Highlights from around the web – 1/22/10

Here is the latest online ministry news and opinion from around the web.  I am sharing these via Google Reader – you can read them all there or subscribe to the feed if you like.

And for those of you wondering if I will ever publish any original content again – don’t worry! Original posts and thoughts regarding online ministry research, education, and innovation will begin again next week!

• Seesmic Look Tries to Take Twitter to the Masses
  Posted: January 21, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Interesting idea: create a customizable "viewer" for Twitter for those who don't want to tweet, but just want to watch. Maybe a ministry could customize one of these for those following it? Imagine a Twitter viewer that only showed the latest news from your favorite ministries or your church.
• 5 Ways to Fail as a Ministry Web Team
  Posted: January 20, 2010
  From: ChurchCrunch
  Great post by John on some of the non-technical success factors of web ministry.
• Cheat sheet on social networking
  Posted: January 20, 2010
  From: Digital Evangelism Issues
  Here are some great links to the use of social media for Christian ministry.
• Create Your Own iPhone or Android App in Minutes With iSites
  Posted: January 20, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Want to take your site and make it an iPhone or Android app? Maybe the question should be, what wouldn't you want to do it?
• HOW TO: Take Advantage of Social Media in Your E-mail Marketing
  Posted: January 20, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Do you send email as part of your web ministry? This article suggests integrating social media into those messages.
• Wednesday Website Weview – Scripts by Warren
  Posted: January 20, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  Another web site review from OurChurch... Good advice for a "Christian Drama Site".
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Highlights from around the web – 1/19/10

Here is the latest online ministry news and opinion from around the web. I originally meant for this to be a weekly feature on my blog, but I am finding so much good stuff that I am going to start sharing every few days.   I am sharing these via Google Reader – you can read them all there or subscribe to the feed if you like.

• Don’t Fight Back
  Posted: January 18, 2010
  From: LifeChurch.tv : swerve
  Good advice from Craig at Lifechurch. It's also an interesting statement coming from a church that gets criticized quite a bit about its online campus. I have experienced the results of this advice firsthand: these guys do not want to talk about the validity of online church. They just do it.
• What Does It Mean to “Religiously Self-identify” Online?
  Posted: January 16, 2010
  From: Don't Eat The Fruit
  This is a powerful discussion of how identity differs in the online vs offline world. I might even liken this to the idea of how we have multiple "avatars" (both online and offline); we identify ourselves in many different ways, depending on context.
• Facebook's move ain't about changes in privacy norms
  Posted: January 16, 2010
  From: apophenia
  If you are interested in the Facebook "privacy is dead, get over it" debate, danah has a great alterna-take on it here.
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Highlights from around the web – 1/15/10

Here are the online ministry news and opinion highlights from around the web this week.  I am sharing these via Google Reader – you can read them all there or subscribe to the feed if you like.

• Vimeo Goes Mobile: Continues to be a Great Ministry Video Alternative
  Posted: January 15, 2010
  From: ChurchCrunch
  Vimeo is a video-sharing service alternative to YouTube. This article discusses a new feature they are offering regarding mobile video.
• 3 Things You Need to Know About Social Media Strategy
  Posted: January 15, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Here is another great summary from Mashable on one aspect of social media.
• Google Lures Local Businesses With Place Pages Bait
  Posted: January 15, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Another reason to be sure you are registered in Google's local business directory.
• Google Suggest Gets Location-Aware, Too
  Posted: January 15, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  For churches and local ministries: read this and then go register your organization as a local business in Google.
• Ministries Respond to Haiti Earthquake Via Social Media
  Posted: January 15, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  Of course, the biggest news in this past week has been the Haiti earthquake. This article documents how ministries are using social media to get news and coordinate their responses.
• Tim Keller Is Not Your Pastor …
  Posted: January 15, 2010
  From: Collide Magazine
  Another older article that has some interesting implications. Should you put disclaimers on your web site on how NOT to use it?
• For Churches, Content Isn’t King
  Posted: January 15, 2010
  From: Collide Magazine
  This is a bit old, but I just got to it this week. What do you think, for a church web site, is content still the most important thing?
• The Case for Excellence - Providing Strategic Clarity
  Posted: January 14, 2010
  From: State of Ministry Online
  More from State Of Ministry Online - this time from yours truly!
• New CFCC Leadership
  Posted: January 14, 2010
  From: Church Marketing Sucks
  If you haven't checked out what the folks over at CFCC are doing, you are missing out. Whether you are a church or another sort of ministry, they are always providing great resources. And now, with a formal leadership structure in place, look for even greater things down the road!
• Wednesday Website Weview – The Grove Church, Hattiesburg, MS
  Posted: January 13, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  This is the first of the website reviews that OurChurch.com will be doing. The review covers a lot of good ground. For more on what I think about this particular review, check out my comment.
• Twitter and Foursquare Become the New Loyalty Program at Tasti D-Lite
  Posted: January 13, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Here's another example of how Twitter and Foursquare are being integrated into businesses. How could this be used for ministry?
• 5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest
  Posted: January 13, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Have you ever used some sort of contest or competition to get people to use your web site? I actually did this as part of my dissertation research into how online social networks affect the social capital of members of a community. And let me tell you: we got the highest usage of our social network site when we held our competition!
• Google Reclaims a Slice of its “Don’t Be Evil” Mystique
  Posted: January 13, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Though maybe not directly related to Internet ministry, this is an important story.
• Does Your Ministry ‘Like’ Your Web Team?
  Posted: January 13, 2010
  From: ChurchCrunch
  A great reminder of how people skills are an important part of online ministry.
• Passionate About Web Tech? Do Something About It (In the Real World)
  Posted: January 12, 2010
  From: ChurchCrunch
  Great post from John Saddington. One of the most difficult things to achieve, however, is figuring out the best way to merge the physical world with the virtual.
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Highlights from around the web – 1/11/10

