Facebook

Facebook

Why do you love the Devil?

I stopped in at the Albany Times Union this week and had lunch with one of the editors there. I have developed some great friendships with a number of reporters and staff. I bumped into Mark McGuire.No not that Mark McQwire but the Times Union’s Mark McGuire. We chatted about sports, college, and life. Then, he showed me this Facebook picture making the rounds:

At first, I thought it was a fake and said, “That has to be a joke. I mean, that’s not real. Who would make something like that?”

What confused me were the phrases “emo’s”, “high fullutent”, and “sport’s nut’s”. Those are typically not the type of people who are persecuted by ugly self-righteous Christians. That just doesn’t make sense. Plus, the incorrect use of the possessive (‘s).

If real, this type of ugly proselytizing is not real evangelism. To use offensive words to persecute folks and then tell them to repent and that they need Jesus is just ugly. Jesus reserved his harshest words not for sinners, but for the religious hypocrites.

This Fred Phelps type of tactic is not about turning people to Jesus but is an attempt to taunt and bring attention to the protestor.

What’s the back story on this? Anyone else seen this picture of Facebook?

worship

A Theology for Announcements in Worship

A church member greeted me after a church service in my usual location, the back exit. I embraced her and wished her a blessed week. She had strange look on her face and said, “You know, I really don’t like announcements at the end of worship. It really takes away the momentum of service and deflates it. I don’t know how to solve that. But then again, that’s your job!” She laughed.

She was right.The obligatory church announcement time was situated in an awkward place in the worship service.

In some churches, multiple people make a multitude of announcements and service drags on. If inserted in the beginning of worship, a number of people don’t hear the announcements because they are still walking into worship. If placed at the end of worship, announcements can take the wind out of a great service. Announcements are odd to have at the end of worship, but it is often the only place the majority of the congregation can hear of something important.

Do announcements belong in worship anyway? Continue Reading…

social media

Six ways to set a positive blog tone

There is something common about negativity in social media platforms. No matter if the topic is politics, playoffs, or puppies people can default to negative comments as a defense.

I had an epiphany regarding my Albany Times Union blog and the tone of negativity in the comment section. In the interest of freedom, openness, and free speech I had unknowingly allowed my blog to become a swamp of negativity. I could receive anywhere between 30-100 comments on a post. I allowed just about any comment through my standard comment moderation process, as long as it wasn’t threatening or contained foul language.

The tone of the comments kept coming back to negative personal hang ups with other people. I was providing a platform for people to carry out their personal gripes. I realized that people can do that type of online attack anywhere: Twitter, Facebook, or even YouTube. Unfortunately, the same 4-6 people bickered, constantly. Other people stopped commenting on my blog because a few bad apples were ruining the bunch. Comments constantly got off topic. I had to change things.

Blogging is a challenge and maintaining your cool is key. By following a few simple tips, you can keep readers coming back and generate more interaction:
Continue Reading…

Culture, social media

Kate Middleton and social media voyeurism

The Royal Family is up in arms over Kate Middleton’s topless photos. Apparently, Prince William and Kate Middleton were enjoying some private time and Kate decided to well… lose some clothes. This is the latest embarrassing news story involving a royal and their nude pictures… Price Harry.

The problem is people eat this stuff up. They want to buy the magazine or log on to that website that has these nude pictures. Publishers pay hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions) of dollars for these photos. TMZ loves this it and it makes them money and social media sites.

Right now, the search “Kate Middleton nude pictures” has over a million searches on Google. People to go crazy over such news. Social media allows people to read, react, and share such juicy information. This pushes us deeper into what I call social media voyeurism.

What is social media voyeurism?

Chick-fil-A

Did you support Chick-fil-A day?

You will not find me eating a Chick-fil-A sandwich in a Chick-fil-A restaurant today.

Why? Am I supporting gay marriage by boycotting Chick-fil-A? No.

