State of the Church Online – Research Findings

Cynthia Ware and Drew Goodmanson hosted a Webinar today reviewing findings from an exploratory survey we did on Church and Christian Social Networks. The slides from the presentation can be found here. Some key findings:

1. Facebook was the most used Church Web Media strategy.
2. Of the Christian Social Networking sites reviewed 82% of respondents had no awareness that they existed.

Number 1 is interesting given that Twitter has surpassed Facebook as the top social networking tool for business marketers. Especially because Twitter posted 76 percent growth (in unique visitors) last month compared to Facebook’s 23 percent. (Source: Compete)

Check out Twitter’s growth velocity compared to Facebook’s:

Just as valuable as the findings discussed in the Webinar was Cynthia’s introduction where she highlighted many of the characteristics of social media that have a significant impact on how the church can serve in this world. One thing that stands out to me when I look at those key findings is the overwhelming awareness in the church market of Facebook yet very little brand awareness of comparable tools designed specifically for churches. You might chalk this disconnect up to ineffective marketing strategies but I believe it points to a more crucial issue which is: churches aren’t approaching social media strategically.

I speak to this in my previous post: Facebook’s popularity and your church’s social media strategy, and Cynthia addressed part of this in her introduction. Social media (as an industry) has a clockspeed that exceeds most church leader’s ability to keep up. Basically, things happen in social media (new tools are introduced, trends emerge, etc.) faster than most other industries. And the church, when faced with the onslaught of new information about social media, has a difficult time identifying the relevant insights on which a successful church strategy should be based.

So instead of churches taking a strategic approach to social networking by:

1. understanding theological and Biblical interpretations of technology as a culture and as a ministry tool,
2. applying that understanding to the church’s existing Kingdom strategy to determine key goals for a social media strategy,
3. identifying the relevant factors, needs, and motivations of the people the church is trying to serve (both within its congregation and without) that can be met through a social media strategy,
4. and developing a social media strategy that fits within the strengths and limitations of the church’s staff and volunteers.

Churches dive headlong into social media (primarily on Facebook and more and more on Twitter), investing their time and their churches reputation without a solid sense of how exactly their efforts are going to redeem lives and bring glory to God.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not discourage churches from engaging this aspect of culture. I agree with what Cynthia said in her introduction:

If lifestreaming becomes commonplace, let’s add our voices to the landscape.

I just want us to be good stewards. The Parable of the Minas (Luke 19:12-27) teaches that good servants are good stewards. The need for churches to better understand this topic was driven home by a side discussion during the presentation:

According to our survey respondents, the top 5 requested Features/Functionality sought in a Church/Christian social network solution are:

1. Ability to find, register, and/or get details for events.
2. Ability to post prayer requests or needs.
3. Ability to find serving opportunities at the church based on interest or gifts.
4. Ability to join and interact with home/bible study groups.
5. Integration with existing church website.

Look at number 2. During the Webinar two different church tech leaders commented that their members hardly used the Prayer Request function on their site. Yet, the majority of church leaders surveyed indicated that this was a key feature.

Is there a disconnect? I don’t know. There are a number of factors about the two church examples that could have contributed to their experiences. Or maybe church technology leaders believe their members want/need something that congregations aren’t really invested in. Or maybe congregations think the ability to post Prayer Requests is a good idea but in practice they’re not comfortable exposing their needs online where everyone in the church (and possible the world) can see.

The point is we don’t know enough about how Christians approach social networking to say conclusively whether or not posting Prayer Requests is a good thing. We can’t say definitively if the value of social networking is in building Christian community or in Christians engaging culture… or both.

This is why there is a Phase II to our research. I believe we need to understand what churches are doing with regard to social networks, what individuals are doing with regards to social networks, and most importantly what the authoritative view of Scripture says we should be doing with regards to social network. We will be working with the providers of these solutions to develop empirical research that addresses these issues. Ultimately we desire to support the efforts of the church by defining a value proposition for social networking other than “you can reach 200 million active users if you sign up for Facebook.”

Are you interested in participating ?

If you are a church leader and social networking is something that your church is dealing with (or even has dealt with), we would love to have you help in our efforts in the following ways:

1. Take the survey. We would love to get your perspective on this space and how your church is approaching online community.

2. Distribute the survey within your church. We are looking for feedback from as many people as possible within churches and, if you are willing, we would ask that you pass it along to staff, members, and attendees. We will follow up with you after the launch of the survey to discuss the best way to do this and any concerns that you may have. To express our gratitude, we are offering a free copy of our findings report to churches that participate in this way.

3. Tell your friends about this project. That fact that you are aware of this work means that you are fairly tech-savvy. To make our research valuable to the church, we need to include feedback, perceptions, and experiences from churches that aren’t as comfortable with these trends. To that end, it would be especially valuable if you would be willing to reach out to other church leaders in your area or network to tell them about our work.

If you want to participate, please send me an email with your contact information to research@unconventionalmethod.com.

Thank you for your interest in this. I hope the findings from the exploratory survey are of value to you and hope you’ll continue with us on this journey.