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Using Social Media in Small Groups

// October 22nd, 2009 // small groups, social media

Relationships are an essential part of the Christian life.  To follow Jesus and his teachings means we live in community with God, and community with others.  The challenge we face in our culture is the busyness it creates in people’s lives. The very people that we are called to ministered to, and I believe social media is a tool we can leverage to enhance our relationships. So here are three ways you may want to try to apply social media in group life.

Create A Facebook Group

What’s great about facebook is that it is growing exponentially right now.  It is something that many people are already using in their daily routine to reconnect with old friends and stay connecting in current relationships.  If we can take advantage of social tools that people are already using in daily life, it only makes sense that we will have more success.  What’s great about creating a facbook group is it allows people to communicate to the entire group quickly, share photos from group activities, and even have discussions about what was shared at group that night.  Another convenient thing the facebook group can be utilized for is keeping a continuous prayer list.

Create A Group Twitter Profile

If you use twitter already you understand the networking value in a text message.  Since you may not want to bother all of your followers on twitter with details from your small group, I would suggest creating a separate twitter profile for your group.  Then have all your group members set up a twitter account.  Depending on their web skills you may have to help them with this task during a group meeting, but don’t forget to set them up as mobile users and to set your group profile “device updates.” This way when you update the twitter status it will hit their mobile phone as a text message.  Why is this helpful for a small group?  Here is a quick list of reasons:

• -Reminders to prepare or do homework from group that night
• -Last minute change of meeting location
• -Cancelation of your group due to weather or unforeseen circumstances
• -Messages of encouragement through the week
• -Reminder of daily bible reading that will be discussed on group night
• -Prayer requests through the week
• -Have some fun

Try Tokbox or Skype

What we thought was science fiction 20 or more years ago is reality today.  I can have a real-time conversation over the web with my brother in Hawaii and actually see him, hear him, and hold a great conversation on my computer in the comfort of my home.  Skype and other online video tools are allowing people to maintain long distance relationships like never before.  How can this enhance group life?  If you have a group member that has to travel out of town, but they don’t want to miss out on a great discussion, set up a laptop in the room and let them participate using the web!!! Or with other great tools like Tokbox, you can actually hold your entire group on the web, plus see and hear every person at the same time.  Sharing life experiences, reading the bible, asking engaging questions, and praying together can all be done via video conferencing online.  I must admit that I do prefer an “in person” group experience but these things can be done on the web and actually lead to a worthwhile experience.  If you’ve not tried something like this yet I’d encourage you to give it chance and have some fun with some friends as an experiment. 

If you’ve found some other forms of social media useful please share in the comments below.

And if you would like to connect with me using social media you can find my points of contact by CLICKING HERE

For more great info on small groups you’ll want to check out my blog at Small Group Help – http://www.smallgrouphelp.com/Blog/