The comments from Chick-fil-A’s president, Dan Cathy affirming traditional marriage has set off an ugly firestorm. “Guilty as charged,” was his smug response in a Baptist Press interview on the corporation’s support of the traditional view of biblical marriage: “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.” Then mayors, governors, politicians, religious leaders, and radio personalities blasted Cathy. In return, even more mayors, politicians, and religious leaders responded to critics of Cathy. Then, the pro-gay marriage folks call for a boycott of Chick-fil-A. In return, pro-traditional marriage people created “Support Chick-fil-A day” and I’m not going.

I’ve never been a fan of business boycotts that involve entertainment or eating. Years ago, many conservative Christians boycotted buy anything Disney related because of Disney’s pro-gay employee practices. I went to see Disney made movies.

Both pro-Chick-fil-A and anti-Chick-fil-A people have really upset me. One group supports Chick-fil-A and says, “Look at our support and piety!” The other side yells, “That company is made up of bigots! If you buy their stuff it makes you one too!” Both reactions are Pharisaic.

social media, Tom Cruise Katie Holmes divorce

What Tom Cruise and Katie Homes’ divorce taught us

If it is anything Americans love it is watching a good dramatic celebrity break up. Although, if you are a DirectTV customer, it’s lights out for you if you want to watch all the drama of the Tom Cruise and Katie Homes divorce saga. It is really sad that more Americans tune into or log on to TMZ than reading the daily newspaper.

It is never a happy thing when a marriage fails, but if the reports are true it was wise of Katie Homes to get out of crazy Cruiseville. There is a lot of speculation swirling around why Katie Homes called it quits on Tom Cruise. Apparently, it totally took Maverick off guard as Katie used a disposable cell phone to plan the divorce while Tom was in Iceland (of all places) filming a movie.

No matter what the rumors say about why the marriage failed, we can learn three things from TomKat‘s divorce that give us a glimpse into some revealing trends and realities in our culture:

joel stein

How I became ‘friends’ with TIME’s Joel Stein

It’s not often that us lowly non-celebs get replies on Facebook or Twitter from big time Hollywood types. Fans frequently annoy stars to interact with them online. Usually, celebrities carefully decide who to follow on Twitter (mostly other celebrities).

A few months ago, I befriended TIME magazine’s witty and very funny Joel Stein. For years, I enjoyed reading his column and articles, which covers such topics as: a quest exploring circumcision for his son, ridiculous privileged preschools, lamenting the influx of Indians in his hometown (Edison, NJ), doing improv for mega church Pastor Rick Warren, and how he nearly killed VH1. Speaking of VH1, you might remember him from the series I love the 80′s. For a guy who had his own cartoon, he is pretty down to earth.

You may be thinking, all that stuff doesn’t make Joel Stein a true celebrity. If celebrity is measured by how long your Wikipedia page is, then Joel Stein isn’t a celebrity to you. Unlike other celebs, he doesn’t have his own reality show that highlights his drunken escapades with his family. Joel never went to Italy with Snooki, but as a writer for the LA Times and television humorist, he is entertaining.

So, how did I become ‘friends’ with Joel? I tried to be his ‘friend’ on Facebook but he exceeded the limit of friends already (With the creation of Facebook, the meaning of ‘friend’ means anyone with a computer and an IQ of 63). Since Joel is “desperate for attention“, I decide to give him some and become one of his 1 million followers on Twitter. After reading his Twitter feed, I tweeted:

My goal in life is to get @thejoelstein to follow me so that all my followers grow tired of bragging and unfollow me.

Apparently, he thought I was interesting enough and he started following this random minister-blogger from New York. I direct messaged Joel and thanked him for the follow. I mentioned that I used one of his columns in a sermon and he said he loved to hear about it. He gave me his email address, which I found out later that he tells people not to email him:

I don’t want to talk to you. But don’t make me feel like you expect a return email. Because this takes my assistant four to five hours every week. I know this because my assistant is me.”

