77% of all Internet users participate in social networking sites (Andy Boyer). With more and more people getting involved it only seems right to provide you with some tips on how to act online to be most successful. An article by Larry Hollon provides 10 useful tips. Provided here are 5 key tips taken from his article.
1) Know Yourself. Know the values and theology that makes up your faith and perspective. With this, don’t try and convert people into your way of thinking, rather let your faith emerge naturally in your posts.
2) Be Real. After making sure you know what you believe, be honest about it. Hollon explains this one just right – “Being authentic is more important than appearing to be a flawless, model Christian. Most people cannot relate to perfection, and it’s easier to empathize with someone who is genuine about who they are.” Authenticity is the number one when it comes to social media.
2) Don’t Judge. Don’t act holier than thou. Avoid acting judgmental and cut others some slack. When you disagree, give them the benefit of the doubt.
3) No Jargon. Don’t use churchy jargon and use concepts you assume others would know. Try to write at a 5th grade reading level so that your posts are as accessible as possible. Our friends at Synotac have a great tool for checking the readability level of your posts.
4) Be Positive. As Hollon’s tip 9 states: “Don’t bring me down! Post content that contributes to building up (faith) rather than tearing it down.”
5) Multimedia = Yes! Use all kinds of mediums to engage your audience! Here is a great example of a church that uses YouTube.
To learn more tips for social media success check out this past Salty Waffle article.
1) Do you feel like you follow these tips online? How so?
I am the Social Author for Salty Waffle’s faith based outreach. Please see my blog (http://bit.ly/kSpjXB). If you would like to follow me on Twitter I am @FaithNetworking.
Freshly graduated from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, I am now living around the world as a trailing spouse with my husband, a US Air Force medic. I seek to help others use social media to connect their faith based community. I believe social media will assist you in spreading the gospel and teaching the word of God while sharing testimonies, life lessons, joys, and personal struggles with people in your community.
