Tag: twitter

  • Secret Sex

    I’ve been around Christians long enough to know that they like to talk about sex. In fact, I know enough about internet traffic to know that only one thing is more popular than a post about sex. In fact, most of you are reading this because you clicked on a link with a keyword you like to click on, “SEX” and are wondering what the secret is all about.

    What’s the one thing more popular than a post about sex? A post about sexual behavior Christians “shouldn’t do but like to talk about.”

    – Homosexuality

    – Cheating

    – Masturbation

    – Pornography

    – Getting caught looking at gay porn and masturbating.

    Here’s some data behind this Christian propensity to search for and click on things about sex. Notice the #1 read item at YMX over the last 2 years by a wide margin… it’s an article called “Solo Sex” and its about masturbation. In the 2 years that article has been on the site it has averaged 25 readers per day! Likewise, my blog data shows that most of my google visits from google searches arrive on terms such as “Christian dating” or “Christian sex.”

    Proving this point further, stop for a second and think about this: “Why are you reading this post? What about the title ‘Secret Sex’ made you click here?” Did I trick you to come here with my blog title? Did you click on a delicious link I served on Twitter? Or were you googling something like “Christian love advice?”

    Here is my theory, disagree with me if you like. I think that internally many evangelicals are wrestling with sexuality. I don’t mean they are worried about their gender preference or even secretly longing to do sinful things. I think that within Christian circles it just isn’t safe to talk about sex which leaves many adult Christians very immature in how they handle sex. So the result is that we talk about sexuality in very immature fashions. (And then we wonder why students have messed up views on sexuality!)

    While in non-Christian circles it isn’t unusual to have some safety within your peer group to talk about sex in an intelligent manner, I know I’ve never found Christian friends willing to have a serious conversation blushing it off as either “naughty” or diverting to childish jokes. (Of course, maybe its just my friends?) So while it may be normal and/or healthy to seek out talking with a peer about something intimate… in our circles we repress that discussion and look for answers privately.

    And I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

    I wonder if that repression of the discussion, which in and of itself is amoral but breaks a Christian taboo, is exactly what leads to the gross sexual dysfunction within many churches and marriages. Why can’t Christians just talk about sex? Why do Christians scour the internet searching for answers?

    Sidebar: Of course it could also be that there are so many people out there googling anything to do with sex that this disproportionally elevates the click through rates of posts about sex… that’s a theory worth contemplating without devaluing the overriding question.

    So, what is it?

    – Victorian cultural leftovers permeating Christian culture?

    – Fear?

    – Our mommy told us never to talk about sex, just learn about it the way she did in the library?

    – It should just be repressed. Asking this question proves that Adam is a pervert and just likes to say “sex” a lot.

  • Oops. A little over technology

    It seems my eagerness to spread the word about the YS podcast may have actually hurt our distribution a little. I think the right word is “counterproductive.”

    With the new format for the podcast I thought it would be helpful to cross-publish it a few places. So you may have seen it pop up on Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, and Blip. This is fine, and the numbers of viewers of the podcast have been great.

    The factors

    1. Blip.tv. Blip is cool because it has a great interface. As a content publisher I love the fact that I can upload a video, it gets published there… then I can select a bunch of places to crosspost. So I upload at blip and it does all the work for me to send it other places. (Facebook, myspace, twitter, and blogs)

    2. iTunes. Unfortunately, one of the places it sends the podcast is iTunes. And since we already use another way to publish podcast to iTunes the double feed gets both banned! (iTunes fixes the problem, but it is embarrassing and ends up making the show harder to find for th 24 hours it takes.)

    The lessons to learn.

    Being overeager sometimes has negative results. My initial reaction to “put it everywhere” had some negative implications.

    Good content will get found. To the core of my web-being I know this to be true. I know that less channels is better for content than more channels. This was just a case of trying to jump ahead of the curve… and in the end it hasn’t worked out.

  • Travels with Stoney: The Prelude

    travels with stoneyThe trip begins in just two hours. Everyone is still asleep at my in-laws house but I’m wide awake. Go figure. There are a couple pre-trip things I thought were worth mentioning.

    #1 Travels with Charlie. If you’ve never read the Steinbeck book which this trip is named after you should check it out. Travels with Charlie: In Search of America is a classic.

