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.

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.

I really like Twitter.  Maybe you knew that…maybe you didn’t (all of my posts related to Twitter are HERE).  I’ve heard this about twitter so many times lately:

I don’t care that you walked the dog…or are heading into work…or are eating lunch now…or are sad. I don’t care, and nobody else does! That stuff just doesn’t matter to me.  And it’s just a waste of time for me and for those reading it.

Have you heard this, or something like it?  Frankly, I’m tired of hearing this from folks.  It’s not a great argument.  So few people (well…at least the ones that I follow) update about narcissistic and/or self-loathing goings-on that, to say you don‘t buy into Twitter because of those silly updates is like saying:

I can’t stand baseball. All they do is bunt, and that’s so boring.

I don’t like to read because there are so many big words.

I don’t like the Bible because the book of Revelation is so hard to understand!

The problem with this line of arguing is that people are taking a specific instance (that may or may not be true) and making a generalization about the whole.  I don’t even see many (if any) twitter updates from actual people (not twitter bots) that say, ‘I’m sad.’ Here are examples of typical Twitter updates (aka, “tweets”)…this is a screenshot from my computer that I took just now:

This is a form of a weak argument called “hasty generalization.”  We notice a few examples and quickly jump to broad-stroke conclusions. (HT: John Mark).  It’s not an invalid argument…just a weak one.  Hasty conclusions are much easier to jump to than justified ones.  Not enough of these type of frivolous updates have been observed to warrant throwing Twitter out with the proverbial bathwater.

Baseball isn’t all about the bunt. Very few people, if any, understand every word of Revelation.  And not every word in every book is a difficult word.

If you’re opposed to Twitter, fine.  But come up with some better excuses for not jumping on board.

I’m blessed to serve at Grace Community Church.  Seriously, I’m blessed like crazy.  They took a chance on a young guy like me, even before I was done with seminary.  Hopefully, it’s not one they are regretting now!  I’m given freedom to try new things and experiment with different ideas in ministry, all with the hope that more of Clarksville might fall in love with Jesus.  I’m also given direction and shepherding as a young leader, which I desperately want and need.  Seminary was great, don’t get me wrong…but it didn’t prepare me for all that I would encounter in ministry.  The team that I serve with here is so supportive, and I love serving with them.

If you’re not a part of Grace, let me introduce you to Chad Rowland (aka @chadrowland, if you’re on twitter).  The guy’s a phenom.  I’m wowed every time he preaches.  He’s a masterful storyteller (before you brand me as a heretic for praising him as a storyteller and not as a “preacher” or “pastor,” don’t forget that Scripture is the story of God’s redeeming his people…that’s right, isn’t it?), having me on the edge of my seat one minute as he shares a story, laughing the next, and floored by the Truth the very next.  Yesterday was no exception.  He was able to cast the vision for who we are as a church, our three-fold strategy for making growing followers of Christ, and talk about money, the easiest, most comfortable topic to address ever…it was a ton to cover in a short amount of time, but as always, Chad did it with much precision and wisdom.  God’s using him in amazing ways at Grace.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3217610&w=425&h=350&fv=channelID%3D100000273]

New to Twitter, and wondering what all of this different terminology means?  Been using it a while and still unsure?  Haven’t even bought in to Twitter yet, but wondering why people’s Facebook updates have crazy letters and symbols attached to them?  I get asked a lot of questions about Twitter, so here’s a crash course that may help you out.

Ever seen something like this on a person’s Facebook update?

What’s the deal with the RT?  Why start somebody’s name with the @ symbol?

There’s a whole language that’s developing with Twitter that, if you don’t know it, will leave you behind.  Some of the language is built into the software, and some is developing organically, but all of it is foreign to you if you haven’t used it before.

A Guide to the Language of Twitter

1. Tweet – a tweet is your status update.  Every time you post something to your twitter account, it’s considered a “tweet.”  Sounds cheesy, I know.  Their language, not mine.  The goal is to answer the question, “What are you doing right now?”

2. Follow – if you want to receive people’s “tweets” when they update, you “follow” them.  Sounds kind of creepy, but really it’s not.  You have the option, when you follow them, of receiving their updates either via your mobile phone (Twitter utilizes SMS) or solely on your computer.  If you choose to receive them on your mobile phone, then every time they “tweet,” you will receive a text message.

