So I wrote this post back in November of 2008, Community Organizer+Grasp of Web 2.0/Social Media=President Elect Obama.
And then I saw this on July 1, 2009.
And then this tweet by Tony Steward on July 2, 2009.
President Obama and his campaign did leverage social media technology like no other politician ever has…and I think that’s a huge part of their success, and eventual winning of the White House.
But I’m wondering if it will turn on him. And I don’t mean social media itself, but the people wielding it. People tend to come to social media loving the freedom and openness that it provides, along with the ability to empower everyone and to feel like you are giving them a voice. But sometimes eventually that freedom and openness is seen as a liability and threat, and eventually turns to control. I don’t know if this is happening in the Obama administration or not.
But I think it’s a lesson for all of us. When you invite social media to play a large role in your organization, you have to be willing to let go of some of the control as well. This is why I think many churches and leaders are skeptical…because they don’t want to give over control.
What do you think?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
The tension between freedom and control is huge for any institution, and I think that churches are basically not really thinking about the issue right now, basically because the social media focus is largely revolving around pastor blogs and pre-packaged media. We're still in the early stages of using the social media tools we have to aid in discipleship and community-building, and my guess is that when we start to see growth there, we'll find out really quickly what the squeak points are. Great post.
great point…we are so still in the early stages of using social media in regards to tools, procedures, best practices, etc.
squeaky wheels will emerge very quickly…..
rhett
Love the video, he is clearly skirting the issue. The problem is the process, not the questions. I feel that carefully embracing social media could help allow the body of Christ to influence the church in the direction that it should go, now more then ever. At the same time, elders (in my view) should be in place in local congregations to sort through the issues that the social media base suggests.
For Obama's "town hall", what if users could "vote-up" the questions they want to see answered and possibly a few would be chosen at random (assuming they were not inappropriate)?
Sean,
Yeah, he is definitely skirting the issue. I think that's his job description
, and he's good at it.
I love your idea about the "vote-up"…..that would be cool.
rhett
Great clip. If they really cared about serving the people then Gibbs might have said, "We are open, but we don't have time to answer everyone's questions. We look at what the people are most interested in and try to serve the most people by selecting the more popular topics."
I think the church should excel the most with social media. We should be most free understanding that God is the one who will bring light to all the interactions. We don't have to control since He is in control.
It's not like the debates, questions and personal exploits made public through social media weren't happening before, we just were not as aware of it. Now we HAVE to deal with it.
An interesting analysis at http://tinyurl.com/nisbetblog of the role of the Internet in the 2008 Presidential elections. One key observation:
"In our analysis of nationally-representative survey data, in comparison to traditional newspaper reading and “real world” political discussion, online media use had limited impacts on learning and on actual political participation. Perhaps worse, despite limited gains in knowledge and actual participation, heavier online media users were more likely to believe that they were making a difference in politics. As we concluded, this 'false sense of participation' among heavier online users may actually distract them from outlets for real-world interaction and participation where they could make a difference."
Transpose this from the political arena to the even more personal realm of faith and I suspect the assessment of the impact of online activity would be no more sanguine.
Also, be careful throwing around the notion that the internet made the difference in the election or will make the difference for the Church.
Interesting post. If Obama does not deliver as he has promised the nation, one of the biggest ways he will be ridiculed by will be through social media. However, if he performs well, he will be praised through the social media.
As for churches, I believe that social media can be a good accountability tool. It can be very powerful, both positively and negatively, so social media must be used very carefully.
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