AUDIO
 |
Phillip Jensen speaks on Anger as part of a series on emotions in the Christian life, delivered at the Australia Day Convention 2010
|
The world is in a flutter over Twitter. People are using Twitter to stay in touch with celebrities and politicians (Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull are on Twitter), to network within their industry, to report on events as they progress, and to provide updates to groups of select (ie interested) people. Twitter is an interesting phenomenon – here’s how it works:
1. Sign up for a free Twitter account
2. Search for people you know or would like to follow and click ‘follow’. From then on, each time they send an update (known as a ‘tweet’) you will receive the tweet in your account.
3. Each tweet is no more than 140 characters (i.e. 20 characters less than a text message).
4. Each time you send a tweet, anyone who is following you will receive the tweet in their account.
There are some unique advantages to Twitter:
• Limiting tweets to 140 characters forces users to keep their updates short, sharp and to the point.
• It avoids the extra fluff that is common on Facebook – Twitter only provides text updates, so there are no games, poking nor all the other useless applications that seem to thrive on Facebook.
• It’s a simple way to learn what others are doing (e.g. what other ministries are involved in) without the need to regularly check their website or sign up for a newsletter.
• It’s easy to provide a link to extra information that can’t fit within the 140 character limit.
• It’s a useful method for sending and receiving to-the-minute updates in a way that isn’t possible apart from a phone call or SMS. For example, I just received this tweet from Malcolm Turnbull – “Getting ready to speak at the National Press Club, you can watch it live on the ABC.”
I’m always keen to explore how new technologies might be used to advance God’s kingdom, and bring Him glory. So, a couple of weeks ago I set up a Twitter account for church, to send updates to whoever is interested. Here are some examples of the messages (‘tweets’) Church by the Bridge has sent to its ‘followers’:
Bible talks from the weekend are now available on our website - http://www.cbtb.org.au/media/bibletalks
Struggling to forgive? Six goals of Satan in getting you to hold grudges - http://www.cbtb.org.au/news
Prayer meeting at church tonight at 8pm. “The best thing about prayer is who you get to be with when you pray” - Ben Patterson
1 Timothy 2:1-4 - a great encouragement to pray. Thanks to Des and Suzie’s group for leading us in prayer and praise tonight.
Inspired to pray for world mission? Check out Operation World -
Read ahead for Saturday and Sunday night services - Exodus 34:29-35 and 2 Corinthians 3.
As with most technologies, Twitter is taking its time to warm up in Australia. But as you can see, Twitter has great potential for ministry throughout the week – reminding people about upcoming events, encouraging people to pray and read the Bible, and pointing people to useful resources.
Could this be time for you to create a Twitter account and start experimenting with this tool for the benefit of God’s people? Can you think of other ways Twitter might be used for ministry?
Interested in learning more?
• Visit the Twitter website
• Read “The Reason Your Church Must Twitter” (Please note: this book mentions the advantages of free SMS notifications for Twitter updates that unfortunately aren’t available in Australia at this time).
• Follow me (@communic8jesus ) or Church by the Bridge (@cbtbkirribilli ) on Twitter.
I think that Twitter definitely will grow, and it does give great advantages over social networks such as facebook, as it allows Christian groups such as Churches or Uni groups to play a much more active role in the community.
Thanks for the insights.
How many people are on twitter who aren't on facebook?
@Calum: how does twitter "allow Christian groups ... to play a much more active role in the community", compared to facebook?
My understanding is that Facebook allows Christian groups to act as either "groups" or "pages". Whereas Twitter allows Christian groups to act as a fully fledged account. The same as anyone else. Although pages on Facebook allow similar interaction, I don't know how correct it is for somebody to become a fan of their church. I think the interaction in Twitter is much more community based, as opposed to the "come and see us" approach the "groups" on Facebook create.
@Calum - thanks, I see now that in Twitter a church entity can be more "active". But it seems to me that church member(s) could play the "active" role in FB, pointing people to the "group" or "page" for the church...? I remember a seminar at the Create conference (not Steve's I don't think) that suggested the best FB entity to create for a church, but I can't remember what it was (I don't think it was a page or a group).
Still interested in how many people use twitter but don't use FB - I suspect very few. Have to do some more googling...