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FaceBook for Pastors: Getting People to Come to Your Profile
By chris | September 18, 2007
If you want to get the most out of having a FaceBook profile for ministry, you will have to keep it up-to-date. It’s not hard to keep people coming back to your profile if you know what you are doing. The key is to remember that you are not just posting information, you are linking to networks of people by what you post in your profile. You need to keep people informed by including them in what you are doing. People will come back to visit your profile most often when they see your activity on FaceBook in their news feed, or because you have reached out to them in some way.
You don’t have to constantly pester people to stay in touch. Use your best judgment when contacting people. The point is to stay in touch so you can get to know a few people better. Also, by staying up-to-date with other people, you will be in the know with what is going on with them. Your friends are likely to like some of the same things as you, and some things you would not otherwise think about. Who knows, they may introduce you to new books, movies, ideas you would not have considered before, yet end up liking a lot.
So Why Should Pastors Want Traffic on their Profiles?
As a pastor, the people in your profile will be looking for the same things from you that you gain from others—friendship and insights. Your role as a spiritual leader is to show them the best the Word of God has to offer, show them the way to handle stress, temptation, etc, and lead by your daily example. FaceBook may also become a first stop for some people you know who need to talk to your personally about important spiritual decisions or for other counseling needs. The better you maintain your profile, the more approachable you will be.
Dale Carnegie is reported to have said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Which is just another way of saying that the way to make a friend is to be one.”
It’s worth the effort to make friends. Don’t just put up a profile and ignore it, you will miss out on some of your best ministry opportunities. Here are a few ways to stay active on FaceBook.
Post your status update frequently
Your profile has a space right under your name for you to place your most recent thoughts or current activities. Believe it or not, the sentences placed there are the most read part of FaceBook. I have noticed some people leave that space blank. But consider the space as the headline to your page. Put a witty thought there; put a serious one, whatever fits your personality. The space works like a passing comment in a fellowship time, it might spark a conversation.
For example if I put “Chris Forbes is having the best day of his life!” It might spark a conversation with someone wondering what’s going on with me. If I put “Chris Forbes is looking for a book on prayer” might get me a few book recommendations. You get the idea.
Upload photos and tag people
Another way to stay on people’s radar is to upload photos. Any kind of photos will do. People love to look at pictures. FaceBook has no limits on the number of pictures you can have, so start uploading. Don’t load them all at once, stretch out uploading over weeks and months, make them a regular content feature on your profile if you have a lot of digital images. If you upload pictures, click on the feature that allows you to “tag” people in the photo. Tag the people in your photos by clicking on them in the image and typing their name when prompted. If the people you tag are your FaceBook friends, they will recieve a notice they have been tagged in a photo. It’s a great way to get their attention!
Comment on other people’s wall
Another way to stay in touch is to comment on people’s wall. Perhaps you have heard good news about them, or seen something from their news feed that makes you want to comment. The wall is meant for comments that are for public consumption. If you have a personal message, it is best to send a private message.
One thing to note, the wall on your profile is a space for other people to make comments. Don’t put comments there yourself, it’s not how people use FaceBook. If someone posts a comment on your wall and you want to reply, click the “Wall to Wall” and FaceBook will put your reply on their wall. That’s just how it works!
It’s Okay to poke people!
You will see in everyone’s profile the interesting button “Poke Him.” A poke is meant to be like a tap on the shoulder to get someone’s attention. The idea is you poke them, and they reply. However, poking has risen to a special activity on FaceBook and people engage in “Poke Wars” and even upgrade to super poking programs. The connotation of poking is generally just good clean fun. But get a sense of who are your friends before you start the poking. Since the original meaning of poking is diluted by other activities, you may want to send a note when you want to exchange messages or contact someone. You will get the hang of it. It’s okay to poke.
Send gifts to people
There are increasing ways to send gifts to people. Gifts are not real items, but graphic images of things from real life, fantasy, etc. There is a paid gift program on FaceBook (that you pay in real money $1.00) to send a gift to someone, plus a plethora of free gift options. In most cases it’s the thought that counts. And gift giving is a great way to strike up a conversation. Gift giving in FaceBook is not as serious as it is in the real world, so don’t read too much into the gifts you receive or send. Just have fun!
Topics: 2.0 Social Media, Facebook for Pastors |