John W Snyder

What's the most important Social Media site to your church or business?

I'm currently trying to figure this out. Right now I would have to say that facebook is the most important site. Twitter is second. Personally and business wise I get more comments on Facebook then I do on Twitter, and most of the time I post the same things. There seems to be a lot more interaction. I like both and both seem to serve a little different function. That part I'm still trying to figure out.

 How do you use Twitter and Facebook? How do you use them differently? Please share. I love learning about this stuff and could use some insight.

Lessons from Vitamin Water

Even though Vitamin Water has a website at www.vitaminwater.com they seem to use their Facebook page as their primary online presence, www.facebook.com/vitaminwater. I have been paying attention to this because it's pretty amazing. They have over 600,000 fans and growing. The interaction on the page is also very amazing. They have tons of comments and tons of "likes".

 It would be awesome if you could use Facebook as your main website. The only hard part would be that not everyone has a Facebook account to connect with you, but even without a Facebook account you can still gain access to fan pages. You just can't interact by adding comments or sending messages to the brand or church.

 So, if you can't afford to build a website or don't know what you are doing when it comes to coding or you don't have the resources to make a website happen then a Facebook page is your answer.

 This is one of the many reasons I prefer Facebook over any other social media sites.

 What other churches or businesses have you seen that use Facebook as their primary online spot.
There is so much potential for doing this.
What are your thoughts?
What are the positives and negatives?

College Football is here

This is my favorite sports time of the year, well, this and March Madness. I went to Oklahoma State University and I really enjoy college athletics. I am a Cowboy

 Who is your favorite NCAA team?

I love the simplicity of Posterous

For those of you who use posterous, do you still have a normal blog or do you just use posterous now? I think posterous might be my new blog. I love the simplicity and ease of using it. You don't have to worry about the upkeep of a normal Wordpress or Blogger site. Tony Steward hit on this here, http://tonysteward.me/posterous-ideal-primary-online-presence . 
Well, I agree with him. What are your thoughts on Posterous? Don't judge it though if you haven't tried it out.

We actually get thunderstorms in SoCal

Testing posterous

Still testing this out. Trying to get it to post to Facebook and twitter. Let's see what this does

I really like Posterous

I am just not sure how to use it to its full potential. I really just need to spend some time in it figuring out the best way to use it. I don't know how to add links, for instance www.twitter.com/johnwsnyder , Maybe it will show up as a link. I don't know? Anyways, if you have any advice or can direct me to the best place to learn about posterous, I'm all ears.

JH service at Mariners Church

Dana Point at sunset

College Ministry

Lately I've been reading up on college ministry.  What it looks like in different churches, why have a college ministry, why is there such a disconnect after high school and many other aspects of this age group. I have a huge heart for this age group.  For myself this time in my life was challenging and sometimes difficult.  It's hard trying to find your identity when you are looking for it in everything else besides in God.  This was my problem.  Yes, I was a Christ follower, but I was trying to find my identity elsewhere.  It wasn't until my senior year in college I figured this out.  Which by the way, it took me 5 and a half years to get my bachelor's degree. Nothing like cramming 4 years of college into 5 and a half.  Anyways, I say this because it is not easy to find your identity.  And that is why I have been intrigued by ministering to this age group.  Now, what this looks like for me and how this will happen, I'm not 100% sure, but have some ideas. If you are a veteran college pastor or a rookie I suggest you pick up Chuck Bomar's book College Ministry 101.  I just started reading it.  It's a great read and has a lot of great ideas and information. I will probably have many more posts about college ministry and thoughts surrounding this age group.  If you are a college pastor I would love to connect with you.