue the dialog with others.

6. Don’t post only facts. When you have a conversation with someone, do you merely share facts with one another?  If you do, your friendship will quickly dry up.

7. Respond timely. If you’re consistently putting helpful information out there in a way that invites conversation, you will inevitably receive replies to your updates.  Make sure to thank those who are spreading your ideas.  And do it in a timely manner.  Also, if someone sends you a Direct Message, try as much as possible to respond in a timely manner (I use the 24-hour rule on any email sent to my inbox).

8. Give some link love. If you read an article, or a blog post, that you think may be of interest to others, share a link and give credit to the person that wrote it (by using their Twitter handle).  You may not see this as a way to boost your influence, but trust me…sharing links gives encouragement to others, and helps to give you credibility among those who follow you.

9. Be careful what you post. A tweet is forever.  What you post today will be visible for years to come.  Influencers have the future in mind with the things that they say and do.

Isn’t it the same in all of life?  Gaining influence is much more difficult than merely having a platform for your opinions.  You can go to the local mall and scream out your thoughts…but likely nobody will listen.

Working to gain the respect and trust of people is a much harder, and longer, process.

But in the end, I think it’s worth it.

Have you ever been “Cc’d” in an email? Not even sure what I’m talking about? Let me enlighten you.

Here’s a normal email field:

See the “Cc:” line below the “To:” field?

Cc stands for Carbon Copy.  You know those forms you have to fill out that have multiple copies where, if you press down hard enough, the image is stamped on all of the subsequent attached copies?  The first one’s white…the second is yellow…the third, pink…the last page is black.  Follow?

Carbon copies are a way of sharing multiple copies of the exact same information with people.

The same holds true with emails.

If I send an email to you, and Cc Joe, it means that I want Joe to have the same information that you have.  It’s not directly addressed to him, but he needs to be included in the conversation.

There’s one more thing you need to know about: “Reply All.”

If you “reply” to said email, I will get your reply.  But Joe won’t.

If you “reply all” to said email, I will get your reply, and so will Joe.

Here’s my point: I included Joe for a reason.  I wanted him to be included in the conversation.  I want him to know what we’re talking about.  And for him to know what we’re talking about, you have to “reply all.”

It would be the same if I am having a conversation with you and Joe about an upcoming event that you will be leading.  I say, “Hey, do you know who else will be coming to the event?”  And you whisper back to me, “Yes, Don will be there, too.”  Then Joe says back (to both of us), “I don’t know anybody else who will be there.”  Then I have to say (to both of you), “Sorry, Joe, _____ whispered to me, but he should have said it out loud.  Don will be there.”  Then you whisper (to me), “Can’t wait to see you both there!”  Then I have to tell Joe what you just told me.

Confused?

If I send you an email, and Cc somebody else, please, please, please “reply all.”  There’s a reason I sent them a Cc.  I want them to be in on the conversation!

Email can be a conversation…if you know how to use the Cc.  The same principle can hold true in a small group, too.

If I’m leading a small group, and consistently find myself talking with the same one or two people, that’s not a small group…that’s a clique.

A good small group leader involves everybody in the discussion.  They’re listening to what Joe says…and connecting it with what Sean says…and the prayer request that Debbie shared last week…and the fact that I know John lost his job.  Because they, as the good small group leader, are convinced that everybody’s story matters.  And they are convinced that, though Rose is quiet in the back, she’s dealing with real life issues.  And, even though everybody rolls their eyes when Chris starts to talk because he dominates the conversation, Chris is a vital part of the growth of the group (because learning how to interact with Chris teaches the group patience, love, and grace).

Sure, it would be more fun to talk with “that couple” that you’ve been friends with for years.  Or that girl that you think you may have a chance with.  But the role of a small group leader is to pastor the whole group, which means learning to help the whole group have a conversation.

Learn to listen well.  In email.  And in small groups.

What kinds of things have you done in your small groups to help elicit discussion out of the whole group?

Yesterday, I gave you 10 reasons your should start blogging.  Today, it’s the flip side.  There are lots of reasons why people don’t blog.  However, that’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m going to give you reasons why you should not blog, even if you think you should.

9 Reasons you should not blog

1. Don’t blog if you don’t have anything to say.  In the meantime, though, find something to say.  Learn to beautifully communicate the mundane.

