Social Media Culture Commentary: "Being Present" (Internet Evangelism Day 2014)

Once again, supersmart #ChSocM superstar

 Laura Leist Catalano (@LeistCatalano) 

captures the zeitgeist.

Are You a Digital Strategist?

Gee whiz there seem to be lots of self-proclaimed digital strategists these days. Call me picky, but I think you have to have some well-earned cred before you get to claim that title. (And the same goes double for all you social media gurus and ninjas.)

If you've been following the evolution of my professional identity, you'd notice how I've started characterizing myself as a "digital strategist." Let the record show, I've waited years before doing this. I think others should, too.

By the early-1990's, I'd already blown through several iterations of a marketing communications career in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. I learned how to create strategy. During the mid-1990's, I was  involved with a CompuServe group that, along with AOL chat rooms, presaged today's social media tools. I discovered the power of digital technology.

I'm sinfully proud to note that I started using LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook (in that order) a lot sooner than most colleagues. Six years ago, while a pastoral associate for communications, I tried (unsuccessfully) to make a case for blogging and re-configuring the website to serve as a portal. Even so, I would not have dared trot myself out as a digital strategist. Only after working with social media on a daily basis for five years, do I feel comfy saying this is what I'm qualified to do.

Now you'd think that as a Good Christian, I'd be a wee bit more generous toward others who have rushed to adopt this moniker. Alas, I am not. Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.

I believe you get to say you're a digital strategist if you:

• know how to define a goal and then develop a plan of action to reach it that accounts for audience demographics and learning styles.

• have at least 2.5 years of active, daily experience with the major social media platforms and applications that enhance their use, so you can choose the right tools.

• are able to train others to use: at least one but preferably more than one blogging platform; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube; Pinterest; and LinkedIn.

Are you a digital strategist . . . yet? If that's your destination, what are you doing to get there?

Virtual Community & Social Media: It Takes a (Global) Village and What Else?

As you can probably tell from my previous post, I was on fire this past weekend about the possibilities and pitfalls; joys and challenges of virtual community. Better make that, Refiner's fire (1Peter 1:7).

It's Lent, it's Spring, it's life in the world of social media where so-called normal time frames simply do not apply.

After years of participating in/on/through social media and observing it from my vantage point as a sociologist, I've come up with a ratio that captures real-to-virtual time. 1:3 (one month/year of engagement with social media is equivalent to three month/year IRL).  Pretty coolio sacred about the three, eh?

I like moving quickly -- in a prayerful discernment way, of course -- but even I am slightly blown away by speed with which virtual communities form, develop, growth, evolve, devolve, and eventually leave our mortal online coil. I'm also fascinated by what forms the contemporary aphorism, "it takes a village," end up taking during the lifespan of digital communities.

What does it take to build an online community? How can social media help? What sorts of additional or different community-development skills might be required for online communities? How about for online communities of faith and/ones positioned as churches? Let's chat!

When you leave, you leave . . .

Our chats never fail to generate what folks in the business world might call "robust" interactions. In this post, the Rev. Canon Dan Webster (@RevWeb), a Episcopal priest in Baltimore, MD, provides information about a liturgical solution to ease transitions and maintain professional boundaries between clergy and congregants.

Last week’s chat focused on professional and personal boundaries in social media. I mentioned how when I left a congregation as vicar, I would "unfriend" parishioners on my Facebook page. “When you leave, you leave,” I tweeted. Not everyone agrees.

Tone can sometimes appear unduly harsh in 140 characters, so I referred @mapowell to the Episcopal Church’s Book of Occasional Services and “A Service for the Ending of a Pastoral Relationship and Leave-taking from a Congregation.”

This service gives faith communities a liturgical opportunity to honor their time with a departing pastor. Directions for the service encourage the pastor to “express thanksgiving for the time of the tenure, with its joys and sorrows, and state hopes for the future of the congregation.”

The new rector deserves every opportunity to become pastor to members of the congregation, especially in parishes where there has been a long term pastorate. A helpful resource on the Episcopal Diocese of New York website about the value of a healthy ending includes this:

“A good beginning depends on a good ending. Your parish's ability to call your successor depends on how well you leave and on your ability to let go. Your character and integrity are demonstrated in how you leave a position. These are not commandments, rubrics or rules. They are collected wisdom, good practices and occasional humor about an important moment in the life of every ordained person, a moment of celebration, of ending, of beginning, of death, and of resurrection.

Just as pastors are required to keep healthy boundaries during their tenure, they are required to do so after taking their leave.

Opinion: Clergy, Keep Your Blog Posts Brief and Authentic

Years ago, a percentage of my income came from magazine writing. I excelled at front-of-the-book pieces (75-200 words). As a social observer and culture critic, I loved writing back-of-the-book essays (500-700 words). 

I started blogging when the magazine market crashed. Blogs were perfect for personal essays. Over time, I'd appreciate how well they worked for news reportage and service journalism. It didn't take long for me to realize that blogs were not a great vehicle for lengthy narrative.

Writing for the Internet is quite unlike writing for print, something I needed to learn before I could land paying gigs writing online content. Web content had to be short and formatted to optimize readability. Sentences could be incomplete. And, only a few words. Paragraphs could be one sentence. 

Because I was already writing short and snappy magazine copy, my transition from print to web via blogging was relatively painless. It's not always this way for others, especially anyone whose primary communication is oral. Like clergy.

Many clergy seem to have difficulty transferring spoken text -- even when a sermon is written in advance -- to something print-worthy. This difficulty is compounded when communication goes online. But try telling a pastor or bishop that what works from the pulpit can be deadly on a computer screen.

Since I've yet to find a good or easy way to deliver this news in person, I'll trot out my best counsel here for clergy who blog or want to get started:

• Blog posts need to be short. If you're pushing much past 450 words, consider writing a series of posts on the topic and telling blog visitors that's what you'll be doing.

• Some posts need to be images or video clips. This will appeal to different learning styles among blog visitors and keep your blog from becoming monotonous. 

• Let blog posts reveal the fullness of life. No one will think less and will probably think better of any cleric who writes about challenges to faith and the great mystery of losing socks in the dryer.

Note: This post is 340 words.