How Twitter Can Help You Do Youth Work
The following post is contributed by guest blogger, Tim Schmoyer.
If you’ve been around the YS Blog for more than a a couple minutes you’ll notice there are a lot of links and references to Twitter. Being the most simplistic social networking service around, you’re either completely addicted or are still a bit confused about what it actually is. (Think Facebook status updates, except extended to your cell phone, and updates from friends that often have nothing to do with their status.) Either way, it’s an excellent tool for connecting with other youth workers around the world, including Youth Specialties.
Since users are forced to keep their “tweets” (udpates) limited to 140 characters or less, everything is very concise and to-the-point, just the way I like it. Given this brevity and all the different systems available for reading and sending tweets, it becomes a very powerful way to communicate with other people in real-time, regardless of whether everyone is actually in front of a computer or not.
Here are a couple ideas for how Twitter can help you in your ministry to teenagers:
1. “Follow” every youth worker you can find
In Twitter world, “following” someone is like adding someone as a friend in Facebook. The more youth workers you’re following, the more insights into youth ministry you’ll see. Start by adding YS_Scoop and then check out the YS list of other youth workers who Twitter. “Follow” every person listed in that post and also in the comments below. (If you’re a youth worker who Twitters, but haven’t posted your Twitter link in a comment there yet, do it today.)
2. Share ideas
Give the people who follow you a reason for reading your tweets. If you think of a good youth ministry idea, post it and potentially bless someone else with it. If you find a good resource online, post a link to it and briefly say why it’s valuable. The community of youth workers on Twitter are full of great ideas and resources, so make your contribution by sharing your own once in a while.
3. Prayer requests
The community of youth workers on Twitter also love to pray for requests as they’re shared. Twitter reminds you that you’re not alone in youth ministry. You’re part of a team of others who understand your calling, your passion, and your struggles. Obviously, show tact with whatever you put online, but even a simple, “Hey everyone, can you please pray for me today? Thanks!” will open a flood of prayers for you almost instantly. And when others ask for prayer, take a minute to do it.
4. Share stories
Is something exciting happening in your life right now? Did a teenager just pray to receive Christ in your small group? Did a jr. higher just take laxatives to “see how long I can hold it?” We need to know that! It energizes the rest of us in ministry and spurs us all on toward “love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24), just as it will energize you when you read other youth workers’ stories on Twitter.
5. Ask questions
Perhaps the most powerful use of Twitter is the ability to quickly ask a question and receive a variety of responses within minutes. For example, last week I asked, “How do you turn away an adult who wants to help lead a youth small group but doesn’t have the social skills or theology for it?” Within 15 minutes I had 11 answers from fellow youth workers! And more help continued to come in throughout the hour and even the next day! Click the screenshot to the right to see an example.
6. Update parents during youth trips
Personally, I love using Twitter while on youth trips. It’s an easy way to keep parents updated with pictures, short video clips, and text updates from the simplicity of sending Twitter a text/pix message from my cell phone. The parents in my youth ministry love the play-by-play while we’re gone and spam the “Refresh” button on their browsers every couple minutes to see what’s happening. For more on how valuable this can be and how to set it up, check out this post at Life In Student Ministry.
If any of this sounds intriguing to you, creating a Twitter account takes only a couple seconds. Seriously. Head to Twitter.com to get started. If you still want to understand Twitter a bit more before getting started, check out this Twitter in Plain English video on YouTube.
For those of you who currently use Twitter, how else have you used it in youth ministry? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below!
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Tim Schmoyer is a youth worker in Minnesota. His passion lies in one-on-one discipleship and in training others to be effective in their spiritually intentional relationships with teenagers. He has been in youth ministry for over a decade and is also the author of the youth ministry blog, Life In Student Ministry. Check him out on Twitter.
November 12th, 2008 - Posted By: admin in Guest Blogger, technology | |
on November 12th, 2008 at 8:58 am
I’m always looking for a new tool but I still have questions. Maybe someone can help me. If I’m using Twitter:
Does this mean every time someone I’m following tweets (see I’m picking up the lingo!) I get a text on my phone? I don’t need that kind of distraction.
