Well, the time has come. With both joy and sadness I have finished my last class at Lee and am now posting this link to my Creative Definitions Innovation and Social Media Project. In this project, I explain what I think are the interactions between innovation and social media. While this may be my last blog for the class, it will certainly not be my last otherwise. I have learned so much about social media and must say I am no longer just a spectator, joiner and collector, but a creator as well. A process has started that I look forward to continuing.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Social and the Church-Class Presentation
Church and Adults See preview: hwatch?v=L_Iu4OlX4VIttp://www.youtube.com/ Affects/Changes of social media -Catholic church: Using social media as a one-way communication channel. Disable comment sections on facebook/twitter/blogs, etc. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-03-11/news/os-catholic-social-media-20100311_1_social-media-catholic-church-facebook Condemns totalitarianism, but doesn't allow for a conversation http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a8.htm#V -Protestant church: The Barna Group (2007) Technology habits don't differ much from the secular world. More interested in podcasting than Catholic church; non-mainline denominations more likely than Protestant to listen to podcasts. http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/14-media/36-barna-technology-study-social-networking-online-entertainment-and-church-podcasts -Virtual churches: Simone Heidbrink (2008) "Following Jesus into Virtual Space? Web 2.0 and Social Media as Generators of New Christian Communities of Practice?" Second Life- 20 churches http://www.slideshare.net/omsein/following-jesus-into-virtual-space-web-20-and-social-media-as-generators-of-new-christian-communities-of-practice "Emerging Church" and weblogs, multimedia labyrinth installation depicting London's St. Paul's Cathedral Online weddings, (may actually be legal if done in states that allow marriage by proxy) -Types of social media: Blogs, facebook, twitter, bluefish/godtube, e-mail loops, skype, websites, podcasts, Poll Everywhere, YouVersion (post notes as comments to an online Bible), Sermon Cloud (sermon aggregator). http://creativefusionmedia.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/best-of-church-social-media-and-ministry-20-resources/ Online donations (Paypal largest at 25%) ...online tithing? http://digital.leadnet.org/2010/02/online-donation-tools-for-churches-and-nonprofits.htmla
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Social Media and the Church
Social media is revolutionizing the way we communicate. For years people have questioned if it is here to stay. I think that question has been solidly answered "yes" for most.
Scores of companies are adjusting the way the advertise and run their communications in order to reach the enormous mass of social media users. However, there is a group that has historically been reluctant to adopt technologies related with the Internet. The Church. Granted, the Internet provides a public and ubiquitous avenue for all manner of ideas and communication-good and evil. The Church has shied away from it partly due to the huge amount of evil it serves as a conduit to perpetuate. If the Church wants to reach the younger generation as effectively as possible, it needs to learn how to leverage the Internet and social media to reach people. The Gospel is told as a story. Social media is all about building relationships. Most relationships are built through storytelling. Add this basic nature of social media to its other positive aspects, and it is a great venue for the Church to use. Many of the terms we now use that are almost exclusively religious stemmed from secular Greek and Roman concepts. Jesus or others, gave them an entirely new meaning. Christians can take things that are considered secular and provide them with a new history. So should it do with social media.
Scores of companies are adjusting the way the advertise and run their communications in order to reach the enormous mass of social media users. However, there is a group that has historically been reluctant to adopt technologies related with the Internet. The Church. Granted, the Internet provides a public and ubiquitous avenue for all manner of ideas and communication-good and evil. The Church has shied away from it partly due to the huge amount of evil it serves as a conduit to perpetuate. If the Church wants to reach the younger generation as effectively as possible, it needs to learn how to leverage the Internet and social media to reach people. The Gospel is told as a story. Social media is all about building relationships. Most relationships are built through storytelling. Add this basic nature of social media to its other positive aspects, and it is a great venue for the Church to use. Many of the terms we now use that are almost exclusively religious stemmed from secular Greek and Roman concepts. Jesus or others, gave them an entirely new meaning. Christians can take things that are considered secular and provide them with a new history. So should it do with social media.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Social Media-Sharing...or Stealing
Social media allows its users to share information about themselves, others, products, companies, the world...you get the picture. It is a great tool to use both professionally and personally. Yet, how does it affect that all too-often occuring phenomenon of stealing content/intellectual property/ etc.
