Social Media in the Church

People are using the internet for social reasons now more than ever before. They are looking to connect with people, not just gain information on the web.

I’ve always believed that the church should be and can be at the forefront of creative culture. And so much of creative culture is being birthed within the social areas of the internet. Sadly, most churches have ignored this and are missing incredible opportunities to reach people inside and outside of the church in a relational way.

But don’t listen to me, listen to Darren Rowse, from Problogger.net. He knows much more than me about social media. He has multiple blogs and a following (between Twitter and his blogs) of over 250,000 people.

Here are his thoughts on how the church and social media:

Come here to watch, if you can’t see the video.

Great thoughts from Darren. Here were my favorite lines:

• “People are now using the web for social reasons than they are for anything else, including porn.”
• “People who are coming online are looking to connect, interact, have their say, meet other people, and produce content. Churches are beginning to embrace that type of approach on their websites. That is exciting to me.”
• “Churches are missing out on something if they only use the social web to build ourselves up.”
• “The web is a wonderful opportunity for the mission of the church.”
• “Churches are in the business of community, they should be leading the way in the space of online community.”

Any thoughts on how the church can integrate into the social side of the web?

(HT: Andrew Jones)