Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

This past week I attended the Episcopal Communicators conference, where I connected with talented people doing good work and received lots of good advice in the workshops. The plenary speaker, Justin Wise, spoke about the ubiquity of social media: “We’re just observing trends and acknowledging trends without judgment,” he said at one point, which was a good reminder for me.

I was tempted to judge how much people use social media, even as I sat in the back attempting to live-tweet the speech.

It wasn’t easy for me. I found that I couldn’t tweet and listen at the same time, and I missed some of the plenary while I was trying to formulate my tweets.

Later, I asked someone about his experience tweeting during speeches and at other conferences, and he said it actually helps him concentrate. He has to pay attention to what the person is saying so that he can tweet about it, kind of like taking notes.

This reminded me we don’t all experience social media the same way. For some, it seems, it connects them more fully to the event they are attending or the people around them. I have a friend who connects with people on Twitter, which often leads to Facebook connections, and then to connections and friendships in person. His life on social media and life off-screen appear to be seamlessly connected. For me, they often feel disjointed, and tweeting or texting can take me away from others if I’m not careful.

Which is fine. I eventually gave up tweeting during the plenary, and tweeted a bit after the fact. I’m often learning ways in which social media works and doesn’t work for me, and adjusting my behaviors accordingly without judging those who do it differently (well, trying not to judge). Our communities can do something similar.

For example, many people spend time with a second screen, as Wise put it, watching television on the first screen and spending time on Facebook or Twitter on the other, allowing them to personalize and interact with and share the experience. Some may wish to do the same with a sermon, tweeting and sharing their favorite parts. Which might be a good idea, and it might not.

Before we judge or decide how to react, we should understand first the variety of ways people use and experience technology. There isn’t one right way to use technology in our churches. We should recognize that a fifty year old might not have the same experience of technology as a teenager (who now averages over 3,000 text messages a month and has always had a smart phone). Some might find the use of social media distracting, and others might connect more deeply and even use it to share the good news. There’s room for both.