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FaceBook for Pastors: Add Content to Your Profile to be Interesting
By chris | September 22, 2007
As you begin using FaceBook, the first order of business is getting your profile into shape in way that is optimized for networking. But once you have established a good profile and are starting to build your friends list, you need to stay on the radar of the people in your network.
The way to do that is to be interesting and add content regularly to your profile. The best way to be interesting is to be interested in other people. You can comment on other people’s wall, send messages, etc. But you can also stay visible by adding content to your site. Here are a few ways to add content to you profile:
Post Notes
Every FaceBook profile has a feature that allows you to post notes to your profile. This is a tool you can use to send messages to people who are in your network. When you post a note, the note appears in the news feed of the people who are connected to you. This is the place to put notices, messages, jokes, etc. As I said earlier, don’t write this kind of content on your “Wall.” The wall on your profile is for other people to put content on your profile. Your notes will also appear in the notes section of your friend’s profiles.
If you want to post a new note, just click “Notes” and select “Write a New Note.” Your notes feature has a lot of capacity for creativity, you can format the note, add links, photos, etc. If you regularly post notes, you will find people will become regular readers of your content. As a pastor, if many of the people in your friends list are members of your church, this is a good place to post your weekly column if you already write one.
Post videos and links
Just as you can post notes to your profile and they will automatically appear in the news feed of your friends, you can also post links and videos. While you can link these items in your notes, the best way is to use the “Posted Items” feature in FaceBook. If you want to post a video from YouTube, post it through the posted items. If you do, the videos will appear and play in your profile without your friends having to jump over to YouTube to see the video. People will also be able to comment on the video in your profile without having to have a profile on YouTube.
The same goes for website links. If you want people to check out a site, use the posted items feature. FaceBook will even scan the webpage and let you select one of the images on the site to appear with the post.
The Internet is a big place and there are so many interesting sites. As a Pastor, perhaps you have a favorite website for Bible study information, or a place where you track current events that your friends have never heard about. People in your congregation may not know about the videos you like. They would love to know what your favorite blog site is, or would welcome your take on a current news item. You could use videos and links also to tease what you will be preaching about next Sunday.
Import your blog
If you are a Blogger, FaceBook has a feature that allows you to automatically import your blog’s RSS feed. The feed not only pulls in the headlines and link to your post (depending how you set up your blog’s feed), it can import all the content of your blog post right into your FaceBook profile. This handy feature may be the ticket to increasing the number of people from your congregation who read your blog. Your adults members may read your blog in a feed reader, but some of your younger college members tend to spend most of their time on FaceBook, by importing your blog, you get your message on their radar too.
Search on FaceBook applications for the “Blog Friends” tool. This tool allows you to network with other bloggers who use FaceBook and even see who’s clicking on your blog through FaceBook. I also like it because it shows you not only what your friends are blogging about, but what their friends (who are not in your network yet) are writing about. Your blog post also extends far beyond your known network of friends. Who knows, you may pick up a new friend or RSS subscriber through “Blog Friends”.
Topics: 2.0 Social Media, Facebook for Pastors |
September 24th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Thanks for the kind mention of the Blog Friends application; we’re happy you like it and appreciate the post.
At i-together (the company behind Blog Friends) we’re excited to be putting the finishing touches on v1.0 of the application. The new version takes many of the features you enjoy far beyond the current version: it will be released within the fortnight.
BTW, today we reached our 10,000th user and by the end of the day will have reached our 250,000th indexed post!
Jof (COO, i-together.com)
September 28th, 2007 at 5:02 am
Great Post for us pastor types…Intestinally enough, I discovered you through the Blog Friends app on my Facebook. Blessings on your new full time endevors.
September 28th, 2007 at 5:04 am
Thanks Mark and Jof!
October 15th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Just found your site and the very helpful blogs about Facebook. Learning about the note function as a better way to get the word out as well as how to import my blog–a great help. Thanks!