It’s the weekend! I hope you’ve got plans to enjoy this awesome fall weather. To get your weekend started right, here’s your weekly social media brief. This week, we have stories about Intagram’s user numbers, Facebook’s data restrictions, and 360 video. Also, next Monday on the Ask Darrel Podcast we’ll talk who you should follow back on social media.
Pinterest hits 100 million users
What this means for your church: It’s easy to get caught up in user numbers. However it seems that companies like Pinterest and LinkedIn are more comfortable with slow manageable growth. This usually means that you can expect not to be surprised with new feature sets that radically change how users use the platform. Instead you’ll small incremental changes that benefit the user. This makes platforms like Pinterest very attractive to churches looking to invest their time in a stable platform.
Why parents should challenge autoplay video
What this means for your church: As a parent, I’ve seen firsthand what happens when you let YouTube go from one video the next. First, you’re watching bears run around in a forest and then you’re watching a trailer for the new horror move The Visit. I think some parents have been a bit to naive about YouTube and letting their kids hunt around. Yes, YouTube has kids app, but even then I would caution a parent letting videos roll from one to the next.
Facebook’s Restrictions on User Data Cast a Long Shadow
What this means for your church: This won’t immediately effect churches, however it is a sign of things to come. Facebook is getting stricter about what kind of data third-party services can use. This means that if you’re using an outside service to determine who to market your church to on Facebook, you could be limited on what data you can use.
Celebrating a Community of 400 Million – Instagram Blog
What this means for your church: If you’re going to invest in a one social network right now, I would say invest in Facebook. If you’re going to invest in two social networks, I’s say invest Facebook and Instagram. Instagram continues to show promising growth with little to no signs of stopping. Couple this news,with the fact that it’s becoming easier to create sponsored posts and you have a chance for some real marketing opportunities.
Facebook Debuts 360-Degree Videos
What this means for your church: This is one of those futuristic things that is just flat out cool. I’m excited about the possibility of producing 360 videos of our church and putting them on Facebook to give people an idea of what it’s like to visit us. I also think it will be really cool to do a 360 video of a live worship service to give people an idea of what worship is like as well.