Are any of you using Twitter to “mass communicate” with your youth? How is that working?
Those are my two big questions to start. Many thanks
on November 12th, 2008 at 9:09 am
1. Every time someone you follow tweets, it shows up on your “twitter page.” You only get a message to your cell phone for people you choose to receive text message updates from. I follow a handful of people, but only have text updates for about 5-6 that I really want to hear from a lot. I get updates every time those 5-6 update. You can choose none if you want.
2. I have not done this yet, though am trying for youth and parents. I’ll keep you posted.
I also recommend using the “Flock” web browser. http://www.flock.com It integrates twitter into the browser for severe addicts (also facebook, email, blogs, etc.).
-Adam
twitter.com/awormann
on November 12th, 2008 at 10:26 am
@pastorbuhro
Ever since I really learned about twitter a few months back it has really intrigued me. I use it currently to keep in touch with some old friends from the good old days of the YS Listserv, and to keep in touch with area colleagues a few of my more tech savvy teens.
And I’m always looking for newer, quicker ways to get word out to parents. So we created a twitter account for our youth group to update parents. However, despite the fact that parents always say they like the idea of using text to send out updates, our youth group’s “Parent Connect” twitter only has one parent following it - me.
I’d love to hear from anyone who’s had any success using twitter to communicate with parents. How did you get them to sign up. I’ve tried email, web, even walking them through it in a parents meeting. Everyone says they like the idea, but no one signs up.
on November 12th, 2008 at 11:14 am
@bobweasel
I’ve been using twitter for a while and loved it until they turned off text support for tweets (too costly for them to run here in England). I can only receive updates through the web or other applications!
There’s not too many UK based youth workers on twitter yet (as far as I’m aware) but loads of social media types with an interest in youth participation.
I mainly use Twitter for connecting with other youth workers (@mclanea and @rockinyp have been brilliant). There’s not enough mainstream take-up here to use it as a tool with YP or parents yet.
on November 12th, 2008 at 11:20 am
There are a bunch of 3rd party desktop clients and even clients for smart phones like the iphone that help you manage your incoming tweets. A quick google search will help you find a good one. They all have their pros and cons but something to look into.
http://www.twitter.com/andrewseely
on November 12th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
One thing worth noting, which I find really interesting. I’ve not seen many middle/high school students buy into twitter. If you’re looking to text your students messages, Twitter may not be the best option.
on November 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Thanks Andrew. i’m using Twitterrific for my iPhone and Mac, but still find I miss out on tweets if I don’t open the app frequently. Still, Twitter is a great tool.
on November 12th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
@Jay: Twitter is largely a young professionals demographic, not a teen one, so I wouldn’t recommend using it as a youth ministry tool (unless, of course, all your guys are on it).
@Bradley: That’s the problem with using Twitter for sending messages to a targeted group — it’s way too complicated to setup, especially for people who aren’t familiar with what Twitter is or how it really works. It’s not really Twitter’s fault because that’s not what their service is intended for. Instead, I recommend you use a service like TxtSignal.com for sending mass text messages. It’s one of the key tools of communication in my ministry.
And if anyone is looking for a good Twitter client, I LOVE Tweetdeck, mostly because I can create groups of people. The people I don’t want to miss are in one group, everyone else kinda streams buy in another list. Plus, it integrates with 12seconds.tv.
on November 13th, 2008 at 10:06 am
as a youth pastor, i use twitter to publicly confess my sins to other youth pastors. twitter is like being in a accountability group–only it is online. ; )
in all seriousness, twitter is awesome for connecting with other youth pastors and i highly recommend it. it only took me a month to learn about how the @ thing worked.
on November 13th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I have been using a separate Twitter account to notify players in a basketball program of the status (open or closed). I post one tweet a week usually on that account.
