My father joined Facebook this week. It is his first social media account. My father is not anti-computer. On the contrary, we

had a computer fairly early on, and he built a couple of his own machines over the years. I learned a lot from him early on about computing, although I think I surpassed him in knowledge somewhere along the way. Maybe not. I’ve never built a computer, although I am proud to say I have taken apart two laptops to fix them in the past. More importantly I put them back together correctly. It was almost as satisfying as working on my own car. Social media is a big step. I thought the iPhone was going to bring it about a long time ago, but several years in with a smartphone he still wasn’t “online”.

I haven’t asked him why he joined Facebook yet. I imagine it was out of curiosity, or because he got tired of saying, “What?” every time my mother cracked up or talked back to the Facebook feed. Heck, it might be for grandchildren too. It’s got to get old being the last to know since the rest of the family is up to date with postings and messages. So, I’ll eventually ask him about it, and I’ll be curious to hear what he says.

There are so many forms of communication nowadays. It used to be that you wrote letters. Then there were telegraphs. Next

came the telephone, followed by the answering machine, which meant you didn’t have to sit next to the aforementioned phone all the time. I remember pagers, which worked well if you could find a payphone (remember those? They still have one at South of the Border…). Then were the cell phones, which were never supposed to catch on. Email showed up around the time cell phones really became ubiquitous. I also remember AOL’s Instant Messenger and how cool that was. Then the floodgates opened with social media like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Tumbler, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Vine, and so many more (not listed in order).

Facebook is the big dog in social media. It has something like three times the traffic of the next biggest outlet, Twitter. If you’re not on Facebook, you’re potentially missing out on something. I say potentially, because just like everything else, Facebook is a mix of good and bad. There is junk Facebook stuff just like regular junk mail. But, there’s plenty of good stuff too, especially if you are prudent about whom you connect with (and hence what you see in your feed). It’s great for keeping in touch with people you don’t normally see. Although the typical person posts only good things, which has created a reality where Facebook use can make a person feel bad about themselves (comparatively), I still think it has value, particularly in my vocation.

Facebook has become one of the ways we gain information about parishioners and what’s going on in their lives – good and bad. It is a two-way communication tool. There’s rarely a day that goes by that I don’t interact with someone from the Church on Facebook. Church communication experts will tell us that if we don’t have a presence on Facebook we’re missing out. The typical American Facebook user spends 40 minutes per day on Facebook. And that’s just the average. Many people spend much more of their day on the site. We also know that the biggest bang for your advertising buck is on Facebook these days. While it may miss a segment of your audience (in our case), the cost per connection with people that leads to an action of some sort is almost unparalleled in newspaper or other traditional advertising.

For example, when we posted a video on our Facebook page advertising Christmas this week, we “boosted” it, meaning we paid a little bit to help it get into the feeds of people who have “liked” Christ Church and their friends. Within a few hours 1000 people within a 15 mile radius of the Church saw our post. Even if they didn’t study the post or watch the video, it left what Facebook calls an impression. Out of those 1000 folks, more than a third of them watched a least a portion of the video, while 40 or so watched the entire 1-minute video. How much had we spent? About $3. By the time our four-day boost ends we will have spent much less than a typical newspaper ad, and reached many more people because our efforts are targeted. We did the same thing to advertise the Flower and Music Festival this fall with great success. But that’s probably enough detail for now.

Suffice it to say, a lot happens via social media that we may or may not be aware of. I have limited myself to two social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, although I rarely use the latter. I just don’t have time. One can indeed get lost in social media and forget that there is a real world out there. Fortunately, I don’t think it’s either or. I have found that social media makes my “real-world” connections even stronger. So, if you’re a computer user but don’t have a social media account, I recommend you at least give it a try. It’s not as hard as you might think. Nowadays there are devices that are intuitive enough you really don’t even need a computer. Folks well up in their years can learn how to get online and use email and social media – I’m friends with some of them online! And if you don’t care about it, that’s fine too. The world does keep on spinning, even for folks who aren’t on Facebook and Twitter.

I’m happy my father finally opened up an account on Facebook. I’m already seeing that we will have more interaction with one another. I’ve already been able to tease him, turn his profile picture into a meme (you may not know what that means, don’t worry), share some Star Wars puns, and it’s only been a few days. That’s good for now. Who knows how we’ll be communicating in ten years (Facebook’s public version is only nine years old). I can’t even imagine. I’m sure I’ll find out about it on Facebook.

Tom+

O God, who dost turn the hearts of the faithful unto the children, and hast granted unto youth to see visions and dream dreams: we beseech thee to draw together the old and the young, that in fellowship with thee they may understand and help one another, and in thy service find their perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.