A simple question for today’s online (Christian and non Christian) geeks. What social media should churches use to gain interest from (non) and church goers alike? I myself a web designer, church goer and business man am at the moment asking this question for my church and state denomination group which I am in charge of managing the online presence/ website.

I Definitely Would Suggest:

1. An Online Presence like a Website or a blog. For a more detailed explanation about church websites read “Why Church Websites Suck“
2. Facebook Group: Look at Jubilee World Harvest’s FaceBook group for example and for instructions on How to create a Facebook group & How a Facebook group can be used to promote your blog – use similar ideas for a church.

However Which One Of These Would You Also Think About Using?

1. MySpace: Does anyone still use it?
2. YouTube: Maybe only for larger churches but adding your videos, dramas, sermons etc could help get a following.
3. Flickr: A photo sharing site. A great way to share your story, especially if you or someone in your church enjoys taking pictures. However you could use a Facebook group instead.
4. Twitter: People tend to like twitter. Lots of church leaders and Christian authors are on here. A great place to connect with those types of folks and others.

And What About The Various Christian Specific Social Media’s?

1. GodTube: A Christian version of YouTube with videos, dramas, clips, sermons etc all with a Christian theme.
2. YourChristianSpace: a Christian version of MySpace without the hassles of sexual related themes popular among MySpace etc.
3. Christian.tv: a TV place on all things Christian.
4. My Church: Another Christian version of MySpace
5. Shout Life: Yet another Christian version of MySpace.
6. Ning: Ning allows you to create your own social network in 60 seconds. There are several Christian communities on Ning

So What Do We Use?

First of all to use any of these 12 different social media ideas the church must be targeting the current generation of 30 and under. If your church is full of older people, forget it. First of all no young person would come to your church and most 40 year olds are not interested in Facebook or the Internet let alone understand it.

I would say 90% of your churches youth (and under 30s) are already using Facebook. Even if you do not have a website, I would suggest a Facebook group. It wont cost you money (like a website) and it will hopefully help your youth have an excuse to use Facebook and also show their friends how fun and trendy church can be.

I would normally suggest Flickr, GodTube or YouTube but a Facebook group can met all the requirements of Flickr and unless your a larger church (200+), you probably wont be creating too much videos. If you do, I personally would suggest both GodTube and YouTube.

I would love to hear your input especially if you have used one or a few of the above Social Media Network/ Sites in the comments section.

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