Media Outreach

I remember “back in the day”- ok, ok…all of 6 years ago, when Facebook was just for college students. I had to have a Texas Tech (Go Red Raiders!)  email address just to get a Facebook account. I remember looking at this program and wondering what the heck it was for. Why was it better than just sending an email to my friends, like I had done in the past.

Now, I barely have any of my friend’s email addresses, since they are all on Facebook. Why would I need their email when I can just sign on and send them a quick message. Easy peasy! And while I’m on there, I can check out the newly uploaded pictures of my roomate’s spring break trip, let everyone know what I’m doing by updating my status and RSVP for that birthday party that I almost forgot about! It’s a one stop shop to stay in touch with my friends around the world.

There are some interesting statistics on Facebook’s website that I thought I’d share with you. It might be a useful tool for your church.

• My church has a Facebook group that keeps us up-to-date with activities, special events and announcements. Since I check my Facebook everyday, I find it helpful to be notified through Facebook of these events.
• Facebook is no longer for the young college student, according to Facebook’s website, the fastest growing demographic is age 30 and over.
• With that said..don’t use the excuse that most of your congregation probably isn’t on Facebook. You might be surprised to find out just how many people use it.
• Facebook’s population of over 175 million users spends more than 3 billion minutes on Facebook each day. During those 3 billion minutes each day, more than 27 million photos are uploaded, 226 thousand videos are uploaded, 903 thousand links to news stories and articles are posted, and 65 thousand events are created.

That’s a lot of stuff happening on Facebook…so why don’t you use it to your advantage?

I’m sure many of you are already using Facebook…if so, I want to know how your churches are using it…please share.