CBT | Church Blog Theory

Dec

Survey Report 3

Part 3 of a report on the information obtained through a CBT survey earlier this year. We discuss the need for the church to participate in social media ministry.

Dec

Survey Report 2

Part 2 of 3 reports over the data collected in the survey we conducted earlier this year. We discuss the participants concerns about Church Blog Theory.

Thank you for your participation. If you would like to discuss the results in more detail, please feel free to contact us via email at churchblogtheory@gmail.com

Nov

Last week a former student directed me to Daily Booth. I generally have enough social media projects going on to keep me busy but I decided to check it out. Here is my review and suggestion for ministry.

Daily Booth is a mix between photo sharing, blogging and microblogging mixed into one. As it integrates together it forms a social networking type vibe. It allows you to snap a photo from your webcam or upload a recently taken photo from your camera. In addition to that, Daily Booth offers mobile/email upload features. Once your photo is in the pipe, you can add your post to it (no length restrictions). Your profile allows you to follow and be followed by other Daily Boothers where comments and conversation can ensue. Their live feed scrolls all the user uploads in real time allowing users to watch and interact.

Comparing Daily Booth to other social media sites makes it look insignificant in the grand scheme of things. While it does integrate with Twitter, there is no RSS feed or badge features to integrate with another blog or Facebook notes. I’m sure this deters many from using it.

BUT, in my few moments of establishing an account and watching the live feed I saw a post that said “I cant keep doing this…God please help me..” I was amazed. People kept revealing some heavy things going on in their lives and their pictures showed a lot of pain. What surprised me the most was that they were predominantly teenagers.

While Daily Booth isn’t the most high tech social media service I feel like it has potential as a useful ministry tool in 3 ways.

Understanding the hurts and lives of today’s youth.
Direct ministry to the youth on Daily Booth
I tool to suggest to your teenagers as a way to express themselves and begin a conversation for teaching and mentoring.

What do you think about Daily Booth?

Nov

Another Doorway with LinkedIn

Today via email I received notification of a new functionality within LinkedIn that will increase potential to spread the message of Jesus.

LinkedIn has partnered with Twitter. LinkedIn users can now set up their account to have their Tweets update their LinkedIn Status and have a link to their Twitter account show up in their LinkedIn Profile.

This offers another subtle way for Christians to promote their faith based blog and share faith focused tweets with their colleagues and connections.

To set up LinkedIn with Twitter

- Go to the account settings of LinkedIn

- Select Twitter Settings

- Enter your Twitter Account information

- Customize your Settings

Do you see any other evangelism possibilities related to LinkedIn or Twitter?

Read about the parntership – LinkedIn, Twitter announce partnership, San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Sep

LinkedIn is a social networking site for the business community. It boasts more than 45 million users worldwide. If you are a business professional, you have probably had some experience with LinkedIn already. If not, it would be beneficial for you to learn more about it. I liken it to Monster.com meets social media. It is encouraging to note that the Christian community is growing on LinkedIn and ministers are slowly beginning to use it as a tool to connect and share ministry opportunities with one another.

However, I would like to mention a very subtle but powerful way to share your faith on LinkedIn. There is a tool that allows the user to import and display their blog on their LinkedIn profile. For a Christian producing a faith-based blog, this is a great opportunity to deliver thought provoking spiritual material to colleagues.

Steps:

1. Sign in to LinkedIn

2. Click “Edit Profile”

3. Choose “Add Application”

4. Click “Blog Link”

5. Follow Blog Link Directions

For more information about LinkedIn, read this and watch this YouTube video.

Jul

Post Idea – Plinky

Having trouble coming up with things to write about? Want to avoid becoming redundant or preachy? Want to keep the blog fresh and appealing to today’s readers?

Plinky is a free web based service that offers writing prompts. Some are silly, others introspective, and others are bizarre. Still, some of them are perfect for sharing your everyday walk with Christ. Sign up and try it. You are under no obligation to use their service but you might find it useful.

Here are some interesting prompts you might find interesting:

Share your thoughts with a Plinky audience, import your answers into your blog, and read other people’s response to the same question.

Have fun and let your light shine!

Please let CBT know what you think of Plinky.

Jul

I’m not a writer!

One of the biggest reasons why people don’t start a blog is the thought:

“I’m not a writer!”

Fair enough. Some people aren’t writers. BUT if that is your reason, are you giving yourself a fair hearing? Bailey and Storch in their book The Blogging Church say “people are tired of perfection; they’re looking for authenticity.”

Have you considered their point?

More than likely, you will never write perfectly. If you hold yourself to the standard of a book, magazine, or newspaper, you better get yourself…an editorial team. Everything you read in the professional market is previewed and edited multiple times. Blogging doesn’t have to be perfect! It just has to be real. If the ultimate goal is to share the gospel, people need to see your walk with Christ, not a polished dissertation.

You can do this! If you feel inadequate as a writer (don’t worry, I do too!), here is a quick guide to help with grammar, word choice and general style of writing. Grab a copy, and use as needed.