Social Networking and Congregations
This article by Center for Congregations Information Technology Director Aaron Spiegel appeared in the Summer 2009 issue of Congregations magazine.
Social Networking and Congregations
by Aaron Spiegel
A recent YouTube video titled “Social Networking in Plain English” claims networks are only as valuable as the people and connections one can see. If I think about real “friends” and connections in my life this makes perfect sense. The piece goes on to assert that social networking sites help us see the real world connections that are hidden. So, by allowing me to see who my friend’s friends are, I can connect with a broader community than the one I can “see.” Simplistic? Yes, but this is really the essence of social networking.
Social networking sites are a phenomenon. Sites like Facebook, My Space, YouTube, LinkedIn, and others are redefining personal social experiences. They have even redefined the use of the term “friend.” The Annenberg Center for the Digital Future’s 2007 report was titled “Online World as Important to Internet Users as Real World?”and the 2008 study reported that membership in online communities has more than doubled in only three years.
These sites are also changing the way people communicate with their congregations. We see more congregations creating Facebook and LinkedIn groups, using YahooGroups as extensions of congregational communications, and even pastors Twittering (microblogging). To find out what congregations are really doing with social networking we conducted a survey. The results are interesting!
Of the congregations surveyed, only 32 percent reported that they had a Facebook or MySpace page for their congregation. When we asked why, some reported suspicion of the medium and a general lack of knowledge about its purpose. Several commented that clergy won’t support it. Some report that they are still trying to get a functional website up and running (an interesting reminder that we can’t assume all congregations are using even basic technology tools). One of my favorite responses was “My church does not see the need to have a website. They still treat the Internet like it is a novelty.” Interesting, since someone from that church saw this survey and thought it important enough to fill it out! Of the 32 percent who answered that they did use Facebook or MySpace, nearly 60 percent affirmed that it enhanced communications between the congregation and its members.
While 32 percent of congregations reported using these tools, almost 50 percent of those surveyed answered “yes” when asked if the pastor or rabbi has a personal Facebook, MySpace, blog, or other such account. So, while almost half of congregational leaders are using social networking, respondents don’t consider this to be part of the congregation’s communication strategy!
When we asked, “Do you think online social networking enhances or worsens congregation/member relationships?” 90 percent responded that it enhances them. While the use of these tools is far from widespread, the perception that they enhance member-congregation communications is resoundingly positive. One respondent said, “Intuitively, I believe it has the potential to enhance it, but we have no experience to back that. We are working toward exploring this.”
We included blogs in social networking strategies and the survey. Only 26 percent of respondents reported using blogs. We expected more. Those who reported using blogs gave some interesting and varied uses: clergy sermons with commentary, building construction updates, podcasting, a sabbatical travelogue, and personal thoughts from clergy and staff. While I don’t mean to pick on anyone, some responses were downright funny. One commented, “No, but I would like to start one. We are forming a committee to explore maximizing the uses of our church website, and a blog makes sense to me…” Great, another committee! And my favorite, “Most folks here are introverts and writing thoughts down seems redundant.”
There seems to be widespread perception that social networking tools target a certain age group. When we asked, “Does social networking target a specific age group (i.e., next-generation twenty- to thirty-somethings)?” 57 percent of the responses were either “definitely” or “we think so.” “Not sure” accounted for another 21 percent. “No” trailed at a mere 6 percent. Recent data shows a different picture: The average age of Twitter users is between thirty and forty-nine. According to comScore in 2007, the average age of social sites like Facebook and MySpace was twenty-five and trending upward. According to Inside Facebook, the number of users over thirty-five has nearly doubled in the last sixty days (dated March 25, 2009). The fastest growing demographic is women over fifty-five. “The biggest growth in terms of absolute new users over the last six months occurred among users thirty-five to forty-four.” The majority of U.S. Facebook users are now over twenty-five.
Clearly these are not tools for young people, at least not anymore.
I understand the reluctance of congregations to venture into the world of social networking. Caution is certainly warranted—but I don’t think we can wait too long. People are spending large amounts of their time in the virtual world. We need to be there to greet them!