    #2 Participate in the journey. You can track our journey here. The best way to get in contact with us on the trip is by leaving a comment. Through the magic of mobile internet I’ll get your comment pretty soon. Feel free to ask Megan, Stoney, or Adam pretty much anything about our trip. We’ll either comment back directly on the blog or in a video. I can’t guarantee I’ll answer any emails during the trip.

    #3 Track our progress. Follow me on Twitter and I’ll be posting a lot about the trip in 140 characters or less. Also, I’ve started using Bright Kite. So if you use that you’ll want to friend me. But if you don’t, my Bright Kite updates appear on my Twitter feed. If we follow one another, just remember that the best way to contact me on the trip is to leave a comment. I’m going to try to minimize my “driving while twittering.” Twitpics are another story. I tend to do that while I drive.

    #4 Meet up. Check out our route. We’re still open to meeting up with people along the way. Again, a comment is a great way to make that happen. I’ll contact you via the email you leave in the comment dialogue.

    #5 Videos. Megan and I will be making daily videos of our travels. I can’t guarantee a regular broadcast schedule or anything like that. Nor can I guarantee what will be on them. But if you know me, you know they should be fun.

    #6 Today. In just a couple hours the first leg of our journey begins. This takes us out of Michigan, through the left half of Ohio, bisecting Indiana, and landing on the eastern shores of Illinois.

    Bon voyage!

  • What am I working on?

    Here’s a quick rundown of the things I’m up to over at YS.

    #1 I post regularly at the new YS blog.  Here are 3 posts you should check out. Big vision for Cabot. Youth Workers Who Twitter. Carrie Clausen and Her Youth Group. I’m loving the blog. It’s really a fun way to connect people together.

    #2 The big 3 of social networking. I spend some time each day talking with people on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. If you want to friend us, follow us, or join our group just click on the links. 

    #3 Custom social networks for our events. This is very unique to YS. We’ve created full-blown custom social networks for people coming to our flagship event, National Youth Workers Convention. Here’s the one for folks headed to Sacramento in October. So far there are a total of seven websites associated with NYWC this fall. I’m helping the YS convention get web-o-riffic in a hurry. 

    #4 Relaunching the podcast. Starting very soon is a brand new format to the YS podcast. I’ll bring some of the flavor of the YMX podcast to YS as well as some other cool features. Keep an eye on this page. We’ve got the first few episodes ready to go… great content in the new format!

    #5 YMX stuff. Since YS purchased YMX back in June things have changed only slightly. Seriously, I think the only thing that got changed was the privacy policy and about us pages. The first change is coming soon as YMX will host the next generation of the website, YM Women. There will be a special section of the website dedicated to women in youth ministry. I think this is a cool compliment to the HERstory conference that meets at NYWC. Looking forward to YMX going to “generation two” of its existence.

    #6 Experimental stuff. Just think of my office as Area 51 for YS. OK, not really. But I’m always playing with new ideas and seeing what will work or not work on the social media front. When I first started I talked to the internet team about “Adam’s sandbox.” I said, “Just give me some place I can create things, try out things, play with ideas and strategies, and basically do things with no fear of failure.” So I’ve got room to do that! I love knowing that everything I try has to be safe enough to succeed. Think of a lot of what I do as Google Labs. Some experiments make it past beta testing and some don’t. 

    What about you? What are you up to at the job these days?

  • How do you use Twitter?


    How Do You Use Twitter? from biz stone on Vimeo.

    Question: Does it make me a complete dork that I know someone in the video? I don’t think so. I think twitter is very pop culture. Wanna be pop culture with me? Follow me.

  • Converting User Names to Real Names

    It goes without saying that I’m a web dork. But I have to be honest and say even in my dorkiness I sometimes get confused on who is who. A blog may be named “Two fish with green eyes” but I know it’s Joe’s blog. And his AIM name is probably “PistolJoe” and I know that too. Then his YMX name is “JoeFish” and his myspace is “GreenfishJoe.” Weird legacy old school web stuff… and it’s plain confusing to me. Yuck, I hate it.

    So in the last few weeks I’ve been changing everyone’s feed titles in Google Reader and AIM screen names to their real names. (Easy options for both) It’s happy on my eyes.

