This is the second post discussing some creative ways to utilize technology in college ministry as part of a series called Ideas for Using Technology. Last week I talked about using check-ins for spreading the word about your meetings and events on Facebook. This week I want to give you an idea for posting pictures to social networks to promote your events and encourage fellowship.
It has been argued that using photos to capture attention is the most effective content medium on Facebook. In fact, social media news blog Mashable recently studied company pages on Facebook noting,
“The Facebook wall with the most images at the time of the test, PlayStation, was also the one that people spent the most time looking at. On average, viewers stayed on the wall for 4.88 seconds. No other page element on any brand’s page held attention for longer than four seconds.”
So, why not find creative ways to implement photo taking into your events and meetings? You can start by encouraging students to frequently take pictures of your gatherings and then upload them to Facebook or Twitter. Students are already taking lots of pictures in other areas of their lives and putting them up on Facebook, but they may not have thought to do this as often at BASIC meetings. Once they post them to Facebook and people start tagging each other they will show up in the news feeds of their friends. Pictures show up four times larger in news feeds than regular posts and have a better chance of being seen.
The other benefit this has is that it encourages the continuation of fellowship after students have left your meeting or event. When they go home and get on Facebook they can continue the conversation as they comment, like, and tag each other in those pictures. This also provides a place where these photos are collected and can be viewed later on when students have left college and want to reminisce. I find myself revisiting my college days every once in awhile by looking at pictures from my BASIC group at SUNY Oswego (shout out!).
One way that could be fun to get the picture sharing started is by taking a picture from the front of the room before you start sharing the message for the night. You could even choose a theme for the night like funny faces and have everyone take ridiculous pictures before and after the meeting. I’m sure that would produce a lot of comments!
What about your group? Do you have a lot of people who take pictures already?