When auditing a churches communication strategy, I peel the layers of the onion; we eventually come to the question of social media. How is your organization using social media? What social media tools are your members using? Inevitably, someone will identify email as part of their social media strategy. I quietly cringe at the response.
Last week, while reviewing survey responses I ran across another reference to email as social media and in my discontent pecked out a Tweet claiming that “Email is NOT social media!” It was quickly met with replies requesting clarification. I promised this follow-up post. Well my response to the Tweet may surprise you. After calm heads prevailed, I realized that I am wrong.
Yes, wrong. In a society where we hail the victor, I think we can still claim when we miss the mark. I see how the tools of social media can transform the Church and how social media ministry can be transformative. And I confess I can be a bit biased when it comes to social media … wanting to keep the medium pure for as long as possible, I guess.
So here are the reasons WHY I believe email is a form of social media:
- “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20
- Group email or online discussion boards like Yahoo! Groups are a hybrid between email lists and online forums. Group messages can be read and posted by e-mail or on the group’s webpage like a web forum.
- Email is an extension of Facebook, Google+ and other social sites. Most social platforms will direct message your email account, and I have the ability to receive and react to my network.
- Without an email address I can’t create an account really of any kind. It’s not a question of which came first the chicken or the egg — the email address is the absolute.
- According to a study published by The Radicati Group, worldwide email traffic totaled 247 billion messages per day in 2009. By 2013, this figure will almost double to 507 billion messages per day.
So, do you agree? Should email be considered social media?