Rabbi Aaron Spiegel is the information technology director of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations.
Congregations, 2009-07-01
Summer 2009, Number 3
Add comment July 8, 2009
Robo-Goys, Kosher Phones and Other Jewish Technological Innovations
by Patrick Aleph, July 2, 2009, http://www.jewcy.com/post/robogoys_kosher_phones_and_other_jewish_technological_innovations
People don’t like to think very far into the future. I understand that: I can barely think about next week, let alone a decade from now.
But if the Tribe is going to survive, we need to learn to adapt. Judaism came from a pre-modern era. Now, more than ever, we need to find creative ways to use technology to bring the Tribe into the 21st Century…kicking and screaming if we have to.
So here are five technological innovations, which I feel will greatly improve Jewish life and further the Jewish People.
Twitter Minyans: I brought this up in my last article on Judaism and Marketing. It makes no sense to me that technology and prayer have not been fused together. Most of the prayers are short enough that they will work in Twitter, and we can shorten the other ones to fit in the 150 character box.
Digital Shabbos Candles: There’s nothing that requires a Shabbos candle be a physical candle (haters beware, I did look in Code of Jewish Law for this), so we can assume that a candle screen saver would work just as well for Friday night. If you want something a little more low-tech, a simple flashlight would work just as well. But remember that if you do that, you have to let the battery run out, as switching the light off is “work.”
Robot Shabbos Goys: Need a Shabbos goy but don’t want to bother the nice Christian family next door? In the future, we’ll have robots to do that for us. Even today, modern conveniences like the Roomba by iRobot take away any pressure to work on Shabbat.
Kosher iPhone: The future is here and it’s called the iPhone. iBlessing and ParveOMeter are two amazing iPhone/iTouch apps to appease the yiddishkeit desire to introduce efficiency into the Jewish lifestyle. Future apps that I would like to see include the Modeh Ani alarm clock and a call-your-mother app that sends pre-recorded voicemails to your mom, letting her know you haven’t dropped out of med school (yet)!
Insta-Conversion: Utilizing the power of the Internet, we can completely re-think how new Jews are brought into the Tribe. The general requirements are a pre-interview, some kind of Judaism 101 class, Bet Din, bris, mikvah and a public ceremony. If we break this down, we find that most of this can be done quickly and efficiently, utilizing e-technology. Pre-conversion interviews between rabbi and convert can easily be done via IM or Skype. Classes can be modeled after distance learning with e-books to read and online exams. The Bet Din can be turned into a teleconference, or again, another Skype adventure. The bris (for men) and mikvah would need to be in person, but as far as I’m concerned a public ceremony could be a mass update on your Facebook/Myspace/Twitter. We could also use webcams to broadcast this event.
Stay tuned; I am sure I’ll come up with more.
Add comment July 2, 2009
Physics Envy
“Economists suffer from a deep psychological disorder that I call ‘physics envy’. We wish that 99 percent of economic behavior could be captured by three simple laws of nature. In fact, economists have 99 laws that capture 3 percent of behavior. Economics is a uniquely human endeavor …”
Andrew Lo, a professor of finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Add comment June 29, 2009
How To Create a Dysfunctional Website
original post at http://talance.com/blog/2009/06/22/how-to-create-a-dysfunctional-website/
In preparing for an upcoming presentation on how to create functional websites, and it’s got me thinking about all the dysfunctional sites I’ve seen recently. There’s no single feature that makes a website completely unusable, but there definitely are trends.
Below, divided into three categories, are the chief gaffes you should follow if you really feel like creating a website that doesn’t work.
Market Positioning
Build your website without thinking what you want. “Yes, we need a website!” is a lousy reason for a website, yet it’s the one too many people follow. First, make a list of all your organization’s goals, and then think about how technology might help you meet those goals. Then from that you can start to think about shaping your website around your needs.
Don’t think about who’s looking at the site. If your audience is made of 50-year-old women from the Midwest, why would you create a zippy website built to attract college students? If those people are interested in volunteering, why would you load the homepage with information on grants, staff bios and news releases? Think about what the people coming to your website want or need to see, and then give it to them.
