I have an article in the upcoming Winter 2009 edition of The Journal of Student Ministries. As you can tell by the title, the article discusses the convergence of social media and theology. I’m stoked about how the article turned out. It’s such an important topic! I’m also excited to publish my first article in the journal.
This year, I’ve had my first piece in a book and now a piece in a magazine. 2009 has kicked butt!
Want to know a secret about social media success?
If you want to succeed long-term in social media you need to be consistent in how you use social media. For more than 10 years I’ve been active in some form of what we now call “social media.” Chat rooms. Message boards. Listserv. Forums. MySpace. Blogs. Facebook. Twitter. I’ve seen fads come and go. I’ve seen rock stars emerge and fade. I’ve seen high profile people take interest and then lose interest. Social media is a bit of a revolving door. Something gets popular, attracts the masses, people get bored, someone invents something better, the hype begins again.
But yet there has always been this thread of people that has remained consistent throughout. There’s a lot to learn from these people if you want to be successful.
Some of us have just chugged away. We’ve never gotten uber popular. We’ll never leverage what we have to make a fool of ourselves like @aplusk did on Twitter. But in the meantime, we’ve utilized these tools to meet people, share ideas, and establish ourselves along the way.
The best way to succeed is to be consistent like Warren Buffet and not up and down like Donald Trump. Stick with winners. Be consistent. Be disciplined.
What does consistency look like for social media?
– Make yourself consistent by using the same handle. (social media name on a web platform)
– Use the tool the same way, most times. (maintain your blog post consistency, tweet frequency, use Facebook in predictable ways)
– stick to your genre. (totally OK to expand your horizons. but don’t be so general that no one cares. if you’re a mom blog, don’t post gadget tips for work. if you’re a gadget blogger, no one cares about your kids soccer game.)
– don’t be a jerk. (unless your online persona is one of jerkiness. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met people in real life and thought… they were so much cooler on their blog.)
Tonight I am packing for NYWC and I thought it’d be cool to capture a gear list. People see me running around and doing a lot of stuff, here is the equipment that makes it all happen.
– Panasonic HD video camera (podcast footage)
– Panasonic hand held camcorder (I take 2 of these, use them for daily recap videos)
– Flip camera (for quick stuff I take from Big Room to Facebook, love it)
– iPhone (all around communication device. Digital camera, calendar, Twitter machine, Facebook status updates, Mobile Flickr posts)
– Nikon D60 (only one is pictured but I take two, plus about five 4 gig SD cards. Light and reliable, these are workhorse cameras for me)
– Lenses (Standard lens, 300 for close-ups and Big Room stuff, wide angle to capture the bigness of some stuff)
– Camera bag (You won’t see me without this at NYWC. It carries a lot of gear and lenses)
– Wireless mics (for big video camera)
– Mixer (for postgame show)
– Portable hard drive (Hey, I capture a lot of media!)
– Macbook Pro (Onsite I use web apps mostly, but I also use CS4, Final Cut, iMovie, iPhoto)
– iPod headphones (Carry 2 sets, they are cheap so if I lose them its no big deal)
– Media card reader (Carry 2 of these, you never know when someone will hand you a weird media card)
– Mac display adapters (Got one of each variety– I’m handy like that for my friends)
– Power cables galore (Convention handbook says you will always find me near an electrical outlet, it’s true! While I pictured one of everything I actually bring one for my bag and one for my room of almost every cable I use)
– USB, Firewire, RCA, Minijack cables (I bring about 10 varieties, cheaper to carry them than buy them)
– Business cards (Shoot video/pictures with someone, hand ’em a card)
– Batteries (Mostly 9v and AA, this picture reminds me I need to stock up on AA)
– Extra battery packs (I have a spare battery for everything, except my Macbook which lasts exceptionally long)
There’s actually a lot not pictured here that I use a lot, as well. But this is the stuff I carry with me almost all the time. In addition to this I have lighting, tripods, more electrical stuff… and three full time volunteers!
Seem excessive? 4 video cameras, 3 digital cameras, enough microphones to hold a press conference… Spend a couple hours with me and you’ll see that I use it all. I work my gear like my golf bag. I play ’em all.
You’ve seen my rules for blogging. With many people using the social media 360— blogging, Facebook, and Twitter simultaneously– I thought it would be helpful to share my Twitter rules. These guide my use of the site and I think would act as a good primer for those getting into it.
Rule #1: Don’t forget the question. The primary use of Twitter is to tell people what you are doing. It’s easy to get lost in conversation and treat Twitter like a chat room. With that in mind I try not to @reply the same person back and forth in conversation. I am quick to take the conversation to a phone call, email, or direct message. The power of Twitter is seeing that all of our lives are fascinatingly mundane. Focus on that and you’ll be fine.
Rule #2: It’s not about the numbers. There’s a lot of locker room-styled comparisons going on with who has the biggest following. Just like in real life, it’s not size that’s important. (See rule #1) If you are interesting to people you will attract a larger following. Joining a website that promises 10,000 followers or endlessly participating in #followfriday in hopes that you’ll add just 3 more followers is only going to make your use of Twitter less enjoyable and you more annoying to follow. I allow anyone to follow me. But for my personal account I only follow back who I want to follow back. I read every profile when someone follows me… and I follow back just those whom look interesting. For business accounts I follow everyone back who follows those accounts.
