Social media problems are a unique source of frustration for churches. Most churches do not have the budget to hire a staff member to oversee their social media platforms.
But since most churches have social media accounts and understand that social media is necessary, they do the best they can with what they know and who is able to help. Unfortunately, this creates a ton of frustration and leads to a lot of mistakes.
Over the years, I have made my fair share of mistakes on social media. But I’m OK with this. It’s all a part of the learning process.
Major Social Media Problems
Now, out of all the mistakes our churches can make with social media, there are three mistakes that stand head and shoulders above the rest and need to be avoided at all costs. These three mistakes are what I like to call the three deadly social media sins.
If your church is not gaining traction online, then your church may likely be committing one of these deadly social media sins.
Let’s shine some light on these three deadly social media problems to help you avoid falling into their snares.
Deadly Sin #1: Inconsistency
Social media is a lot like nutrition.
For example, fad diets and 30-day exercise programs may help you make short-term gains. But they will not help you to be a healthy person in the long run. To be a healthy person, you need to consistently—not always—eat well and regularly exercise. In the same way, social media requires you to show up every single day.
This is important for me to emphasize: I’m not saying you need to be perfect. That’s not the case at all. But what I am saying is that you need to be consistent.
Consistent communication is key to building relationships. This is true in person and it’s true online.
I understand that it’s difficult to consistently post updates on social media. There are great tools you can use to help you post updates throughout the week without having to be in front of your computer or on your phone.
If you’re having trouble maintaining your social media accounts, then consider a tool like Buffer of Hootsuite. Both of them have great free services and they are easy to use.
Fight the temptation to be inconsistent. Being present every single day, even in small ways, will, over time, help your church to have greater influence online for the gospel than one widely popular viral campaign.
