Why I Love Facebook AND Twitter...
A couple of people (who will remain nameless at this point!) recently asked me about Twitter , Facebook and the "status" updates that people use. For those who are technologically uninformed, I will not be offended if you discontinue reading this post. :)
Let me begin by listing the "technological phenomenons" as of late. 2005 - Youtube; 2006 - MySpace; 2007 - Facebook; 2008 - Twitter. Each of these social networking websites have changed the world. It has literally changed the way people communicate on a day-to-day (sometimes second-by-second!) basis. People you normally would have never met in your lifetime you now can develop a "relationship" with (however you want to define relationship of course). For pastors and other ministry-minded people, this is a great way to get "connected". For your business this is a great way to advertise. For a news crew, it's a great way to share news. For a blogger, you can promote your blog. Pretty much anybody who does anything internet related can (and should) take advantage of these things. (For example, churches are on Facebook and are starting groups on them to stay connected with their fellow members). It's almost as if people can stay plugged in at every second of every minute of every hour of every day. (YES you should not let this time consume you just like anything else other than Jesus!)Twitter is one of my favorites because it answers the question: what are you doing? When people go on to Facebook or MySpace or even twitter, they are asking this question. They want to know what people are up to, especially their friends or family. Whenever I get on Facebook on my iPhone application (another amazing technology in and of itself) the first thing I do is look at status updates of my friends. I want to know what they are doing and the status update is the sure enough way to find out. If I choose to respond (which arguably is the neatest feature to the 'new' Facebook look) I can do so and interact with them when I normally would not know otherwise. Some people update more than others and that's okay. You'll find that the people who update their Facebook status the most are those who have it connected to Twitter (as Twitter serves the same function as the status update on Facebook). With Twitter however you can literally reply to people (@so and so) and interact just like on Facebook. For people who live long distances away or people who simply want to connect with those who have the same things in common (especially pastors!), these features are perfect. In fact, just the other day a Pastor who I follow and have met a few times was asking his fellow tweeters about Peace and wanted some input. Within a day he had ample amounts of insight to help him think through peace. Very cool.You can also get your daily news on there and even shop by following on Twitter the company's who provide links to their products. I just love it. And to top it off, for those who have unlimited text messaging and do not have an iPhone or Blackberry (these phones have special applications for these tools) you can twitter with people in a social text messaging fashion! Whomever you choose to follow on Twitter and if you choose to send their updates via text message to your phone, you can stay connected by the exchange of a simple text message. It can be fun too when you debate things and can laugh together.To sum up my argument would be much repetition so I will simply say, GET on Twitter! Update often and contribute to the Facebook world. :) Don't update once a month, update often (use your conscience!) and have fun with it. And encourage others. You can never update too much...well...you can, but really though. That's its point. Tell people what you're doing because people want to know. Otherwise they probably shouldn't have Facebook. I'm done.Follow me if you like: twitter.com/jgarwood