Design
Use lots of clipart. Ooph. Steer clear of crummy clipart. Go for real pictures, even freebie stock photography, rather than goofy cartoon drawings. Check out the Creative Commons images on Flickr or Stock.xchng for good resources.
Include pictures of empty rooms. What’s welcoming about an echo-y chamber? Put some people in there!
Use flashy splash pages. They look like ads and have the same effect. People click off splash screens and never get to the meat inside. It’s like going around with two hats on. The top one doesn’t matter and makes people think you’re nuts.
Use a microscopic font. You know how on TV ads, they put all the stuff they don’t really want you to read, but are required by law to display, in teeny text at the bottom of the screen? It’s because no one can see it, and they ignore it even if they can. Small font does the same thing to your website, but the whole website.
Honestly, tell me how readable this is.
Usability
Shroud donation processes in mystery. Heavens, if people want to give you money, make it easy for them. Here, take this big bright Donate Now! button and put it on your homepage. (Right-click and choose Save As.) A gift from Talance to you.
Glom onto every widget you can find. A real danger with the proliferation of widgets and plug-ins and add-ons is that you have a website that looks like a carnival. All flash, no focus. Choose wisely with anything you add onto your site, and make sure it follows your directive of achieving your goals.
Add 50 items – or even 10 – to your menus. People’s eyes cross when they see more than seven items in a menu, so stick with that magic number.
Put the most important info at the very bottom of the page. People look at the top left of web pages to pick up the most important information. If there’s something you really want people to read, put it up there and now down below.
Add comment June 23, 2009
And the truth is…
When Paul Newman died, they said how great he was, but failed to mention he considered himself Jewish (although born half-Jewish).
When Helen Suzman (she helped Nelson Mandela), died recently, they said how great she was, but they failed to mention she was Jewish.
On the other side of the equation, when Ivan Boesky, Andrew Fastow, and Bernie Madoff committed fraud, almost every article mentioned they were Jewish.
However, when Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Martha Stewart, Randy Cunningham, Gov. Edwards, Conrad Black, Senator Keating, Gov Ryan, and Gov. Blagojevich messed up; no one reported what religion or denomination they were, because they were not Jewish.
This is a reminder of a famous Einstein story…….
In 1921, Albert Einstein presented a paper on his then-infant “Theory of Relativity” at the Sorbonne, the prestigious French university.
“If I am proved correct,” he said, “the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist.
“If my theory is proved wrong, the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German, and the Germans will call me a Jew.
anonymous
Add comment June 12, 2009
Synagogue Transformation: solution or problem
Synagogue 3000 guest blogger Rabbi Gerald Skolnik gives an interesting take on the field of synagogue transformation. It’s generated an interesting conversation… http://synagogue3000.org/synablog/?p=140
Add comment June 11, 2009
Spirituality
”Religion is for people who are afraid of going to hell, spirituality is for those who’ve been there” anonymous
Add comment May 2, 2009
Poll: Age Demographics of Twitter Users
For those who still think social networking is for kids, the data says otherwise. And, for those who insist that my Twitter habit is silly and an attempt to make myself feel younger, you’re wrong too!
The original post for this (with much prettier graphics) can be found at http://blog.thebusybrain.com/poll-age-demographics-of-twitter-users/564.
While tweeting a thought I had moments ago about why it seems that Twitter is mostly Adult / Older aged users I had the idea to publish a poll to get a general understanding as to the actual average Age of Twitter users!
Please be honest, and select your age bracket in the poll below! Of course I urge you to tell others so we can make this poll as acurate and useful as possible! Thank you for participating, and passing the word! RETWEET!
If you are a Twitter user, what is your age bracket?
30 – 39 years (32%, 512 Votes)
20 – 29 years (28%, 455 Votes)
40 – 49 years (21%, 343 Votes)
50 – 59 years (10%, 161 Votes)
16 – 19 years (5%, 73 Votes)
60 – 69 years (2%, 25 Votes)
10 – 15 years (1%, 16 Votes)
80+ years (0%, 7 Votes)
Add comment March 23, 2009
