Twitter Introduces New “Fast Follow” Feature

Yesterday Twitter announce a new service that allows anyone in the US to subscribe to any user’s tweets via SMS. Accoding to Twitter’s blog:

Fast Follow. Anyone in the US can receive Tweets on their phone even if they haven’t signed up for Twitter. This is a simple way for people to get information they care about in real-time. For example, let’s say you want to get Tweets from New York City’s office of emergency management (@NotifyNYC). Just text ‘follow NotifyNYC’ to 40404 in the US.

Fast Follow functionality allows people to subscribe to an organization’s tweets via text messaging regardless if they have a Twitter account or not… effectively extending the reach of Twitter as a communication tool. Now churches and ministries can use Twitter to reach anyone with a mobile phone.

Fast Follow has the potential to be a great tool for churches and ministries to communicate important, time-sensitive messages to their members.

There are numerous potential applications. I see it being very effective for churches to use in emergencies. It also could be used for things like announcements, prayer requests, and event details. It could also be incorporated into fund-raising campaigns. The possibilities are endless.

How to incorporate Fast Follow into your church’s social media strategy

Since this feature is best used as part of a rapid notification system, I recommend that churches set up a separate Twitter account (I went ahead and signed up for @Notify4th for my church). Setting up a separate account will keep people from being barraged with your normal Twitter stream.

I think it’s a good idea to protect the account (requires you to approve people before they can follow you) but I’m not sure at this point whether or not Fast Follow works on protected accounts… so I’d leave it unprotected for now.

Once you’ve set up your notification account, it’s simply a matter of informing your audience how to sign up for notifications via SMS. Twitter has made it very simple. All anyone has to do is text ‘follow Notify4th’ (substitute your account name where it says Notify4th) to 40404.

That’s it. You now have a notification network set up for your church. It’s easy and it’s free (except for the cost of your members’ text messaging plans).

What other ways do you see to incorporate Fast Follow into a church social media strategy?