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Social media allows members to share information and receive responses almost immediately. Of course we already have several ways of doing this, including Small Groups, Sunday School Classes, Adult Education and phone calls, but social media enables our church family to reach out beyond the walls of St. Mark Presbyterian.
Social media is a form of online interaction and sharing. Our website http://www.discoverstmark.org/ has four buttons on the right under the "Connect With Us" tab. Those buttons are B (blog), F (Facebook), T (Twitter) and P (Pinterest). If you click on those buttons, you will be taken to the corresponding page (provided you have an account for the last 3, probably). These are all considered social media.
Like all forms of communication, social media is a double-edged sword. There are several factors that should be taken into consideration when using these tools:
Audience: Anyone in the world
Privacy: It is important to limit names and never use phone numbers other than the church phone number.
Accountability: While we can't control what people say or think, we must work to use social media in a matter that accurately reflects our church family.
Social media is a form of online interaction and sharing. Our website http://www.discoverstmark.org/ has four buttons on the right under the "Connect With Us" tab. Those buttons are B (blog), F (Facebook), T (Twitter) and P (Pinterest). If you click on those buttons, you will be taken to the corresponding page (provided you have an account for the last 3, probably). These are all considered social media.
Blog http://discoverstmark.blogspot.com/We chose to create a blog because it costs nothing but the time the volunteers put into it. It is smartphone friendly (our website isn't yet), easy to revise, reaches out to the world and enables comments and interaction among members. It is more like the newsletter on steroids, as it has more photos, is updated several times a week, includes announcements and event coverage, has inspirational pieces and links to interesting websites. If a person subscribes to our blog, he receives regular updates via e-mail.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Discover-St-Mark/Ours is an Open Group, meaning anyone can "like" our page and pages can be shared, but there are administrators who present the information or photos displayed: Kathryn Deters, Jaclyn Morgan, John Northrip. We have several "closed groups", meaning individuals must be invited or accepted, and what members share with one another is not available to the general public. Administrators are responsible for monitoring postings on these pages. "St. Mark Sunday School" is administered by Doug Reed and "St. Mark Presbyterian Youth" is administered by Ryan Bradney.
Twitter https://twitter.com/DiscoverStMarkThis is great for brief statements or references to other Tweets or Links of interest to our Twitter "followers". It has been a great way to interact with local businesses and charitable communities in addition to our own members.
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/discoverstmark/This is a place to share ideas: decorating, inspiration, photos, crafts, recipes. Many of the photos posted here and shared link to our website or blog.
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Like all forms of communication, social media is a double-edged sword. There are several factors that should be taken into consideration when using these tools:
Audience: Anyone in the world
Privacy: It is important to limit names and never use phone numbers other than the church phone number.
Accountability: While we can't control what people say or think, we must work to use social media in a matter that accurately reflects our church family.
Though there are some
drawbacks and limitations in the use of social media, it does enable to reach
us a large audience quickly and with very little, if any, expense. Because of
its potential, the Communications Committee and Session are in the process of
developing social media guidelines that we hope will help us reap the benefits
of this emerging communication tool while minimizing some of these flaws. We
welcome any input you have as we move forward with these plans.
John Northrip, the Chair of Communications Committee welcomes your ideas. We also have a mailbox in the office if you would like to drop us a note or you can leave a suggestion in the comment box below.
John Northrip, the Chair of Communications Committee welcomes your ideas. We also have a mailbox in the office if you would like to drop us a note or you can leave a suggestion in the comment box below.
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