Rule #3: Don’t follow then unfollow just to build a following. Follow only who you want to follow. It is rude to follow someone so they will follow you back only to then go and unfollow them. That’s rude. I can’t tell you how many people do that to me. And they probably think I’m rude because I don’t play along.
Rule #4: Retweet, @reply, and compliment often. It’s good form to reply to every @reply. On my personal account, I do my best to @reply to everyone who @replies to me. Remember, Twitter can be a fun place for networking, idea sharing, and community. Be aware that @replies help your followers meet and get to know one another.
Rule #5: Pimp your content, but pimp it lightly. In the early days of Twitter there was backlash when you’d post links to your blog or other content. I don’t think it’s a big deal to Tweet links to your content, just do it lightly. (Mention it once, then move on.) Then again, if all you use Twitter for is posting links to your content… that won’t be interesting enough to draw a following.
Rule #6: Keep private stuff private. Avoid the social fax paux of over-sharing on Twitter. No one wants to know that you are taking a dump, getting drunk with friends, or just made out with your girlfriend. Sharing where you are eating, who you are out with, or TwitPic’s of your best friend passed out while taking a dump… perfectly fine though. That’s for the public interest.
Rule #7: It’s OK to have multiple accounts. I know people who have public accounts and private accounts. I have personal accounts, work accounts, and special interest accounts. All of this is fine. It helps people follow only the stuff that they actually want.
Rule #8: Hashtags are for tracking stuff. It’s OK to use them just for fun or sarcasm. I do it all the time. But if you aren’t at an event or a concert and you use their hashtag just because everyone else is, you look stupid. Even if you are at the event make sure you only tag tweets that are relevant to the event.
Rule #9: Don’t be a whore. I teach people how to tactfully self-promote themselves. I think that is fine. But don’t sell your account for marketing tweets and don’t use twitter to enter marketing promotions. Since Twitter won’t do anything about this and has allowed bots to create squatting accounts, this is why I think Twitter is the next Myspace.
There are times when I realize that I’m not showing a ton of depth. Or maybe, it is that I get so pigeon-holed into being the person someone needs that I don’t get to exhibit depth.
I feel that way right now.
I’ve gotten ingrained here in San Diego as a social media geek. Within my world that may be true. But I recognize that within that skill is a tie to lifelong passion. But the passion itself is much more important than the method I’m trying to master. At work this is perfectly natural. I have no doubt that people there value me beyond my skills because I know that, in turn, I value their friendship beyond their skills or positions.
Let me restate what I’m saying. I care a lot about building community online. I care deeply about networking people and ideas. I have learned best practices, nuance, and supporting skills to make it easier to convey my passion in more effective ways. Ultimately, that’s a skill set that could be applied to a lot of genres and businesses. But my passion is for working with middle and high schoolers and encouraging/networking/sharing life with those who do the same thing.
Take the passion out of what I do and I don’t want to do it. I may be able to give some sage advice or share a few things about what works… but if you’re out there trying to network with me so I can help you build a social networking strategy, I’m probably not going to be that useful to you. I know you are just using me.
At the end of the day, I’m good at social media only because I care so much about the message I’m trying to convey.
The frustrating thing is that I think I am only interesting to some of the new people I’ve been getting to know in San Diego because of those auxiliary skills and not because of what I’m passionate about. It’s as if my only value is tied into some skills I’ve learned and that feels really, really shallow. It’s a slight that I see right through. Asking me about my kids or my hobbies to try to get me to share some tricks of the trade is lame. I don’t ever want to tie my value as a human being into the fact that I can build a website, or develop a brand, or tie that into a social media strategy. Lame. Lame. Lame!
I don’t think this is unlike people who become fake friends when you work at a church. You kind of know they are fake but you’re so desperate for friendship that a fake friend is better than no friend at all. When we worked at churches there were plenty of people who valued our friendship because of a socialogical positional thing. 24 months ago if I had written down a list of people who would be our friends if we stopped being their pastor and I would have have been 100% correct. Not to sound emo, but the shocking thing is how sincere people pretended to be all those years. You’d be surprised by how few people we hear from after nearly 10 years of full time ministry friendships. 10? 15? 20 tops.
For church staff, this is one shallow nature of relationship that makes the job so hard.
But, now that we aren’t there anymore we have no value to them and we’ll never hear from them again.
The flip side for church staff is simple. Open your lives up to those who are legitimately sincere in their friendship. Trust your gut. Just like Kristen and I have found real friendship over the years… a couple of bad apples shouldn’t catapult you into a life of keeping people at a distance.
I found this really cool. If your kids are like mine, they are hooked on Club Penguin. Now they are asking kids to help them pick out ways to give away $1 million. Check out this post on their blog. (Megan’s 4th favorite blog!)
Donation booths are set up at the Beach, in the Plaza, and on the Migrator. Remember – every little bit counts, so you don’t have to donate a lot to make a difference.
On December 25, we’ll announce how you’ve decided that the one million dollars will be split. Check out the Kids Helping Kids page on the website to see how your donations are changing the real world. Let us know any other ideas you have for making the world a better place for everyone! link