Thanks for your comments, was exactly the type on input I was looking for! Knowing your background, I really appreciate what you’ve got to say.

In regards to idea #3, I meant that we could nominate a student to have posting permission for say, two weeks at a time, rather than have them post once every two weeks.

You make a good point about some of the different things people are looking for on Facebook vs. Twitter. I sometimes wonder why Twitter hasn’t taken off here in New Zealand in the same way Facebook has; I enjoy using Twitter more in some ways because I get more useful content/discussion out of it.

Really hope we can get more Student Lifers to push us in our use of social media. Any ideas how?

I’ll share my thoughts in general, then respond a bit more directly to your ideas.

I think I have shared with you before that my previous job before coming to NZ was working at an ad agency. At the agency, I was in charge of the social media campaigns for a few small government brands – sometimes aimed at teenagers. One of the biggest takeaways from the experience is that in general, people get on FB to see what their friends are doing, get some news, maybe make a post, and sign out. They ignore advertising, promotional messages, and brands attempting to communicate for the most part. I have not really seen companies/brands be successful with social media by just communicating through a branded FB page or Twitter account – unless they are some already megasuccessful company like Apple or Amazon. In those cases, the brand already has a personality. Where I have seen success and interaction is when an actual person is on the social mediums representing both the company and themselves. This is especially true on FB where people aren’t looking for new connections. Twitter is a different animal in that sense – people are looking for new contacts and interaction there if they’re using it correctly. Obviously, there is application for us there. Our communication through these media should be primarily as ourselves – real people who have personalities and can be related to. I think a great application as a ministry is – as we disciple students on relational evangelism – that we include FB in that discussion and give them challenges for using FB to engage with friends. If we launch a national outreach using FB or other online stuff (which we should), it should depend upon individuals to use and promote instead of a corporate account or website.

All the ideas of 3,4, and 5 are great. For 3, I think it’s great to turn this over to a student when possible. The communication has to be much more frequent than fortnightly or even weekly for it to be successful. The FB group idea is a good one as well. Groups were lame for awhile, but they’ve made a comeback and have good discussion value. Totally agree on #5 as well. It has to be a much more holistic approach on our corporate accounts.

Probably more than you were looking for Hope it helps move the conversation forward.