Media Survey Results: Part 4
Recently, Rick Warren commissioned pastors to dominate social media. (Read my post about it here)
Interestingly, when we recently conducted our survey on Christian leaders and 
resources they are using to impact their ministry, we didn’t see a lot of ground being made in the world of social media.
Unlike books, authors, and podcasts, where there are clear “favourites” emerging, social media in general doesn’t seem to provide any clear-cut “winners”.
This may be because the field is growing so quickly that leaders haven’t had the chance to sort out who is worth “following” or “friending”. Then again, perhaps it’s simply that social media in general has yet provide the ministry impact leaders are looking for.
At any rate, here is a summary of what we found.
Which 3 BLOGS, Christian or secular, are currently having the most impact or relevance to your ministry?
Top 10 responses:
- If applicable, what 3 TWITTER accounts do you find most relevant to your ministry?
- @RickWarren
- @CSLewisDaily
- @PastorMark (Mark Driscoll)
Note that no other Twitter account received more than one mention!
- If applicable, what 3 FACEBOOK pages, groups, or individuals do you find most relevant to your ministry?
No answer received more than one mention. It is notable, however, that a respondent’s home church page was cited many times.
- If applicable, what 3 YOUTUBE channels do you find most relevant to your ministry?
Only Northpoint’s YouTube channel received more than one mention
- If applicable, what 3 LINKEDIN brands, groups or individuals do you find most relevant to your ministry?
No answer received more than one mention.
- On a scale from 1 – 5 (where 5 is most important), how important are the following social media vehicles for your ministry?
Facebook 3.48
YouTube 3.21
Twitter 2.12
LinkedIn 1.88
What can we conclude from these findings? At this point, only that social media is an emerging tool, not a primary tool, for the leaders that took part in our survey.
This was not a scientific survey; it serves only to give you a quick snapshot as to what social media have been making an impact on Christian leaders in Canada in 2011.
The final question we asked gave opportunity for respondents to submit suggestions on what they would like to see us include in future surveys. We received great feedback, including sermon series ideas, governance models, and spiritual health.
If you find this type of information to be of value, please reply to this post and let me know what you’d like to see, or DM me on Twitter at @WScottCochrane.
What else would you like us to survey?
And now no comments 🙂
Pastors who think that social media is a passing fad with no real value are going to be in for a huge shock when they realize that not only is it here to stay but it is becoming THE preferred communication method for students & kids.
Do you have to follow a million people on twitter? No. Does your church need to be posting everything on facebook? No. Must your pastor blog several times a week? No.
BUT.. If you do NONE of these things, people will begin to wonder why.
This doesn’t have to be the domain of the senior pastor or the church administrator but every church should have someone (or several someones) monitoring social media, looking for mentions of your church and finding ways to engage with your community. Go where the people are!
Chris; your last comment says it all; Go where the people are. When I talk to any church leader who is waffling about social media, that’s the bottom line message I try to convey. Church leaders need a presence on social media not because it’s cool, young or “in”. They need to be there because that’s where the people are.