Social Media: Blessing or Curse?

From the Desiring God blog:

Many have expressed concern that emerging social media will hinder authentic face-to-face gospel community, but Ed Stetzer (in an article titled The Blessings of the New Media) says Social Media can be a blessing to the local church in four ways:

1. While social media does not provide community it can assist in building it.
2. Social media can communicate news within the local church.
3. Social media can communicate biblical, inspirational messages.
4. Social media can better acquaint people with the life and ministry of public ministers.

Within the UK, Urban Saints are running the Totally Wired tour: "an essential seminar for all parents, church leaders, youth leaders and anyone who cares about young people and the technology revolution". This comes to Leicester on 1st July.

Social media updates

Following today's news that the UK government has published a 20-page guide to Twitter (or "140 character communication explained in too many words"), here are more social media links:

• A Facebook song from the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre
• Tweeting mouse trap and window: a cottage that sends Twitter messages when a mouse is caught, a window shut, or a light switched on
• Can you Twitter the Gospel? ‘Twittering’ the gospel accurately may be a challenge... but Paul gives us the confidence that we can summarise the gospel and stay on the message of Jesus and him crucified. Oh, that’s another summary and that is — what? — 15 characters in total in English: ‘We preach Christ crucified’ (1 Corinthians 1.23)".
  

Twitter for beginners

Yesterday the Guardian published a number of stories about Twitter - you can check them out online. Of particular interest may be:

• How to be a 'twitt': a guide for Twitter's late adopters
• Twitter etiquette: the rules

See also: Infusion posts mentioning Twitter.

Birdsong Radio lives on

Did you ever listen to Birdsong radio? Unfortunately the DAB Station went off air on 1st June. However, you can order the CD for offline access, or listen to the peaceful sounds of Dawn Chorus via your computer, using the player on http://www.birdsongradio.com/. You can also become a Facebook Fan or follow the service on Twitter.

My YHA

Somehow I missed the launch of My YHA at the end of last year:
Since My YHA was launched in December, more than 1,500 people have signed up to become part of YHA’s online community. Registering your details on the site allows you to start your own topics in the forum, respond to comments left by other users, and submit reviews of any hostel . You can use the online forum to help you find out information about what YHA has to offer. People have so far been discussing anything from their favourite hostels to looking for suggestions for their next holiday.

Social networking through travel clothing?

Both Craghoppers and Rohan have recently launched "communities" to bring together people who wear their clothes. Strange idea? Well, I've certainly had discussions with other holidaymakers also wearing Rohan gear, and I often note the brands people wear when we pass each other on the hills. Check out the sites and see what you think:

• Rohantime: the place to capture the spirit of Rohan Clothing. Share your knowledge, experiences, stories of travel, outdoor life and Rohan Clothing on Rohantime… And you can even follow Rohantime on Twitter.
• Crags Community: less developed but offers competitions, photo gallery, blog posts and info on the clothing.
  

Time management and social media

After the recent blog posts on the growth of social media ( blogs, Facebook, twitter etc), it's good to come across some advice on time management in the age of social media. In this article, productivity guru David Allen talks about ways you can make Facebook and Twitter work for you on the job.

The Archbishop twitters

After the growth in blogging and social networks, what next? Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time and is often described as "micro-blogging". Updates are known as "tweets" - text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length

Dave Walker reports that the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, now has his own page on the Twitter social networking site. Find him here: @JohnSentamu. Almost certainly the first Twittering archbishop?

Member communities: top Internet trend

A recent report indicates that social networks and blogs are more popular than e-mail. Time spent on these sites is growing three times faster than the overall Internet rate, accounting for almost 10% of all Internet time. “Member Communities” which includes both social networks and blogs, have become the fourth most popular online activity - ahead of personal e-mail. It is growing twice as fast as any of the other four largest sectors, according to Global Faces and Networked Places, a comprehensive report revealing the new global footprint of social networking.

One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social network and blogging sites. The social network and blogging audience is becoming more diverse in terms of age: the biggest increase in visitors during 2008 to “Member Community” Web sites globally came from the 35–49 year old age group (over 11.3 million).

So if you read this blog and belong to the Infusion Facebook group, you are right on trend!

Happy Birthday, Facebook

Facebook is giving its 150 million users a mystery virtual gift to celebrate its fifth birthday. In five short years, Facebook has helped a global change in the way people keep in touch with one another.
Infusion Facebook group
Learning what makes Facebook tick

Love Life Live Lent

Love Life Live Lent is based on a project developed by the Diocese of Birmingham and is now in its second year as a national project. Last year's campaign was a massive success with adults and children all across the UK getting involved! It gained a wide and positive range of media coverage.

This year it is anticipated that Love Life Live Lent 2 will be even bigger with Facebook and MySpace applications, church resources, and new full-colour booklets with the theme of being good neighbours are available. Love Life Live Lent 2 offers something exciting, different and refreshing to try during Lent - encouraging us again to take small actions that can have big effects. So why don't you take some time out to be a good neighbour... and have fun this Lent?