How Social Media is changing the

communication of the church

TWEETING JESUS:

Dr. Maria A. Dixon, Associate Professor-Organizational Communication

Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas#mobilefaith

A Nerd who loves Church

Why and how do congregations use the internet and social media?

Where do 18-24 year olds go

when they have questions

about church and faith?How has social media changed the way that Churches and Pastors communicate with the Pew?

How can social media

change the brand

perception of the Church?

Today…..

• How and why Congregations and 18-24 year olds are using social media (and how they don’t want the Church to use it)

• How social media can impact the public brand of the Church

• How social media can help the Church collaborate with the world to do good

The View from the Pew

Congregational Uses of Social Media

When Congregations click….

• Our study found that congregations use social media/internet to meet 4 primary needs:– Entertainment– Companionship– Escape– Information Seeking

Armfield, Dixon, Dougherty, (2006) Journal of Communication and Religion

When Congregations click….• Pew Research Center reports:

– 66% of Americans use social media• To stay in touch with friends

• To stay in touch with family

• To re-connect to old friends

• To connect and collaborate with those who share the same hobbies and interests

• To find a relationship

• To gather news and celebrity gossip

Pew Internet Study on Why Americans Use Social Media 11/15/2011

When Congregations click….

• Pew Research Center reports:– 58% of religious Americans use

social media• 11% use twitter

– Only 22% has said that it has had any effect on making them more involved in their religious organization

– 72% say that social media has had no effect on their religious involvement

Pewinterest.org/reports/2011/social-side-of –religion 11/23/2011

On the outside not looking in…..

• 18-24 year old religious information seekers on questions of faith were most likely to go to :

– 70% Parents or Mentor

– 85% Friend or Peer

– 55% Internet

– 47% Clergy

Dixon, Armfield, and MC2012 (2012)

On the outside not looking in…..

• When they do go to the internet for information :

– 38% are most likely to go to a denomination website

– 9% are most likely to go to a Wiki or Wikipedia

– 2% are most likely to go to Facebook

Seriously, we don’t want to “friend” our pastor….

• 18-24 year olds express great unease about the church and social media :

“There is a line between our social and religious lives”

“I need my pastor to be the adult not my friend on Facebook’

“Let me decide how I want to connect with you”

Dixon & MC2011 (2011)

JESUS.COM VS. JESUS, INC.

Social Media and the Brand of the Church:

Social Media has changed the way the Church plays telephone….

For the Good ….

• Aftermath of Haitian Earth Quake

• Announcement of major mission initiatives

• To create buzz for new service offerings

For the Bad…

• Loss of ‘containment’ on controversies and scandals

• Shortened window to address ‘vacuums of information’

• Struggle for relevance in a very crowded field of information sources

Social Media can ‘Rethink’ a Church’s Brand

• Rethink Church campaign video - YouTube

Creating Connections and Collaborations even with the world…• Through their Rethink Church Campaign, The United Methodist

Church has….

– created an online presence that transcends the denomination

– utilized Social Media for what congregations and the seeker demographic use it for– information, advocacy, and involvement

– created the Impact events that have brought the world and the Church together in service– serving over 5 million lives with more than 42% of volunteers NOT members of the United Methodist Church in 2011

Final Words from the Church Nerd…• The Church cannot afford to confuse changes in Channel with changes in

Content

• Evangelism and Pastoral Care are still FACE TO FACE functions and no website or Facebook page can substitute for the actual Body of Christ

• Your congregation will use the internet to gather information about the things you want them to and the things you would rather they not

• The advent of social media means that every church and every denomination needs to have great concern for their brand and have a strategic communication plan that includes the use of social media to handle Crisis, Calamity, and Controversy

Where you can get this data….• The Relationship between Religiosity and Internet Use

by Greg Armfield and Lance Holbert (Journal of Media and Religion)

• Organizational Power and Religious Individuals Media Use by Greg Armfield, Maria Dixon, and Debbie Dougherty (Journal of Communication and Religion)

• The 2011 Use of Social Media and the 2011 Social Side of Religion by the Pew Research Center (www.pewresearch.org)

• “United Methodist’s attracting young people to religion” http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/united-methodists-attracting-young-adults-to-

religion-with-a-back-to-basics-approach-139510103.html

• To know more about the 2012 Religious Information-seeking survey of 18-25 year olds please contact: madixon@smu.edu or @mariadixon

#mobilefaith