I felt special. Really special. Like a groupie who just got a backstage pass at a Steely Dan concert.

We emailed a few times and explained how I used part of his 2005 column on happiness and marriage in a sermon. He replied that I was the third pastor to tell him that (Rick Warren was the second). I joked about cursing in front of my congregation (which I didn’t do) and he gave me some advice to never use “blue” material. We exchanged some Twitter messages about how his wife went to nearby Skidmore College, travel to a little town called Albany, and life in general. I knew Joel and I would become fast friends because he ended one email with, “Great to sort of meet you.”

A few weeks later, I asked him on Twitter if I could blog about the experience of befriending such a huge celebrity. His response?

I’d be honored if you blog about me. Or at least ambivalent about it.

Ambivalence from Joel Stein? I’ll take it!

I feel horrible that I haven’t interacted with my new friend Joel for a few months now, but then again we are not that great of ‘friends’ because we don’t talk on the phone anymore and our kids don’t play together like they use to. I could be upset about that, but those things never happened.

Joel if you are reading this, call me or stop by to catch up on all the things we never did together. You’ll have always have a place to stay in New York when you fly in for your wife’s college reunions at Skidmore. And, thanks for the advice on my sermons too. Since rabbis now pay comedians to write jokes for their sermons, maybe you could write a few for me?

Facebook, social media

3 Reasons Why You Don’t ‘Like’ the New Facebook

Mark it. Wednesday, September 21 2001, Facebook changed the look of the website. Again. What else is new! Many on Twitter and Facebook are currently commenting about how much they lament the changes to Facebook. For a free service that you don’t have to use, I’m amazed that people are so angry about it.

We’ve already seen stories about how “everyone” dislikes the new Facebook, but is it really that bad? Come on folks, is it really the end of the world? With tweets like the three below, we get a sense of people’s reactions:

“Zuckerberg apparently hired the genius behind New Coke to run Facebook.” — @MarkArum

“Facebook continues to reinvent itself, by making itself less usable yet somehow exactly the same.” — @modeps

“Complaining about Facebook format changes is the ultimate 1st world problem.” — @Jenn1ferJun1per

Despite what people say, here are three reasons why you really don’t like the new Facebook

We are afraid of being uncool. Changing Facebook is just another “first world problem” of keeping up with the Jones. We fear that if we don’t know how to use social media, we’ll be laughed at or even worse, tweeted about. For most people over 50, that’s not a big concern. However, for the millions of 15-29 year-old users it is. It’s bad enough that we don’t have an iPad, but to not know how to use Facebook? We are done for. But, don’t worry, there are far greater things to worry about in this world.

We only like change on our terms. Read any good book on leadership and you will find out that being a leader is all about change. When our boss wants to change the way we do things at work we want to pour hot coffee down his pants. We don’t like change, but when we are the ones changing things it’s alright. Any successful process of change requires a lot of communication and a lot of support. Unfortunately, Facebook didn’t do either of these well. As a culture, we struggle with what it means to live life without routine. Routine is good, but being unable to adapt is our downfall.

We always think we know better. There is a reason why Facebook has like 600 million users. The people running it have the genius. That doesn’t mean they are always right, but they have been right enough to build a successful company. We love to complain because we think we know best. Like Monday Morning Quarterbacks, we sit in our chairs and complain about a free service. Part of life is admitting that you are not always right. There are always two ways of responding to a problem: either you are part of the problem or part of the solution.

So, if you don’t like the changes, let Facebook know and come up with some good ideas. Let’s be proactive and not reactive people. Let’s be a culture that navigates change well.

jerks

How Not to be an Internet Jerk

I’m sure you have found yourself on the other end of an internet conversation with a fanatical Christian… debating abortion, government intervention, homosexuality, and other hot topics. Or, you have tried to convince your friends of their woeful ways over Facebook. Either way, the results are not pretty.