3. @reply – When you sign up for Twitter, you create a username.  Mine happens to be @benreed.  Your username is, of course, attached to your account, and anybody who knows your username can find your Twitter account.  It’s as simple as going to http://www.twitter.com/________.  The @ reply comes in when I want to mention somebody in my update.  If I say something like this…

…then you know exactly who I was talking about.  In fact, when I “mention” somebody by starting their username with @, their name shows up as a hyperlink that others can click on, seeing who really messed up some mac & cheese (see @steph_underwood’s update above)!

4. RT – This is shorthand for “ReTweet.”  A “tweet” is an update that you post, either via your mobile phone (Twitter utilizes SMS) or your computer.  If you read somebody’s update, and like it, and want to share it with those who follow you on Twitter, thus creating a “viral” message, you can “ReTweet” it.  Think of it as a mass FWD that you want to share with others…except this one is much shorter than those you receive in your email inbox.  Here’s what I mean:

So, as you can see, I “ReTweeted” the post of Cary Branscum.  You can quickly know it’s the famed Cary Branscum, from http://caryperks.wordpress.com, by clikcing on the hyperlink created when I started his username with @.  Still follow?

5. # (hashtags) – Though some people espouse that Twitter is a mass of one-way conversations with nobody, I don’t find that to be true.  Hashtags are a great example of how Twitter opens up dialog and creates networking conversations.  Here’s what I’m talking about:

Hashtags help you to categorize ideas and topics.  So, although reading lots of different church signs may not be the highlight of your day, when I preceded the word “churchsign” with a “#,” it unites me with everybody else who is posting about church signs, making it a searchable topic.

6. DM – this is shorthand for “direct message.”  This is a message sent privately to only one person, in contrast to an @ reply (also known as a “mention”), which is broadcast as public information.  To send a direct message to a person, simply start your update with the letter ‘d,’ followed by the person’s username.  The message is then sent to that person and only that person.

The language of Twitter will continue to develop and grow.  This is a list of the basics as they stand right now.  Are there any I left out?

I’ve read the blogs.  I’ve listened to the arguments.  I had even tried it out…a little.  But I hadn’t fully experienced online community.  I would say that there has been some level of “community” developed for me through Twitter, Facebook, and blogs.  Community, for me, though, is one of those things that was always developed in person.  Sometimes it’s on a biycle, other times it’s with my small group, and other times it’s at a coffee shop with a few guys.  But it’s always been in person.

I unexpectedly experienced community yesterday morning after I read this update from Alan Danielson:

@alandanielson: I’m praying for NOW 10 more minutes. Reply with your prayer request or join me for live prayer via @TokBox

There was a link after the update, and I clicked on it.  There was Alan, sitting in front of his computer screen, praying for his friends.  I shared my request with him, and he prayed for me on the spot.  Ok.  Kind of cool.

Alan then invited me to “hang on the line” (he meant to stay logged into Tokbox), and he was going to invite some of his other friends into the conversation.  As the other 3 men joined, they began to share their experiences from their prayer time.  They, like Alan, had prayed for their friends during that 20 minutes, and invited people to share requests with them.  As they finished sharing their stories from the prayer time, they shared their own requests with the group.  I thought that it would be a bit cheesy, even cold-feeling because we were so far spread out across the country, looking at each other on a tiny screen.  But real, gut-wrenching requests were shared.  Nothing fake.  No masks.  No walls of separation.  Real, honest, vulnerable requests.  And it all happened while I sat in my office chair alone.

Twitter and Tokbox helped me fulfill this today:

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. -Romans 12:11-13

I felt a real burden, prayed a real prayer, and was really encouraged, after talking with these men.

What do you think of online community?  Is it real?  Or is community only formed while sitting in the same room as the other person?

I believe that Twitter is a good thing.  I’ve been using it for over a year now, and have found many great uses for it.  As some of you may know, John Piper is one of my favorite pastors and authors.  He’s written a great post on why he is beginning to Twitter.  Read it below.  Does this convince you to use Twitter, if you don’t already?

