Churches and Government - Facebook Conquers The World
Facebook started 2009 with about 150 million active users worldwide. They passed the 300 million mark in September. At their current growth rate, they will probably end the year at more than 375 million.
What do these big numbers mean? There are about 1.65 billion active internet users in the world. Knock out the ones in China where Facebook is blocked (that's minus 350 million) and you have 29% of the total worldwide internet population as Facebook users by the end of year.
So, is your school officially on Facebook?
It's interesting to see that churches have moved online and into Facebook. An Associated Pressarticle highlights some of these like LifeChurch.TV which has about 13,000 followers. (The term "followers" actually sounds more appropriate in that context.) They have videos, events, and discussions.
Inside Facebook tells me that a number of Local Governments are also using Facebook. Why not? They can make a better social connection to their citizens. They offer status updates, a wall for posts, applications for polling, longer discussion areas, videos and photos.
Creating a page is easy but some churches and governments hire designers. The San Francisco page has 263,000 fans. That's about a third of its total population, but a large portion of those fans don’t live in San Francisco. They're not citizens but actual fans. Apparently, Facebook does allow you to send "geo-targeted updates” too.
So why isn't your school in Facebook?
Maybe you should be looking at pages like the Illinois Municipal League Legislative Department or the Coral Springs, Florida guidelines for guidance.
If Ventura, California can have a “civic engagement manager,” how come your college can't put someone in charge of social media? Check out Knoxville and Grand Rapids or even city subpages like the Dallas Police Department.
A county near me, Morris County, New Jersey has a full Facebook presence. So does Fairfax County, Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland.
These generally slow-to-move-forward institutions are actually ahead of many schools. Prepare to be conquered.
What do these big numbers mean? There are about 1.65 billion active internet users in the world. Knock out the ones in China where Facebook is blocked (that's minus 350 million) and you have 29% of the total worldwide internet population as Facebook users by the end of year.
So, is your school officially on Facebook?
It's interesting to see that churches have moved online and into Facebook. An Associated Pressarticle highlights some of these like LifeChurch.TV which has about 13,000 followers. (The term "followers" actually sounds more appropriate in that context.) They have videos, events, and discussions.
Inside Facebook tells me that a number of Local Governments are also using Facebook. Why not? They can make a better social connection to their citizens. They offer status updates, a wall for posts, applications for polling, longer discussion areas, videos and photos.
Creating a page is easy but some churches and governments hire designers. The San Francisco page has 263,000 fans. That's about a third of its total population, but a large portion of those fans don’t live in San Francisco. They're not citizens but actual fans. Apparently, Facebook does allow you to send "geo-targeted updates” too.
So why isn't your school in Facebook?
Maybe you should be looking at pages like the Illinois Municipal League Legislative Department or the Coral Springs, Florida guidelines for guidance.
If Ventura, California can have a “civic engagement manager,” how come your college can't put someone in charge of social media? Check out Knoxville and Grand Rapids or even city subpages like the Dallas Police Department.
A county near me, Morris County, New Jersey has a full Facebook presence. So does Fairfax County, Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland.
These generally slow-to-move-forward institutions are actually ahead of many schools. Prepare to be conquered.
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