I agree with comments above that teens are not really into Twitter for some reason.
on November 13th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
@Tim: I don’t believe that Twitter is only the professional demographics. When you begin to look at trendsetters and youth specialists, Josh Spears, Brian Shaler, etc who are personal self-branders and many others are speaking as one voice that this up and coming generation’s foundational platform is moving to be completely mobile so that when they want info it needs to come to them, that is why social aggregates are growing so rapidly.
I also disagree that it is a tough process to start up. It takes patience and endurance.
We have been using Twitter in our youth as a MAJOR feed for information for a little over a year. We use it during our services and during the week, I will explain both.
We knew the fight to stop phones in service would be a constant battle so fight fire with fire. I have an intern that has a copy of my sermon notes with certain areas highlighted and he sends out a twitter as I am saying that, about 5-10 during a service, there is a lot of reasons for this that is VERY positive, email me for more reasons.
I start of every message with a 30 second intro saying if you are new here pull out your phone and send a txt to 40404 and type follow eikonlive then if it is your first time then put in your name and you are all set up. Then throughout the week we will send you updates. We have nearly 200 people that are people that have been through our doors and several parents. The key is building a culture within your group/kids/parents.
Then we also send out updates/event details/ etc during the week, respecting the amount of txts.
As we explain it regularly it doesn’t take time and it has created an AMAZING culture in that our kids are having conversations through twitter and responding to the tweets during our service asking questions or delving into the topic deeper.
Email me at pastormayfield@gmail.com for questions, it can be one of the most powerful tools, we would pay for it, it is that valuable.
Shaun
twitter.com/shaunmayfield
twitter.com/eikonlive
on November 13th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
@Shaun: So, are you saying kids can follow someone AND join Twitter at the same time just by sending a text message to 40404 “follow eikonlive myrandomname”? I didn’t know you could join Twitter straight from your cell phone like that. That’s pretty slick. You’re right — that would make the whole process a lot simpler.
on November 14th, 2008 at 12:45 am
@Tim: Yes, they would send “follow eikonlive (or whomever)” then Twitter replies asking, “Who are you?” Then they would reply with “their name”, now they just created an account and are following you ALL at the same time. Then the first time they go to log on the site there is an option for you already logged on your phone then they put in their cell number then a password and then can begin editing their Twitter page.
So for students or in a parents meeting, it is as simple as everyone pull out your phone and do as I do… step 1… step 2… step 3… etc. Then they are done.
I would say many of our kids have never even been to the site but use it all the time.
on November 14th, 2008 at 9:34 am
@Shaun: I had no idea you could do that. I thought you had to sign up at the website and configure your cell phone and then manually select who you want to follow there. Your process makes it so much easier. Thanks for sharing!
on November 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
@rosedanielm
i am new to this world of “youth workers”. i have been on staff with a VERY large college ministry for the last decade and moving into the church now. twitter has become a necessity for me to have consistent touchpoints with students both college and HS
on November 18th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
[...] Youth Specialties » How Twitter Can Help You Do Youth Work - Ideas on using Twitter as a communication tool. [...]
on November 26th, 2008 at 10:12 am
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on November 28th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Love to hear the applications in youth ministry. There is quite a community on Twitter… would love to get even more of a fellowship
Ideas that involve implementation are of a premium, so keep em coming!
on November 28th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Love to hear the applications in youth ministry. There is quite a community on Twitter… would love to get even more of a fellowship
Ideas that involve implementation are of a premium, so keep em coming!
I meant to add: twitter.com/trelawrence.
on December 10th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
[...] Volunteer/Student Involvement: It was great to have Michael back working as our technical producer again. It’s amazing how much easier it is when we have someone with his skills behind the scenes to help make sure everything goes smoothly. As I noted earlier, this week we added a Twitter element. In the senior high group, I walked teens through how to begin following our youth group’s new twitter feed on their cell phones. We then used Twitter to send texts of the important teaching points and scripture references to students’ cell phones so they have a record of what we talked about. I took the idea from Shawn Mayfield who mentioned the way their youth group was using Twitter in the comments on Tim Schmoyer’s Youth Specialties blog post How Twitter Can Help You Do Youth Work. [...]