People want the newest and the latest, right?  That’s why a new iPod can come out, with very few new features, and have a splash in the market.  That’s why new movies, new sandwiches, new TV shows, and new churches can initially do really well.  That may not be what keeps people longing for second helpings, but “new” attracts people.  Since I’m a blogger, I’m always asking myself, “What’s the the next new thing with blogs?”

I don’t know.  I can’t answer that question for you.  But somebody will.  And they’ll launch with a splash in the market.  It may be completely different, or it may be a twist on what you see now, but rest assured that there will be another wave.  Let me assure you of one thing that will have to be present for that blog, or website, or ministry to continue to be effective and relevant: genuineness.

Blogs that are effective now give a glimpse into a person’s life.  Ron Edmonson is a great example of that.  I read his blog, and love it.  He shares great information, communicated through his personality.  It’s a snapshot of him. Warts and all.

I believe that this is a big reason that Twitter has become viral.  Twitter is a way for people to say, “This who I am.”

These days, I believe that people want content that communicates personality, not just information.  Cutting-edge information is great, and is needed, but if it’s stale and lifeless people will leave it on the shelf.

How are you communicating, whether that’s through a podcast, a blog, Twitter, Facebook, sermons, or presentations, using your personality?  Go ahead and try it.  Be vulnerable, honest, real.  Your audience will appreciate it.

I’m a small groups pastor, and the major way I communicate with small group leaders outside of Sunday morning is via email.  I’d love to be able to have coffee with all of them regularly (because they’re some of my favorite people), but it’s just not possible.  With the fast-paced nature of our society, and our group leaders in particular, combined with my own personally busy schedule, the ability to communicate important information to multiple people at once is essential.

When I communicate via email, much of the information I send out is never read.  In fact, one of the guys on staff (who will remain unnamed) told me that if my email is more than one line long, he won’t read it!  I could get upset about this, take it personally, and require group leaders to read the weekly (though it’s more like bi-weekly) emails.  But you and I both know that that approach would not lead to increased reading and response to this important information.

I’ve tried vastly shortening my emails.  Now, instead of a devotion before the “important” stuff, I start with “Here are the vitals you and your group need to know…”  I give them a list of a few major things, and that’s it.  But still, the emails are not being read.  Why?

Why my emails (and yours) aren’t being read:

1. Their inbox is already full of other important information.  My email is 1 of 1000 that they “have” to read.

2. It takes thought to read emails.  Reading my emails is not always mindless, because they need to read and process the information for their group.

3. My emails are boring.  Since I’ve pared them down to only vital information, they’re pretty boring.  Concise? Yes.  Thrilling? Not even by a long shot.

4. “I’ll read it later.”

__________________________________________________________________________

So are we seeing the end of email?  Maybe.  Email is boring and lifeless.  It’s often filled with spam, and forwards that we don’t want to read.  We get mass emails and “reply all” messages that don’t pertain to us, and our inbox rarely reaches zero.  The rest of the world has taken massive leaps forward in terms of communicating, yet email still seems to lag behind in black & white letters and numbers.

I’ve begun utilizing Twitter and Facebook to communicate with my team.  Both of these platforms integrate networking with information sharing.  Communication moves from the mere passing of information into the realm of knowing somebody better.  I put a face with a name in Facebook.  I get a snapshot of a person’s life (at least what they want the public world to see) in Twitter.  That’s where lots of the group leaders at Grace Community Church “hang out,” so that’s where I’m going to communicate.

I have recently begun using The Flip video camera.  I’ve really liked the ease of use, because I can throw it in my bag and have it ready to catch the many things that my wife and I don’t want to miss our son doing.  In addition to family videos, I’ve begun using it to shoot some videos for our small groups.  I have a lower quality version, but there are even some new, HD models of the Flip available.  At the end of the day, I’d sacrifice video quality for ease of use.  Based on the response of my small group leaders, they’d much prefer watching me yack on a video than reading it.

Is email dead?  I think it’s being quickly outpaced by lots of other mediums.

How do you communicate?  What medium to you prefer?  Maybe, more importantly, which mediums do “your people” prefer?

Here’s the video I sent to my small group leaders.  It’s not the best video you’ve ever seen, but I know that more people watched it than normally read my emails:

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