Church Social Media Survey Reveals a Striking Contradiction

How serious are you about getting better at church social media?

Apparently, our words and our actions answer that question very differently.

In the recently conducted Church Social Media Learning Survey we asked, “how serious are you about getting better at church social media?”

87% of respondents rated themselves 4 or 5 on a 1 to 5 scale (serious or very serious).

However, further down in the survey we asked, “How much time do you spend each week learning how to get better at church social media?”

56% of respondents said they spend an hour or less a week learning how to get better at church social media.

We also asked, “How much money will you and your church invest in church social media learning resources (excluding tools) this year?”

And 42% said they and their church will invest $0 in church social media learning resources. (69% will invest $100 or less)

The numbers seem to contradict themselves.

How should we interpret these results?

I believe most people involved in church social media genuinely want to see themselves and their churches get better at it. I also think people are busy and budgets are tight. When it comes to time and money crunches, church social media resources are getting squeezed out.

In many ways it’s not all that different from other things we genuinely want to get better at.

Every January, millions of people are serious about wanting to exercise more, stop smoking, get out of debt, etc. Many of us are serious enough to make New Year’s resolutions or set goals.

But, you what percentage of people are successful at keeping their resolutions?

A whopping 8%!  (link)

That’s horrible!!!

How do we increase our chances of success?

Entire books have been written on that question. I can’t really do it justice in this post, but in my decades of personal and professional goal setting, I’ve found these 3 things are key to reaching goals:

1. Set S.M.A.R.T goals – That is goals that are Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-specific
2. Develop a plan – Once you know where you want to go, you need a step-by-step plan that will get you there.
3. Bring a partner on the journey – We are much more likely to reach our goals when we have someone who is aware of them, encouraging us along the way, problem solving and holding us accountable.

So, how do we apply these principles to church social media?

I see opportunities for those involved in church social media to collaborate in the development of plans and to partner with one another on the journey.

How about you? If you are serious at getting better but not making serious progress, what would help you most? Where do you see opportunities for collaboration and working together?  Post a comment and let’s discuss.

P.S. For more on the survey results see Part 1: Church Social Media Learning Survey Results and Part 2: Analyzing and Answering the Top Church Social Media Questions