The Internet in general, and Facebook in particular, offers the greatest communication opportunity since the printing press. Nothing in the last 400 years compares. Let’s think about how to use it wisely. More specifically, let’s think about what NOT to do. I’ll bet you can think of some Facebook no-no’s of your own. Include them in the comments below. I’d be curious about your thoughts.
3 Facebook No-No’s for Small Group Leaders
No-no #1: Thinking of Facebook as a broadcast medium
The question is not now many hits or view or likes your content got. The question is: how many of your people did you check in on?
I learned this lesson from a pastor in Dallas. He had seen a rapid turn-around in his church and he credited it to two things: 1) the Holy Spirit, and 2) Facebook. I asked him about the key to using Facebook effectively. He said something like this, “I check in on people constantly. I comment appropriately. I am not creepy; just interested. I make appropriate, thoughtful, encouraging comments. Sometimes, it is just a like or a thumbs up. When I see them on Sunday, I ask about their lives based on what I saw on Facebook. When visitors visit, I immediately connect with them on Facebook. Facebook makes me a better pastor.”
Take away: check on every group member every week.
No-no #2: Using Facebook to advance your political agenda
I don’t know about you, but I have some opinions about politics and I can get pretty fired up. I watch a lot of great news videos on YouTube that I believe the world needs to see. Yet what I have realized is that I can influence people around politics or influence them toward Jesus, but I likely can’t do both. I choose to influence toward Jesus. Our world is so divided that if people come to see me as someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum, they likely won’t listen to anything I have to say.
