Media Outreach

There is no question that one of the greatest benefits of social media is conversation.  We can strike a connection with our fellow tweeters or facebookers that may have never happened in the first place.  I’ve met people after having spent months interacting with them online first – and I swear it’s like running into an old friend.

As a believer, I find the opportunity of conversation with the unchurched one of great magnitude and, unfortunately, currently under-utilized. A request from a pastor friend a couple weeks ago caught my attention; he asked that I come up with an example of how to start a real conversation with a visitor over social media.

Having received How Good is Good Enough? from a church I visited a few months ago, I decided the contents of this book would be a great starting point.  The premise of this 100 page book is to explain the “most popular theory about heaven – and what it really takes to get there.”

Before we start getting into the nitty-gritty of the eternity questions, I say it’s a fair assumption that there be some form of foundational conversations.  Some users may have the necessary burst of courage to interact without having conversed with you previously, but many will consider this topic personal and require preceding interactions.

Here are the steps I’ve come up with to start intentional conversations using social networks.

1. Form a strategy – Anything worth your time is worth planning out.  Take the time to decide which social networks are appropriate to communicate this conversation through.  Keeping demographics in mind is key.  For instance, MySpace has a median audience age between 13-15.  Facebook’s fastest growing audience are those between 45-55.  Set out to write the questions and statements so that the overall conversation has direction.  How often will you update your status?  Are you going to set more time aside for social networking for this campaign?
2. Inform people of the conversation – How will people know to take part if they are unaware?  Let friends, family and members know of the conversation you will start so they can re-post and re-tweet for maximum exposure.  Any contribution to the conversation is helpful as well.  If you blog or have an email list, don’t hesitate to send out a quick blurb letting people know what is to come. Remember we’re discussing something that will affect the rest of their eternity – it’s worth the publicity.
3. Keep your conversation targeted to the community, not the church – To avoid debating theological theories with other Christians, constantly remind yourself that the conversation is not meant to argue through scripture with fellow believers.  We want to engage the community. This is not to say believers can’t participate.  Just focus your time and attention to open the door to the unchurched and dechurched.   Keep a positive, open and non-accusatory attitude when pursuing the interaction.  If someone’s answer isn’t Biblically accurate, don’t attack them. We want to keep the conversation going as long as possible.  There are ways to put your ideas out there and gently correct without casting judgment.

Part 2 of the article series will discuss what questions to approach this topic with as well as how to respond to inquiries.  With over 350 million Facebook users and 75 million Twitter users, the conversations are happening.  Let’s participate in such a role that creates opportunities to share the Ultimate Love with those that seek it.

Photo By: Richard0