As I shared in my last post, I am actively seeking out others who are writing and researching in the area of Internet ministry. I am using Google Reader as my main tool to manage this, which gives me the opportunity to share the best of what I am reading through its “shared items” feature.  For those interested, you can view all of those shared items here.  Here is what I have shared in the past couple of weeks:

• Facebook's Open Graph
  Posted: January 11, 2010
  From: Digital @ Leadership Network
  Pretty cool technology - those of you using Facebook should become aware of this...
• God Does Not Post to YouTube? Dr. Read Schuchardt on the Morality of Media
  Posted: January 11, 2010
  From: Don't Eat The Fruit
  It is always wise for us to think before we adopt any new technology. Here is a viewpoint that can teach us about how to think about using technology - even if we do not necessarily agree with his choices.
• Have You Ever Wished You Had an “I Give Online” Token?
  Posted: January 10, 2010
  From: Don't Eat The Fruit
  This article provides great insight into the impact of technology on our ministries. Similar to Shane Hipps examination of "the medium is the message", we need to understand the greater message of each technology we implement.
• The #1 Resolution for Your Website in 2010 Should Be…
  Posted: January 8, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  Great post from Paul Steinbruck about creating measurable goals for your online ministry. And then measuring them.
• 15 years that changed the world
  Posted: January 8, 2010
  From: Digital Evangelism Issues
  Internet Evangelism Day is coming on April 25th. Here is an article giving you the latest info on how you can be a part of it.
• ChristianityToday Weights in on Online Churches
  Posted: January 8, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  More around the online church debate, this time from Christianity Today.
• 8 Things to Avoid When Building a Community
  Posted: January 8, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Great piece about how to use social media to build community online.
• The Price of Pearl Jam’s New Single: One Tweet
  Posted: January 8, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Here is an example of how to use Twitter to interact directly with those who want your product.
• How Social Media Has Changed Us
  Posted: January 8, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  This article discusses the impact of social media on our culture and on us as individuals. This has implications for how we should think about communication with those to whom we are trying to minister.
• How Social Media and the Web Helped Avatar Make $1 Billion
  Posted: January 8, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Some lessons here for those of us working to understand how to integrate social media into our marketing efforts. Now if only we had a budget the size of this...
• Worth Revisiting: Excellence/Effectiveness
  Posted: January 4, 2010
  From: LifeChurch.tv : swerve
  Interesting article from swerve, the Lifechurch blog.
• HOW TO: Do Almost Anything Online in 2010
  Posted: January 4, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  This is a very useful list of how to do all kinds of online activities. Never understood how Twitter could help you? Want to track goals online? Check it out.
• Drew Carey Ups the Ante in the $1 Million LIVESTRONG Campaign
  Posted: January 2, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Here is an example of using social media (Twitter in this case) for a good cause. How could churches do something like this?
• In 2009, Social Media Overtook Web 2.0
  Posted: January 2, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  This is all about terminology: "web 2.0" vs "social media". I prefer the term "social media" because it actually describes what we are talking about.
• 10 Things I Learned from the Online Church Blog Series
  Posted: December 25, 2009
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  This is a great summary of the current state of online churches...I agree with all of these conclusions!
• Ministry Excellence - DJ Turner interview, Director of Communications, Denver Seminary
  Posted: December 21, 2009
  From: State of Ministry Online
• The Case for Excellence - Excellence is our Christian Calling
  Posted: December 16, 2009
  From: State of Ministry Online
• Why Excellence? Building a Case for Excellence in Online Ministry
  Posted: December 14, 2009
  From: State of Ministry Online
• Research - Internet Ministry Best
  Posted: October 10, 2009
  From: State of Ministry Online
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I will posting these highlights around once a week. If you are interested in keeping up with the latest in Internet ministry news and opinion, subscribe to this blog or directly to my shared items feed.  Clicking these links takes you to a screen where you can subscribe in a reader or even get an email whenever a new items is added. And I’d love comments on what you think about what I am sharing or if you have any recommended stories yourself!