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New word enters language and goes viral in a month: phubbing
It's rare to see a new word born and taken into worldwide common usage within a month. But that's what has happened with 'phubbing' – a contraction of 'phone snubbing.
http://internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/11466
Understanding social networking from a Christian perspective
Dr Bex Lewis has produced a valuable overview of social networking (she has called it elseshere a ‘cheat sheet’) on her blog Digital Fingerprint. Check out the rest of the blog for many insights into the nature of social networking.
http://internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1276
Social and religious trends in UK reflect those in the rest of the West
Research in UK by Christian thinktank Theos shows big big changes in religious belief: one in five believes in astrology or horoscopes, one in ten in Tarot or fortune telling and nearly three in ten people believe in reincarnation. These are much higher figures than similar research carried out in 1950 by Gallup. Although not included in the survey, ‘karma’ is also a very common belief here in UK.
What this surely demonstrates is that a large percentage of the UK population (and doubtless similar populations elsewhere in the West) are effectively believing most of the tenets of Buddhism though they would be mostly unaware that they are doing so.
http://internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/392
How Christians can use social networking sites in relationship building and evangelism
The Web as a medium is so broad that for any person it can be ‘what you want it to be’. For some, it is merely best way of keeping in touch with friends and family by email. For others, it can be any or all of: finding new friends, seeking information and doing research, hearing news, playing online games, networking with others about a hobby or interest, sharing opinions, asking questions, making choices about purchasing, publishing their writing, photographs or videos, and much more. And so the opportunities for online evangelism are equally wide. And note, many of them need no technical skill. And it is, in many ways, an ideal mission field. If Facebook was a country, it would be the third largest (by population) in the world.
http://internetevangelismday.com/social-networking.php
Using social bookmarking systems to draw people to Christian websites
Social bookmarking is a way of storing links that you like, and sharing these ‘collaborative opinions’ with other people. The best known system is probably del.icio.us but there are many others.
http://internetevangelismday.com/socialbookmarking.php
Books including free downloads on using social media for non-profits, churches and evangelism
The books in this section explain the nature and use of social media especially Facebook, and are mainly free downloads.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/social-media-books.php
Book review: The New Community Rules - Marketing on the Social Web, by Tamar Weiberg
It’s a little over 300 pages, but reads easily and is a great reference tool for navigating social media sites such as Facebook and Flickr, understanding blogs and why YouTube is so popular. If you are in ministry and are not using social media, or just getting your feet wet, this book will really flesh out the why’s behind everything and how to leverage social media towards your organization’s goals.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/the-new-community-rules-marketing-on-the-s...
Book review: The Church of Facebook, by Jesse Rice
Our new ‘digital communication culture’ is changing everything. And the social media, especially Facebook, have become a major driver of this change, creating new approaches to community and relationship. With great clarity, Rice explores the human need to belong, social networking and how it impacts our culture and the church. He covers a wide range of issues that any of us who use, or wish to, Facebook for evangelism, ministry or networking with friends and church members. Despite the title, this book does not address the vexed question of whether or how there should be ‘online churches’.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/the-church-of-facebook.php
Social Marketing Playbook - free download about using Facebook and Twitter to communicate
There are probably two errors we can fall into – believing that there is 100% commonality between secular marketing strategies and sharing the good news, and assuming that there is nothing we can learn or adapt from secular wisdom.
Of course, every strategy we use to reach our community or the wider world, is, of necessity, ‘marketing’ – in the sense that it is communicating a message. Claiming that it is not marketing is rather like calling an animal ‘No Name’. Of course, some church ‘marketing’ is scary. Check Chris Seay's 24-minute video The Irony of Church Marketing. Look out for the extraordinary water trick seven minutes in.
360i Media offer the free Social Marketing Playbook on using social media – especially Facebook and Twitter – to communicate your message.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/social-marketing-playbook.php