To Post or Not to Post...

More Catholic parishes are embracing the internet and digital communications as another form of communicating with parishioners, anyone interested in the Catholic faith, and those who might be "church shopping" in the area. Whether a parish is revamping their website, starting a Facebook page, blogging, and/or tweeting, social media has become something parishes find critical, especially when trying to reach youth and young adults.

Our Sunday Visitor recently held a webinar called Social Media for Pastors and Parishes: More Than Friends, Creating Meaningful Relationships, and it was one of the best attended yet. Our speaker, Domenico Bettinelli, Jr., Creative Director for Pilot Media Group with the Archdiocese of Boston, answered several questions from participants about security, guidelines, protecting the parish from liability issues, and more. Those are questions Our Sunday Visitor frequently hears as well when we work with parishes to launch new websites .

For those wanting some guidance on terminology, setting appropriate boundaries, dealing with difficult "fans", examples of codes of conduct, and other helpful tips, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department of Communications issued a document called Social Media Guidelines. It was published in 2010, and is full of good information. http://www.usccb.org/about/communications/social-media-guidelines.cfm

For those reading this who are located outside the States, check to see if your Bishops have issued a similar set of guidelines. If not, there are certainly some good rules to follow at the link above.

Over the next couple of posts, I'll pass along some links to great parish websites, Facebook pages, other social media examples, and good resources for accomplishing this in the limited time of a parish staff person. I also address why a parish should incorporate multiple media forms in their communication plan.
Stay tuned...I'm heading back to the vineyard. See you there!