Anyone who says running social media church is easy obviously hasn’t done it before. You’re dealing with various ministries, staff and volunteers, who all have their own demands. Plus, you’re trying to get people to like, retweet and share your content that you’ve created. Some days it seems like a never-ending cycle.
However, it doesn’t always have to be that way. You don’t have to let the daily grind of social media take away the joy of what God has called you to. There are things that you can do to make sure you keep the right perspective, avoid burnout and create the space you need.
Below you’ll find a list of actions and habits that you can take to protect yourself. None of the actions are drastic, but they all can have a positive effect on making sure that you don’t lose sight of your calling.
1. Take a Digital Sabbatical
We all know that God took a day of rest on the seventh day and you should too. While some people thrive off being on social media 24/7, that’s not something that’s sustainable over a long period of time. We weren’t designed to be “on” all the time.
The problem with being on social media 24/7 is that eventually you burnout. It may be slow burn where you lose interest over time, or you may go down a blaze of glory. Either way, burnout is preventable.
You can prevent burnout by taking a digital sabbatical. Simply put, a digital sabbatical is where you spend some time away from your devices. How long should you be away from your devices? Well, that depends on what works for you. For some, it’s a 24 hour period, for others it could be a weekend or a few weeks. The point is you need to take a step back and take inventory of how your social media is affecting you.
2. Learn to Emotional Separate Yourself from Your Church’s Social Media
You are your work. Now you may not believe that statement, but a lot of us act like we do. You take the time to craft Facebook posts, tweets or Instagram photos, only to see them fall flat. You try not to take it personally, but on some level you feel defeated.
Social media can be tricky because it’s designed to feed off emotion. Click here, like this. All of these social media actions are designed to keep you coming back for more. That’s why it’s easy to take our social failures personally. Social media has emotional aspect to it.
Of course, I think we all know that you are not your work. You’re not the sum of your tweets or Facebook posts. You’re a new creation in Christ. It’s easy to lose sight of that in today’s click-driven world.
[clickToTweet tweet=”You’re not the sum of your tweets or Facebook posts. You’re a new creation in Christ.” quote=” You are a new creation in Christ. You are not the sum of your tweets or Facebook posts.”]
To say grounded emotionally, you need to stay grounded the Word of God. If you spend your time there, than what may seem as a failure, will seem small from an eternal perspective.
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to Accounts
Not every social media account needs the same amount of attention. I know that you may want to spend as time on Facebook as you do on Twitter, but that actually may a waste of your time.
In order to make sure your best using your time on social media, try applying the 80/20 on your social media accounts. The 80/20 rule is essentially an analysis of what is actually getting you the most return on your time. For example, you may spending 20% of your time Twitter, however it’s generating 80% of the traffic to your church website out of all your social media channels. Whereas, you’re spending 50% of your time on Facebook and it’s only generating 10% of the traffic to your website.
By applying the 80/20 rule to your social media, you decide to spend the more time on the networks that are actually generating the results you want. When you do this, you save yourself time and effort.
4. Don’t Buy an Apple Watch
What? I’m serious. Don’t buy an Apple Watch. Why? Well, if your running a church social media account then you probably have too many alerts coming through your phone on a daily basis. Now with Apple Watch you can have the alerts everywhere you go.
It’s not that I’m opposed to the Apple Watch as a piece of technology (my wife is wearing one on her wrist right now). What concerns me is the fading separation between technology and our lives. If you’re constantly hit with barrage notifications, how can you tell what’s important and what’s not?
Earlier in this post I warned about burnout and I think technology like the Apple Watch will only accelerate this. If we are going to create the necessary space to think, dream and create, then we’ll need to disconnect from devices that are constantly vying for our attention.
Don’t let the daily grid of managing social media take away the joy of the work that God has put before you. Take the time to unplug, recharge and refocus on what matters most. Your church’s social media will be better for it.