Should we minister on Facebook?

Well, considering that there are more than 400 million accounts, more than 50% of users check it at least daily, and over 5 billion pieces of content are shared weekly, it seems like a place to reach a lot of people.

Paul was all things to all people. With those stats, I do not think we can ignore Facebook. Some churches are starting to concentrate more on their Facebook presence then on their actual website.

There is a lot of functionality and customization that can be done on Facebook pages, can share discussion boards, photos, videos, can setup polls, setup events and ask to register,and link to other sites.

Plus, you can follow other churches, ministers, and ministries to see how they are interacting with their fans and followers.

Internet usage - Part 2

Continuing from my thought last week, what can/should the church do to reach people on the internet? Should the church use the internet?

Looking at the statistics, considering this is across all age groups and the next generations probably have even higher percentages, the answer to the second question is most definitely YES.

On the first question, I think we need to get personal testimonies and answers to questions that people have recorded and post them on video sharing sites. Be real on social network sites and share our faith through our lives there just like we should do in person.

Another idea is a discussion board for online Bible study.

Internet usage

Looking over some of the information The Pew Research has on internet usage and it is really amazing to see the percentage of people using different parts of the internet.

A small sample -
88% use a search engine to find information
86% look for a map of directions
83% look for medical or health information
81% look for information about a product or service they are thinking of buying
62% watch a streaming video
51% take a virtual tour of a location
47% use a social media site (Facebook, myspace, Twitter, LinkIn)
28% look for Religious information

So looking at these statistics, what does the church need to do in order to have an impact online? Seems as though putting the spiritual content out there is not the place to have the biggest impact or reach the largest group.