Building Community: Facebook/Myspace
by Paul Prins at 4:34 pm
It seems like everyone and there mom is on Facebook these days. What started as a school project has become a global phenomena in a matter of years. While there still isn’t a clear picture as to how these social networks can help organizations meet their goal, it is clear that a presence can have a positive effect.
Having worked developing social networking sites beginning in 1999 I hope to shed some light on the subject by explaining the differences, and suggesting how to effectively use the services for your church or organization. Please give feedback at the end as well.
What is the difference between Facebook and MySpace?
MySpace is often cited as the fore bearer to Facebook. While chronologically correct there are many differences between the two services. The most crucial to understand is the way they go about networking. MySpace has traditionally had a very broad sense of the word. Everyone was a part of a giant pool, and then you made friends within that pool. Facebook ignored the giant pool and instead made many localize pools based on proximity. Initially these networks were geared around universities and from here they added companies and metropolitan locations.
While it doesn’t sound like a big difference the sense of community was drastically different. For college students who were using MySpace they were in the same pool with the rest of the world, and now with Facebook they were in the same pool with their peers at school. It became instantly easier to locate friends online. In the early days as well official school email accounts were required to register with the site and this minimized the number of fake accounts created (this is no longer the case at all).
I
nstead of creating personal networks out of the Global pool like MySpace, Facebook letting users interact in pre-formed communities set them up to overtake MySpace as the social network king of the Internet.
Because of this takeover of popularity the bulk of this post will focus on Facebook, but the principles and concepts and apply to other social networking sites as well (MySpace included).
How to we leverage them for our Church?
As I mentioned in the introduction, everyone is trying to figure this out. It is important to understand the Facebook business model in a general sense: they sell information. Everyone who is on the site fills out a semi-detailed profile that Facebook analyzes against the whole and they can then identify trends. It is basically a global focus group. So we should not expect to make any money from our work in social networking.
We can build up our community, and this is the major reason to get involved in these social networking sites. Likely a church of 200 members I would expect to have between 80 and 130 members on Facebook (far less for MySpace). With so many members of a church already using a service like Facebook it makes sense to enter into that service with the intention of offering additional interactions with the church.
This is the crucial point to remember. Our social networking work should be focused on meaningful interactions with our members. These interactions change from network to network because each network has a different focus. Facebook has traditionally focused on wall posts (public messages between friends), notes (private messages between friends), photos sharing, and groups (essentially it is a profile for a group/organization very similar to a member profile with a wall, notes, and photos).
If you church doesn’t already have a Facebook group, I would encourage you to make one. It would only take 10 minutes for someone with an existing Facebook account. Most groups don’t do much activity-wise but are a way to self-identify with a group of people.
Small groups have also made dynamic use of groups by communicating with members through them, posting photos and video following events, and helping people remember names (at least I use it for the last part and I know there are more).
This Issue of Friends
Most social networking sites have some sort of friendship system integrated into there community system. This raises the question, who do we extend/accept friendship from? I would personally avoid going out and adding hundreds of friends within days of creating an account or group. However its important to note that as ministers we need to focus on inclusiveness and not exclusivity.
Being friends with someone on Facebook doesn’t mean you have to get coffee once a month, or even need to go out of your way to say ‘Hi’ to them more then you did before. Friendship on Facebook (and many other sites) is a way to signify some level of relationship.
If someone adds you as a friend (and you do know who they are in real life) I would encourage you to think twice before not confirming their request. While subtle, it is an indication to them that there is not a connection between the two of you. If this is a member of your church, or neighborhood it sends a message that you will minister to them, but not ever open up to them personally.
What to use for Content?
One thing I strongly cation against when posting anything to your profile, or elsewhere, to avoid the desire to post what you wish were true, or to exude the image you wish others had of you. Don’t write under hobbies ‘Memorizing the Whole Bible’ unless you are well on your way. If your favorite movie happens to be rated ‘R’ it is still your favorite movie (mine is Gladiator, then the LOTR trilogy).
The Internet has ushered in an age of unprecedented openness and authenticity if we are willing to embrace it. As ministers this can feel difficult because we often struggle with our image as leaders of the church. It is important to know that your members also struggle, and need to see that. While I might not make sense to list your favorite books or movies from the pulpit, it can be done easily online helping your member feel closer to you because of it.
Whatever content you post to any of the subjects we will discuss will either make your members feel stronger identity with you, or feel distant from you. The closer they can identify with you, the more opportunities you have given the Spirit to speak to them through you everywhere else.
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