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New word enters language and goes viral in a month: phubbing
It's rare to see a new word born and taken into worldwide common usage within a month. But that's what has happened with 'phubbing' – a contraction of 'phone snubbing.
http://internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/11466
Understanding social networking from a Christian perspective
Dr Bex Lewis has produced a valuable overview of social networking (she has called it elseshere a ‘cheat sheet’) on her blog Digital Fingerprint. Check out the rest of the blog for many insights into the nature of social networking.
http://internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1276
How Christians can use social networking sites in relationship building and evangelism
The Web as a medium is so broad that for any person it can be ‘what you want it to be’. For some, it is merely best way of keeping in touch with friends and family by email. For others, it can be any or all of: finding new friends, seeking information and doing research, hearing news, playing online games, networking with others about a hobby or interest, sharing opinions, asking questions, making choices about purchasing, publishing their writing, photographs or videos, and much more. And so the opportunities for online evangelism are equally wide. And note, many of them need no technical skill. And it is, in many ways, an ideal mission field. If Facebook was a country, it would be the third largest (by population) in the world.
http://internetevangelismday.com/social-networking.php
The value of national or regional networks of people involved in web and digital ministry
We are always stronger and more effective as part of a network or team. This is particularly true in web evangelism and digital outreach, which can for some be a solitary and isolated ministry.
In North America, the Internet Evangelism Coalition started soon after the Web became a mainstream medium, and through a variety of projects including an annual conference and the development of Internet Evangelism Day, has advocated the Web as an effective means of outreach.
However, in many other countries and regions of the world, there are no active networks of web evangelists. In some languages there is little or no online evangelism at all. There are different models for such networks; we are not proposing any single way of doing it.
http://internetevangelismday.com/building-networks.php
Guide Network: networking and help on mobile device outreach and web evangelism
The Global Use of Internet and Digital Evangelism (Guide) Network is an informal networking resource, linked with Internet Evangelism Day & Web Evangelism Guide, Internet Evangelism Coalition, Global Christian Internet Alliance, Lausanne, and visionSynergy. [www.visionsynergy.net Its purpose:
“Enhancing global spread of the Gospel in multiple languages via the Internet and mobile digital devices, by networking with practitioners to:
* share resources and information
* encourage Kingdom collaboration
* help the body of Christ to embrace and engage in internet/mobile evangelism”
http://internetevangelismday.com/guide-network.php
Book review: Well Connected - Releasing Power, Restoring Hope Through Kingdom Partnerships, by Phill Butler
Restored relationships are at the heart of the gospel. There is even relationship within the Godhead. And only through relationships can groups of Christians share the gospel (1 Cor. 12:12-31). Sadly, we are not always good at partnering across organizational or denominational boundaries. Yet there are many strategic outreaches which are only possible at this co-operative level. This is particularly true of web ministry, where there is great potential for integrating web outreach, radio, literature, with follow-up and local churches. There are a growing number of networks for web ministry in different countries and regions.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/well-connected.php
Book review: The Church of Facebook, by Jesse Rice
Our new ‘digital communication culture’ is changing everything. And the social media, especially Facebook, have become a major driver of this change, creating new approaches to community and relationship. With great clarity, Rice explores the human need to belong, social networking and how it impacts our culture and the church. He covers a wide range of issues that any of us who use, or wish to, Facebook for evangelism, ministry or networking with friends and church members. Despite the title, this book does not address the vexed question of whether or how there should be ‘online churches’.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/the-church-of-facebook.php
Social Marketing Playbook - free download about using Facebook and Twitter to communicate
There are probably two errors we can fall into – believing that there is 100% commonality between secular marketing strategies and sharing the good news, and assuming that there is nothing we can learn or adapt from secular wisdom.
Of course, every strategy we use to reach our community or the wider world, is, of necessity, ‘marketing’ – in the sense that it is communicating a message. Claiming that it is not marketing is rather like calling an animal ‘No Name’. Of course, some church ‘marketing’ is scary. Check Chris Seay's 24-minute video The Irony of Church Marketing. Look out for the extraordinary water trick seven minutes in.
360i Media offer the free Social Marketing Playbook on using social media – especially Facebook and Twitter – to communicate your message.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/social-marketing-playbook.php
Book review: Facebook for Pastors, and 25 Free Ministry Marketing Tools, by Chris Forbes
Facebook for Pastors explains how Facebook works, and how pastors, Christian leaders, and web evangelists can use it, both to maintain relationships with church members and also to share with non-yet-Christians.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/facebook-for-pastors.php
Networking the Kingdom
Youth pastor Len Evans draws from his years of networking with other youth pastors to help us find why some networks succeed and others fail.
http://youth-ministry.info/articles.php5?type=2&cat=80&art_id=43