Overseeing Social Media in Churches and Organisations

Overseeing Social Media in Churches and Organisations

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About Course

Overseeing Social Media in Churches and Organisations

Are you overseeing Social Media in your Church or Organisation, or about to?

This course is for you.

This course will help you put policies and procedures in place to help protect your Church/Organisation on Social Media.

People love to stay connected, so it’s no wonder that social media sites continue to grow in popularity. However, with social media sites going mobile and are open 24 hours a day, people can often forget where to draw the line, especially at work. Churches/Organisations should examine how this media is affecting them and how they can implement ways to move forward with technology without letting it interfere with productivity.

Training Objectives

To effectively learn how to use online tools in the workplace, staff must learn the basic building blocks of social media and the different ways they interact and perform. Once we understand that social media is about communication, we can establish guidelines that allow staff feel free to network while staying focused at work.

  • Learn the meaning of social media
  • Learn different ways social media is used and altered
  • Build and maintain a social media policy
  • Keeping your social media secure
  • Establishing rules for the social media the Church/Organisation posts
  • Discover the benefits and pitfalls of using social media
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Course Content

What is Social Media?
Social media is actually a combination of terms: media means communications and social means interactive and personal. It is commonly associated with digital forms of communication since it allows more interaction from a larger audience. Sites that use social media differ from regular websites in that while they offer you information, they also allow you to interact with them, whether it’s to leave a comment or share a common interest. Social media performs like a two-way street of communication – it allows you to receive information while giving you the chance to communicate back.

  • Online Communities
  • User Created Content
  • Information Sharing
  • Communication Tools

Defining Your Social Media Policy
When building a social media policy for the Church/Organisation, there are several aspects and guidelines to consider. In order to prevent situations that can put the Church or Organisation at risk, so they create a policy that outlines what is and is not acceptable use of social media in the workplace. Some basic rules should be established first to give the policy some structure. Determine what the policy wants to accomplish and what can be done to make that happen. Once the basics have been established, you can move toward the specific points of the plan and form a policy that will benefit everyone involved.

Creating a Living Document
Social media is constantly changing and being updated, so your social media policy should keep up. Any policy or regulation should be periodically reviewed and revised to keep up with the changing faces of social media and to ensure it is up to date ’with the times’. Policies or guidelines that are outdated or are no longer relevant can cause confusion among staff, so it is important that they are reviewed and altered as needed.

Keeping an Eye on Security
Although social media can be a great way for people to communicate, it can be bad for the organisation if staff are posting unsecure content or are not careful about what they share with others. Many staff forget that they are representing the Church/Organisation when they post something, which can lead to information leaks or communication errors. It is important to establish security guidelines that can help keep the Church/Organisation’s information secure and protected, while keeping the staff protected as well.

Rules to Follow When Posting
Now that you have the structure of your social media policy and generally know what you want to accomplish, how do you put it into words? Any policy should address what the staff should take away after reading the policy, while keeping the mood positive by attempting to focus more on what the staff can do, rather than a list of things they can’t do.

Benefits of Social Media
People love to communicate and stay in touch with each other in different ways. Social media allows people to stay connected when they are apart and allows for everyone to share their opinions and fun events in their life. When using social media at work, staff are able to stay in touch with clients and allow members to post feedback and information for the Church/Organisation to see. It allows staff to seek new ideas and inspirations by reaching out and sharing with other people online.

The Pitfalls of Social Media
While using social media at work can be beneficial to staff, it can also have negative consequences if used incorrectly or without thought. Staff can make inappropriate posts online that are traced back to the Church/Organisation, lead people to argue, bully, or misuse Church/Organisation information. Many Churches/Organisations may not filter their staff’ internet usage, but if social media isn’t monitored or regulated in some way at work, it can cause more problems for the Church/Organisation down the line.

Listen to Your Members
Your members are the greatest source of feedback and comments that your Church/Organisation will have. They provide honest and unbiased feedback while giving you more ideas about what they want to see and buy. Members love to share your brand with other people and social media allows them to do that. If you make the members happy and allow them to share their opinions online, your members base will not only grow but will remain loyal.