I just read a great article about using Twitter as an outreach tool. I mentioned in a previous episode about how I use twitter to share prayter concerns, and announce events (remember many people receive “tweets” on their phone).
This article talks about how using the advanced search features you can filter by zip code to see tweets from your area. Thats is really cool. You can do this via search.twitter.com
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Today we talk with a Daniel Johnson Jr who shares some of his insights into using Facebook and Twitter with your church.
People answer this by saying “a micro blogging platform.” If we were to say this in English, you can use it as your own press release system, and you can only release very short items (144 characters). The people who will receive your releases (called “tweets”) have to choose to “follow” you. With this in mind it is a way for people of the congregation to update each other on what is going on in their life and stay in touch with each other. Here are some examples:
“Worship service starts in an hour”
“Megan had her child, it’s a boy, Ethan Bradley, mother and baby are fine.”
“This weeks sermon is “the most important thing for kids” ”
You can sign up for twitter at www.twitter.com
Facebook is a free website that allows you to make friends and when people update their status, their friends can see what is going on. You can share pictures, and much more. You can sign up at facebook at www.facebook.com
One of the keys to both Face Book and Twitter is the ability to “time shift” your content. Think of this like an answering machine. When you leave a message for someone the person checks the message whenever they can get to it. So I can leave a “tweet” on twitter, or post an update on Face Book and people can catch those items whenever they want to.
The best thing about twitter and face book is they are both free.
If you are trying to reach that younger audience, using twitter and facebook may make your church look “cool” and may entice people to stop in and see what’s going on.