    Real names? Yeah, like the name mommy and daddy gave you when you popped out. You’re name isn’t some weird web-name you use… it’s a first and last name. 

    A vent: Now that I’m completely addicted to twitter [follow me] and now that I’ve been sucked back into myspace… I wish I had a way to edit both of those profiles with people’s real names. Hey myspace and twitter… figure that out!

    Maybe this is why I like the idea of OpenID so much? Having a single, cross-platform profile/login will be commonplace in a few years… the whole “pseudo name” thing really is archaic. 

  • 7 ways you can connect with me

    connect with meOne of the reasons I blog is to stayed plugged in with the people in my life. So I thought it would be good to point you to the right sidebar and walk you through 7 ways you can connect with me.

    1. About me. Head over to this link to learn what I do, why I do it, and some other fun stuff.
    2. E-mail. My email address is mclanea@gmail.com. That comes to my phone, is on my desktop, and otherwise follows me around everywhere.
    3. Facebook page. If you are under 30 you probably have one too. It’s a great way to send me messages, see who I’m friends with, check out the causes I care about, and a bunch of other stuff.
    4. Google shared items. For serious. Wanna know what I’m reading and I think is interesting? Check out this page… it’s changing all the time as I keep up with about 100-200 sites per day. When I think something is worth looking at, I click “share.”
    5. Linkedin. For people under 30, it’s a Facebook for professional-types to connect with one another. Check out my profile, add me as a connection.
    6. Subscribe to my blog’s feed. Join millions of others and follow my blog. (OK, just my wife and my mom.) You can subscribe using your favorite feed reader or via email.
    7. Follow me on Twitter. Twitter is the latest dance craze sweeping the nation. Well, not so much. I use it as a back channel of letting my friends know what I’m up to in an informal, fun kind of way. Why? Because Facebook, Linkedin, RSS, reading my shared items, e-mailing me, and reading all about me may not be enough Adam McLane in your life.

  • Plus 4 on Twitter

    twitLike a lot of people, I’ve gotten used to the quirkiness that is Twitter. (what is twitter?) It’s kind of cool to connect with people in 140 characters or less. Follow me.
    One measurement tool that I use when looking at someone who wants me to follow them is their ratio between followers and following. If someone has 500 followers and they are only following 12 people. (+488) That’s interesting to me but tells me they likely have something important to say. Conversely, if someone is following 2500 people and only has 12 followers. (-2488) I don’t want to follow that person.

    Personally, I like it when a persons Twitter numbers are reasonably the same. Right now I have 96 followers and I’m following 92 people. That puts me at +4.

    As Twitter finally takes off into the common usage of bloggers and general internet users… it’ll be interesting to see how this ratio effects things.

    Ultimately, how do I decide whether or not to follow someone who is following me?  I’ve got some standards. The ratio is very important. Also, when I look at a profile I want to see a link and a bio.
    If your bio says you work at a church or do student ministry… I’m going to follow you automatically. If you do something else and I’m interested in that or know you personally, I’ll follow you. Other than that I’m not interested.

  • Twitter takes off in Youth Ministry

    twitIn the last two weeks Twitter has gotten extremely popular among Youth Ministry people. The two biggest Youth Ministry companies, Youth Specialties and Simply Youth Ministry put their Twitter accounts in this weeks newsletter. (YMX was ahead of them by a couple months on this one!) And it seems like every youth pastor around is jumping on the bandwagon now that Andy (the main dude at Simply) has a battle with Doug Fields to get to 1000 Twitter followers. (Both YS and SYM seem to be using Twitter for viral marketing, bravo!)

    I maintain that Twitter is a fad that will fade as soon as a more interesting platform is created. But for now Youth Ministry is on fire with Twitter.

    What is Twitter all about? (see the video) It answers the question “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less. Think of it as “open” instant messaging. I look at it as a back-channel communication for my friends. No fluff, no pontification… just simply “What are you doing?” I’ve found it a cool way to get to know people in a new capacity.

    Here’s what is happening on my Twitter right now.

    You can follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

  • Twitter in Plain English

    This does a way better job than I could to explain what Twitter is and how it works.

    Let me invite you to follow me on twitter.