Can churches who want to engage their communities apart from the use of social media? It’s an increasing relevant question.
Thom Rainer summarizes how upper level management in organizations is recognizing the need for social media involvement:
I was shocked. Two presidents of organizations began using Twitter in the past two months. These are presidents I know well, leaders who for years saw no value in Twitter or other social media. As one told me, he had moved over to the dark side.
These leaders are not alone. Only 20 of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies engage in Twitter. But my guess is that many of them will be moving to “the dark side” as well. The evidence is building rapidly. Your organization is at a distinct disadvantage if it does not embrace social media with enthusiasm.
A new study by the highly regarded McKinsey and Company should move even some of the deepest skeptics. Their research found that, while 72 percent of organizations use some form of social media, very few embrace it strategically. As a consequence, the productivity lost in these companies could be as high as $1.3 trillion. That’s a lot of zeros. In fact, if those dollars were the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country, its economy would be the 14th largest in the world.
The McKinsey study notes that organizations lose both interaction within the company and connection outside the company if they do not engage social media with enthusiasm. Collaboration opportunities are lost and intimate customer connections are forfeited.
While I’m sure the organization I lead could improve greatly, we strategically embraced social media several years ago. Allow me to share four principles I have learned to this point.
1. Embracing social media begins at the top. While social media is a great equalizer, an organization will not embrace it corporately unless the leader of the organization gives his or her tacit permission. My enthusiastic involvement in social media sent a clear message that it was important for the entire organization. . .
Read the rest here.
While the positive benefits of social media can not be ignored or disputed, isn’t this like claiming that you can’t be relevant without watching current TV shows?
No. I don’t think so. I think it is more like saying you can’t be a pastor today without a phone and a car.
Do you think it would be possible to be an effective pastor today without a car?
That’s possibly a great analogy. No, you could not be an effective pastor without a car in most settings in America. I’ll have to think about the analogy.
Of course, I am overstating the case with the car thing. A telephone would be another example. I wish I had a tape recording of church meetings where they were fighting for the first time about whether or not the church needed a telephone. It meant an ongoing expense. You know that some churches fought about it.
I don’t need a tape recording of churches deciding whether or not to have Internet at the church or have a web site. I was there.
Point well taken, especially if we’re talking about the internet and a website. A church without a really informative and easy to use website tells you something about the church you wish wasn’t true. I really think that would be the case.