What's It About?

It’ll be about me, and you, and the ways that we are holding fast to the One Who is Good in big stuff and little stuff. I’ve been through stuff. You have too. Sometimes it’s been a rush, sometimes a jarring ride, and at times we ended up in the drink. I don’t know about you, but with the help of some friends, I’m in training to weather the ride by ”holding fast to that which is good”. The ride isn’t over, and I invite you along on the journey. I think too much, that’s all.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Facebook--Status Whoa!

Recently several Facebook (FB) status quotes have come across my newsfeed over there on which I felt compelled to comment. It wasn't that they were bad, really. These people are my friends, and I know that they meant well by their status quote. But the quotes failed to communicate the full thought, and as a result actually ended up communicating another thought entirely, especially considering that non-Christians also read these quotes we make in such a public forum.

Some of my friends on FB have requested friendship multiple times. Why? Because they join FB, then they cancel their membership. Then they join again, only to cancel again a few days or weeks later. Sometimes they give an explanation, seeming to be confused about whether FB is a godly use of time.

It seems that as Christians, we need to do some careful thinking about Facebook and other social networking options. Many articles and blogs have been written about this subject: at the bottom of this post you can find two links with thoughtful articles to help you understand the pitfalls as well as the potential of social media like FB.

The Big Announcement


There are several aspects to FB, but I want to focus on status posts--and I want to do something to encourage the use of FB status posts as a tool for witnessing and edification. To that end, I've come up with Status Whoa!

Status Whoa! Will be a series of blog posts (hopefully weekly, but we all know how that has worked out for me in the past) highlighting some of the best (Status go!) and worst (Status Woe) Christian status posts to come across the newsfeeds.

Rules and policies for Status Whoa!


All posting and recognition decisions will be made by me--no appeal. It's my blog, we do it my way--but I think it will be fun anyway! My own statuses are, of course, disqualified.

Quotes have to be from statuses of real people--not videos or links, not from ministries or businesses. They can, however, be quotes of quotes--in other words, someone could post a great status quote and acknowledge that it actually originated with Spurgeon, for instance.

Types of status quotes I'm looking for:

Status Woe: Quotes that demonstrate unsound or unclear theology…they'll be posted on the blog along with my commentary and the comment section left open for suggestions of how to improve the status so that it becomes a Status Go!

Status Go!: Quotes that demonstrate sound, clear theology that pointedly communicates truth in a winsome, clever, or humorous way.

Since encouraging Status Go type quotes is the main part of my goal, I'm asking my readers--yes you!--to submit your friends/family statuses to be considered for a Status Go blog post--you cannot submit your own status. Simply message me on FB or email statuswhoa.holdfast@gmail.com. Be sure to include the quote, and the name of the person who posted it  so that proper recognition can be made! If chosen, I will post a notice on the blog, and on my facebook profile as well as notifying the person who submitted the status--all in an effort to recognize in public a person who is benefiting the Kingdom of God by their use of social media. If the person is on my friends' list, I'll post a notice on their facebook wall.

Status Woe type quotes may be submitted, but with no names attached. As noted, we'll work here on the blog to turn Status Woe posts into Status Go! Posts.

More people are watching your newsfeed than you think. Are they getting the gospel?

Thinky Things

Here are the links to the articles mentioned above:
http://www.challies.com/christian-living/how-and-how-not-to-use-facebook-for-ministry
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/social-networking.php

Ready? Set? Go! (and don't forget to...

Hold Fast...

No comments:

Post a Comment

I'm the Mom. Play nice. Don't make me come down there. The rules? The way to find out what they are is to break them.