I just wanted to point out a new neat effort to talk church and social media. And it’s using the medium ideal for such chatter: Twitter. It’s called #chsocm.
#chsocm is the hashtag being used on Twitter to identify content and conversation about church social media. Anyone interested in promoting social media to build church and faith is invited to use #chsocm to tag material that will inform, educate, and inspire others.
#chsocm is a Twitter-based chat held each Tuesday at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time). Started in July 2011, this chat provides an opportunity for individuals from all denominations to discuss topics of mutual interest.
Participants include church administrators and communicators; church lay leadership; clergy; marketing professionals for non-profit organizations and religious publishers; religion educators; seminarians; religion writers; and more. [website]
First, it’s a great example of how Twitter can work so powerfully. It allows anyone (on Twitter) to jump into the conversation and/or to easily follow along with the conversation (you can even use something like TweetChat if you want). And because it’s happening among all of the other chatter on Twitter (as opposed to some isolated chat somewhere), it makes it very easy for other (likely interested) people to stumble upon the convo and join in, too.
Second, it’s ecumenical. While we still have the #cathMedia hashtag for such discussions in the Catholic community (which is totally awesome). It’s nice to have a way to join into a larger conversation with other non-Catholic Christians who are facing many of the same exact challenges and applications we face in the Catholic Church. Catholics need to be a big part (and leaders) in that broader conversation. In fact, the #chsocm was started by a Catholic. I know many Catholics who could charitably contribute a lot to it and be great representatives of our Church while doing so.
Third, I think the fact that it sets a *time* for the primary convo to occur is a nice feature. If the #cathMedia hashtag had a set time for some primary weekly conversation, I think it might muster up some more live participation. And then of course continue to function as an ongoing convo throughout the week. Just a thought.
Does anyone know of any other church/new/social media type hashtags or conversations going on out there? Please share!
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Thank you SO much for this post. I’ve been actively engaged with tweet-chatting for 3+ years and find it a glorious, albeit occasionally head-spinning, way to learn, teach, develop community, and grow in faith.
Even more grateful for your suggestion that Catholics “charitably contribute” to this chat. I am strongly committed to ecumenical dialogue and believe that as Catholics, we bring an ethos (as well as practical skills) to any conversation.
Relative to #chsocm, I’m also committed, as moderator, to keeping the conversation about using social media wisely and well to support church and faith. This is not the venue for arguments about whose church is the True Church nor denominational squabbles among Protestants.
I’m a Catholic who admires religious sisters. I have a clicker (!) and I’m not afraid to use it!!
For a handy guide to this tweetchat, take a look at this: http://www.slideshare.net/MeredithGould/church-social-media-tweetchatchsocm. Helpful for n00bs and as you possibly start a #cathMedia chat.
Pax max!
I know there have been references to the Vatican Blog Meet with the hashtag #vmb11
YAY! I love this stuff.
Looking forward to this, thanks!
The Phila. Catholic Newspaper @CSTPhiladelphia hosts a social media conversation every Wednesday at 2;30 under #CatholicPhilly to discuss the future role of social media. FYI.
Would be great to have one regularily scheduled under #cathmedia, too, for a larger discussion.
Interesting article, thanks for posting although I feel its a little soft handed, gloves off as it doesnt give any specific examples
ie “Some Candidates are using social media tricks like twitter bombs…” - Really, thats interesting, do you mind telling me which candidate? and waht topics? and when it happened? and what effect it had??
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