Social Media & The Church

With social media still being a fairly new beast to tame, businesses everywhere are trying to figure out how to best utilize these various platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest each offer different advantages and make it possible to launch campaigns, promote products, and build brand awareness. It’s still a strange new world in many ways. Ways to connect and promote are always being changed and innovated, and with approximately 52% of adults in the United States on Facebook alone, social media is something that cannot be ignored.

However, while the benefits concerning for-profit businesses are obvious, those are not the only kind of businesses that attempt to utilize Facebook and other social media websites. While these sites give a chance to promote and sell, they also provide a chance to build awareness for a cause, promote events, and cultivate community. 

I think it’s fair to say that social media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

As a business who partners with churches and has a great love and respect for the Church at large, can the Church benefit from using social media? Can it utilize it well, and is it even worth the time and effort? 

As someone who has seen the social media revolution come to pass but remembers life before it happened, I can answer yes to all of those questions. 

It is possible to utilize it well, which starts with posting consistently. It is possible to post encouragement that spurs people on. It’s possible to utilize these platforms to build awareness for upcoming events. It’s possible to use these platforms to show people that they are welcome.  

I’ve always heard it said that the people make the place, and I think that is especially true within individuals churches. People want a place to belong and to connect to others. They want people to walk through life with them, and they want to know what’s going on. Social media sites like Facebook in particular can help build that community. It can keep upcoming events in the forefront. It can share encouraging scriptures during the week, and it can share highlights from previous Sundays. Facebook is a great way to cultivate community. 

Each platform has its advantages and disadvantages. I’ll be honest and say that I don’t know how much impact Facebook pages and Twitter profiles have on people outside of your congregation. I will say, though, that as a woman in her late twenties, I do look at church websites and social media pages before I decide to visit. It gives me an idea of the setting I’m walking into, their beliefs, and the tone of that community. I think it’s a sign of the times that I look at those things beforehand, and I think I’m not the only one who does it.

Sometimes the Church lags behind in the world of trends and technology. Sometimes that’s a good thing because fads fade, but sometimes it means that we miss out on opportunities. We currently live in a time where social media, design, and technology are in the forefront, and if we ignore it, we can miss out on so much. 

So, do you have a social media strategy? Are you utilizing these free tools to connect to your congregation? 

If you’re not, I hope you know that The Digital Shore is here to help with those endeavors. You can always contact us at questions@thedigitalshore.com, and we hope to hear from you soon.