2. Don’t start blogging if you know you won’t be able to consistently post.  My goal is, at minimum, 1 blog per week.  I always shoot for 2-3 per week, though.  If you won’t be able to consistently post, don’t start blogging.  Just wait until you have the time.  Blogs that aren’t updated regularly lose readership and influence.

3. Don’t blog just because everybody’s doing it.  Don’t just jump on the bandwagon, especially if #1 and #2 apply to you.  And yes, I know I said the same idea as a reason to blog HERE.  Remember, this is my blog, and I can do what I want.

4. If all you want to do is create an advertisement page.  Blogs are meant to communicate more than just advertisements.  Websites, billboards, and TV commercials do that just fine, thank you.

5. You have no writing skills.  Blogs aren’t terribly difficult to write, especially with the advent of spell check and grammar check.
However, you may need to touch up your writing first.  Or, maybe you should have another person in the organization write the blog for you. Not a bad way to loop one more person into the process.

6. You’ve tried it for 6 months, and still see only negligible benefits.  Maybe your efforts should be focused elsewhere.  What are your goals in writing a blog?  Personal?  Financial?  Organizational?  Evaluate effectiveness by your expressed goals.

7. Your blog is always focused on attacking others.  I’ve seen these blogs.  I don’t read them, so please don’t write them.

8. You can’t handle others attacking you.  A blog is your voice.  The more people that hear your voice, the more likely you will receive criticism.  If you blog consistently, just get ready to be slammed a few times.

9. You only want a one-way conversation.  Blogs, in my opinion, are meant to be a dialog.  I write my blog so that others will comment.  In fact, I completely redid my comments section to enhance debate.  If you want a one-way conversation, go talk to your car.

What do you think?  Are you convinced that blogging is for you?  Or maybe you’ve decided against it?  My goal is to help you think.

Are you blogging?  Will you start?  Will you share your blog address with us?

Ever considered starting a blog?  Need some motivation to get one started?  Blogs aren’t for everybody, but here are a few reasons starting a blog might be for you.

Reasons you should blog

1. It gets your message out. It gives you a voice. Depending on the nature of your blog, you get to talk about exactly what you want to talk about!  Now, whether others will read it or not is another story…

2. It gets your message out quickly. RSS readers, Facebook, and Twitter, among other tools have made information transfer much quicker.  When I post a blog, over 1,500 people know about it immediately, assuming they’re looking at the social networking sites I’m connected to.  The old fashioned phone tree could take hours to do its job.  Newsletters take a day or two in the mail.

3. Everybody’s doing it. Though your mother might warn you against doing something that everybody else is doing, I don’t think it’s always a bad thing.  Blogs can give you a voice where others are talking, instead of just within the walls of your organization (though you have to do the work of saying things that they want to hear).

4. It’s a good way to connect with others concerning topics that interest you. The people who will read your blog posts will be those who find your topics of interest to them.  It’s a great way to start up dialog about mutual concerns.

5. It forces you to flesh out your thoughts into a format that is understood by others. Writing a blog post can help to flesh out my thoughts and communicate them in a way that others can understand.  I have to do a little bit of research, too.  I can’t just say whatever I want.  I need to be ready to be challenged on my claims.

6. It helps with your writing skills. Long, drawn-out blogs are, in my opinion, ineffective.  That’s why my blogs are short.  I try to keep them less than 500 words.  With a blog, less is more.

7. It shows people another side of you that you wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to talk about. I’m not able to sit down with everybody over a cup of coffee and communicate what God’s been showing me.  Or talk about something funny that’s happened.  Or talk about what I think the role of parents is.  Or tell them about an upcoming chili cook-off and how my chili is better than theirs.  I’d love to, but I just can’t.

8. It fosters relationships. I’ve been able to maintain relationships with folks I would have lost touch with had it not been for my blog.

9. It helps your business or organization gain credibility. You’ve got an expertise that others could benefit from.  Tell us about it, and in the process, you can convince me to hire you instead of that random company in the yellow pages.

10. You’re tired of printing and sending a company newsletter. 1998 called.  They want their newsletter back.

Convinced that you should start blogging?

Although there are probably many more reasons you should blog, there are also reasons you shouldn’t.  Tune in tomorrow for reasons you should not blog.