The Importance, and Basics, of Facebook in Campus Ministry

By Matt StaufferBig Ideas & 'Best Of'

 

I think if there’s any technology that holds the most potential for use (and abuse) for campus ministry, it’s Facebook. Our students live, communicate, flirt, sin, evangelize, teach, learn, and much, much more on Facebook. Yet most of us give little to no attention to how we can use it to minister more effectively.

We write about Facebook a lot on Staffhacker, and I’d suggest you check out our archive of Facebook-tagged posts. But there are a few primary points I’d like to make even for those who don’t see the value of using Facebook strategically (or even joining the network at all):

You must join Facebook.

This might seem offensive or just indicative of my relative youth, but it’s neither. If you haven’t joined Facebook yet, you’re doing yourself and your students a disservice.

We cannot pretend to desire to minister incarnationally as Christ did if we’re unwilling to place ourselves in the world our students occupy. A campus minister who’s not on Facebook is a little bit like a campus minister who never visits campus. This is where our students spend hours a day, and there’s no excuse for us to remove ourselves from a context with so much potential for good.

The news feed is your friend.

As great as it is for you to set up a great Facebook page for your ministry, the majority of visitors never return to a fan page after clicking “like” on it. What do they do instead? They look at their news feed.

Now, armed with this information, you should take all the time you spend (or don’t spend) developing your page, and instead work to reach your students’ news feeds. There are quite a few great tricks in the article I linked here, but if you remember one thing, let it be this: create/upload great content and get your students to interact with it, whether by liking, commenting, or sharing. That’s it! You’ve now drastically increased your user engagement and your Facebook reach.

Lists are the most under-utilized aspects of Facebook.

Let’s say you have a personal Facebook account. You have friends who are your personal friends, your family, your college buddies, your students, and your donors. Have you ever found yourself censoring what you write out of fear of what one group might think? Or losing relationships with non-Christian friends because all you ever post about is the Bible Study on the quad?

Facebook lists allow you to segment your friends into customized lists and then target your communications to them. So, create a list for your friends and family; create one for your students; create one for your donors; and when you’re posting to Facebook, target your posts to the people who would benefit from your post. Don’t bog down your college friends with Bible Study details; share prayer requests with your donors and family; use Facebook more wisely and with more forethought.

Keep experimenting and learning.

These are just a few tips. If you have any other tips or tricks for using Facebook in campus ministry, please share in the comments below; and be sure to check out Staffhacker’s archive of Facebook-tagged posts for more thoughts on how we can use Facebook as a tool for ministry.

 

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6 thoughts on “The Importance, and Basics, of Facebook in Campus Ministry”

  1. I agree 100% with everything you write in this post, Matt. Well done. I agree with your emphasis on lists. While they take a little upfront investment, they are a lifesaver down the road. I start with the three “standard” lists (Friends, Acquaintances, and Close Friends) and then subdivide from there. It is worth noting that a Friend can be on more than one list.

  2. Matt, I believe you’re spot on here.  I’ve said for several years that I believe Facebook is without a doubt, one of the greatest ministry tools of the 21st Century.  It is a HUGE tool for us in reaching our campus at a ‘whole nutha level’!  Thanks also for the links to more info.  I look forward to diving in those as well! 

  3. I’m a lists maniac. Love being able to switch between different groups and give attention to certain areas in our community. I’d lose a lot of interaction to the feed-avalanche otherwise. Thanks for this, Matt.

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