While I certainly do not advocate a position that says social media causes this problem, I do think it exacerbates it and makes it public. Photo and video sharing sites like Flickr, YouTube, and even Facebook make it easy for those who wish to steal to do so. Although I think most people would agree that creators should receive credit and payment from their inventions/products, sadly, the temptation to "have it all" by free and illegal downloading proves to be too strong. Some argue that it isn't really stealing or that creators don't really care. They, themselves, feel they are being cheated by the purchase fee. Since this is a rampant problem, is there even any way to curtail it? There are copyright laws, but we all know that only a fraction of offenders are caught. There is not enough manpower to patrol and prosecute every single case. How effective would an inti-stealing campaign be? I wish I had an answer to this question, but am still new to the scene of social media, and though I am thinking through all these issues, I have no conclusive answer at present.
While I certainly do not advocate a position that says social media causes this problem, I do think it exacerbates it and makes it public. Photo and video sharing sites like Flickr, YouTube, and even Facebook make it easy for those who wish to steal to do so. Although I think most people would agree that creators should receive credit and payment from their inventions/products, sadly, the temptation to "have it all" by free and illegal downloading proves to be too strong. Some argue that it isn't really stealing or that creators don't really care. They, themselves, feel they are being cheated by the purchase fee. Since this is a rampant problem, is there even any way to curtail it? There are copyright laws, but we all know that only a fraction of offenders are caught. There is not enough manpower to patrol and prosecute every single case. How effective would an inti-stealing campaign be? I wish I had an answer to this question, but am still new to the scene of social media, and though I am thinking through all these issues, I have no conclusive answer at present.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Social Media Roads
One day in my Innovation and Social Media class, I had an epiphany. Ok, well, maybe that's too grandiose of a word. However, I did make a connection between social media and the use of roads.
For those of you not familiar with Lee University, we are a private, Liberal Arts, Christian school. Many of our classes begin with devotions. This particular day, whatever we were talking about (most likely centered around how the Church uses social media) triggered a mental flight back in time to Jesus' day. I find it interesting that Jesus did not come until after the building of the roads that connected much of the Greco-Roman world. Because of these roads, He was able to travel between cities ministering; because of these roads, the disciples took the Gospel to the nations.
Today, roads pave the way to almost anywhere one could wish to travel. Yet, many cannot afford to physically or financially make the journey. With the Internet revolution, contact is established between people who will never meet outside of the Web. Cities in Africa, China, and around the world have access to social media when it would be difficult to reach them by road.
People who know the times and are wise will make use of social media to further their passion and their purpose. Social media cannot replace face-to-face interaction, but it does augment it greatly-and in some cases is the only method through which people separated by distance can communicate. Like the Roman roads, social media has created an expansive new way in which to establish relationship and connection with others.
For those of you not familiar with Lee University, we are a private, Liberal Arts, Christian school. Many of our classes begin with devotions. This particular day, whatever we were talking about (most likely centered around how the Church uses social media) triggered a mental flight back in time to Jesus' day. I find it interesting that Jesus did not come until after the building of the roads that connected much of the Greco-Roman world. Because of these roads, He was able to travel between cities ministering; because of these roads, the disciples took the Gospel to the nations.
Today, roads pave the way to almost anywhere one could wish to travel. Yet, many cannot afford to physically or financially make the journey. With the Internet revolution, contact is established between people who will never meet outside of the Web. Cities in Africa, China, and around the world have access to social media when it would be difficult to reach them by road.
People who know the times and are wise will make use of social media to further their passion and their purpose. Social media cannot replace face-to-face interaction, but it does augment it greatly-and in some cases is the only method through which people separated by distance can communicate. Like the Roman roads, social media has created an expansive new way in which to establish relationship and connection with others.
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