Anyone can fall into the trap of being a jerk on the internet: forcibly offending others, name calling, passive aggressiveness, espousing incorrect statistics from questionable secondary sources, using ALL CAPS, posting embarrassing high school pictures, and just bad behavior. It seems Christians can, at times, be the worst offenders. At some point in our online experience everyone has been a jerk in one way or another.

Recently, Jon Acuff, a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, wrote an article for RELEVANT magazine (apparently deemed a “hipster-Christian” publication) about his experiences with jerkiness:

When RELEVANT asked me to write this article, I originally wanted to title it, “How to Be a Jerk on the Internet.” I felt like that article would be easier for me to write because I’ve got much more experience at being a jerk than I have at not being one—ask people who went to college with me. They’ll tell you. I was a jerk online before online even existed. (That last sentence was like Inception; I was a jerk within a jerk within a jerk.)

Acuff goes on to name five ways people (Christians) can be a jerk on Twitter and pretending . Perhaps my fav is the “Jesus juke”:

Debbie Downer

A Jesus Juke is an idea I came up with to describe the moment when you’re having a normal conversation and someone jukes in some Jesus out of nowhere. For example, I once tweeted that I was at the Conan O’Brien live tour and it was sold out. Someone responded, “If we held a concert for Jesus and gave away free tickets, no one would come.” Sad trumpet, whaaa, waaaa. A Jesus Juke is the Christian version of the Debbie Downer moment.

I’m not sure if the “Jesus juke” qualifies as jerk behavior. That’s called being lame.

Anyway, jerks and Christians jerks take note.

Full article

Facebook

Jesus, not Bieber, most 'Liked' recently

"Like" me, my son.

Apparent, Jesus is getting into the Facebook scene… and, he’s well liked. After using Facebook to push his diet products, Aaron Tabor, a doctor created a Facebook page called, Jesus Daily. He started the page in April 2009 as a hobby. Now, over 8 million people have ‘liked’ Jesus’ page. The New York Times reports:

For the last three months, more people have “Liked,” commented and shared content on the Jesus Daily than on any other Facebook page, including Justin Bieber’s page, according to a weekly analysis by AllFacebook.com, an industry blog. “I wanted to provide people with encouragement,” said Dr. Tabor, who keeps his diet business on a separate Facebook page. “And I thought I would give it a news spin by calling it daily.”

And…

More than 43 million people on Facebook are fans of at least one page categorized as religious.

Read about Tabor and his religious upbringing.

front, new, sub1, Unvirtuous Abbey

A Bunch of (un)virtuous Monks

Church and religion doesn’t have to be stuffy and boring. Several monks prove that. Enter the Unvirtuous Abbey. A bunch of monks give us everything regrettable about Christianity, culture, people, and Facebook but make us laugh at it… in a good way. The Unvirtuous Abbey ministers to people from their Facebook and Twitter page with funny and some serious tweets and updates. Some proclaim them virtuous and others unvirtuous. I took some time to sit down with these humorous monks to see what makes them tick. You be the judge:

You monks have some very funny and very serious prayers on Twitter and Facebook. Where do you receive inspiration?

What’s become evident is how many people have been hurt by religion/church. We wondered, “What if there were unapologetic monks who actually stood up to religious bullies? And what if we threw in a bit of ‘snark’ just to make it fun and interesting?”

Humour has incredible power. Religion has the capacity to be hurtful, and many people have used it was a weapon. It’s fun mashing up cultural references with Jesus. Of course Jesus didn’t have a magic sword, but it’s interesting to put him in that scenario:

Jesus held aloft his magic sword and said, “By the power of Grayskull!” And they spake unto one another, saying, “He has the power.”

The truth is, he does.

Your prayers mention WiFi, beer, fanny packs, Harry Potter, tattoos, and Joel Osteen. Is this what makes the monks “unvirtuous”?
Continue Reading…

Older Posts

Newer Posts

On Facebook