m-musings

Drawbacks to The Cloud? (CNN)

Here at the agency, we embrace the cloud.  It’s especially helpful for collaboration with our clients.  But our cloud is internal and secure.  Consider that Facebook and other social networks operate on a cloud concept as well; therefore, there are privacy issues that you should be aware of as you’re socializing or networking on the web. 

Holy App! Church Has Gone Social.

How times have changed.  I remember when I was the oddball back in 2008.  I’d just joined Twitter. There were probably only three people in my church that were on Twitter at the time; the majority of my congregation just didn’t get it.  If I took my smart phone out during service to tweet or share what I heard or experienced, I would get “looks” as if I were being irreverent.  The only entity at that time that I knew that was seriously combining their ministry with social media was on Twitter.  LifeChurch.tv arguably hosted the first legitimate all-virtual worship service online.  Mind you, they had a huge campus in OKC, but the worship service online, was an interactive webcast solely for people online.  “Bedside Baptist Church” would never be the same.   I met the pastor of the OKC campus that is home to some 30,000 congregants (@ScottWilliams), where else but on Twitter? 

But what a difference a few years makes when technology is moving so fast.  Between then and now, Twitter exploded. Facebook blossomed to 600 million users.  iPhones and Android phones forced Blackberry to play catch up. A couple of iterations of the iPad have forced other tablets onto the scene.  Kindles and Nooks have evolved, and now we’re seeing websites like YouVersion which allows you to read and study the Bible in nearly any translation from your laptop, desktop, smart phone, tablet or eBook reader—all while sharing socially and interacting live, in real time with other Bible studiers.

Now, I’m not an oddball anymore. Protestants and Catholics, Jews and Gentiles, all seem to be onboard. I caught this report on CBS Sunday Morning a couple weeks ago, and realized, this trend is definitely being adopted across faiths. (Check out the Jewish app makers in the report.)

Let’s face it…people are showing faith in technology and the information-, even, gospel-sharing power of social media.  And I’m excited about it. I personally thought the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19) was the first PR case study for an effective call to action.  What a way to get the word out. 

Afterall, church bodies are based on the very concept of community, and that is definitely aligned with the premise of social media.  Now when I glance down the aisle, and my Pastor is beginning his message, I see iPhones, iPads, eReaders and other tablets along with Bibles, as everyone is reading from the same scripture; it is just a different way to access the Word.  I knew it had taken hold when my Pastor, @BryanLCarter (who is now on Twitter—give him a follow!), toted an iPad into the pulpit, then volleyed between his study Bible and his tablet to deliver multiple text to his sermon. Thank God for touch-technology…it moves faster than page turning!  My church,  Concord Church in Dallas began streaming its multiple services live online a couple of years ago.  This year, my pastor proudly announced the church’s new app.  Concord Church’s app can be found in the Android Market or the iPhone App Store, and it allows us to hear podcasts of sermon series, stay in touch with upcoming events, stream live worship services and read and share the Bible.

And by the way, seems everyone at my church is connected on Facebook. 

No more “looks” in the pews for me when I whip out my smart phone to check in on FourSquare or break out our nookColor to access the Bible!  And I can appreciate the fact that when life takes our members to other parts of the country or even the world, they can stay connected with their home church.

What do you think about this convergence of old (religion) with new (technology)?  Is your house of worship engaging social media or technology in a unique way?  Let me hear from you.

Technorati Tags: Social Media,Technology,Church,Religion,LifeChurch.tv,YouVersion,Twitter,Facebook,streaming,iPad,iPhone,Android,App,Nook,Kindle,Concord Church,Scott Williams,Bryan Carter

The Privacy Debate: "Life 3.0"

Last week, I posted an article from CNN on my private Facebook profile that discussed how "undersharing" online might be a misstep for those looking to manage their reputation online.  While they spoke of how the collision of some personal and professional information online "balances" your image out for recruiter, revealing authentic dimensions to your online persona; the article also warned of those perils repeatedly told, of how information on the Internet never really goes away and to be aware of the life thread you create with the information that you share.  It could paint a negative picture, experts warn.

I've even written about how you might approach managing or even creating your online image in the post "What's Your Internet Snapshot."  But as some of you may know from updates on Twitter, posts on my blog or even updates on the agency Facebook page, I've been reading The Facebook Effect.  And I've come to the chapter where Facebook launches the feature that would make or break the social platform--The Newsfeed. The author, David Kirkpatrick, does a fantastic job of building up the intrigue while painting a picture of how the entire organization was poised to celebrate the launch of the new feature.  They literally broke out the "bubbly," but to their dismay, they began to receive new forms of hate mail--Facebook groups emerged in protest, one of which was growing by the thousands by the minute against the Newsfeed.  Why?  They said they felt that they were being forced into "stalkerdom" and that the service encouraged "stalkerish" behavior.   The writer goes on to reveal Mark Zuckerberg's thinking throughout this reported "dark time" at Facebook.  Had he been wrong about Facebook user's desire to "know more about the people they cared about?"  Or had he been right?

Later in the chapter, the author goes on to explore how this very moment in the young company's history shaped the position of the social network and how it would move forward.  Zuckerberg pushed for "transparency" and the Newsfeed was the very vehicle that would fulfill that vision. It was an ongoing debate among Facebook executives.  Some debated that one's personal information and professional information should be separate.  After all, The Newsfeed launch coincided with another launch that would change Facebook.  They called it "open reg."  It's the period of time when Facebook would open up it's registration to include adults and not just college students and high school student. Students didn't yet have a "professional" image to guard.  Only a few weeks later, Facebook opened up to adults.

And the privacy issue became real.  From The Facebook Effect--

"The older you are, the more likely you are to find Facebook's exposure of personal information intrusive and excessive.  Many adult users of Facebook have trouble accepting the idea that a singe profile should conflate their personal and professional lives."

One tech writer quoted in the book called this conflate, "life 3.0." 

And I have to say that it's not only here, but for others resisting it, it is inevitable.  If it's not in the least bit scary to you, then you might not have much to lose in life.  There have been reports on the privacy issue and Facbook in the news over the past two days. 

 

Then I've simultaneously  listened and reflected on Zuckerberg's position--that even if you keep the personal and professional separate online, a thorough search of the Internet will ultimately bring the two together and paint a picture of you.  He believes we should therefore embrace it.

So if Facebook isn't founded on the idea of keeping information private, in fact it finds merit in transparency and authenticity (two concepts that sound fairly positive on the surface), these demands, all out cries, for more privacy measures for this social network will be in constant conflict with how people seem to be actually behaving and Facebook's percieved agenda of openness. Facebook is after all 600 million strong and growing...primarily with more adults., and nearly every week a new feature is quietly introduced that reveals more about your friends.

It definitely explains why with every "upgrade" that Facebook slips in, it typically renders the social platform more open, not closed.  Have you noticed?  So the pattern is, listen for the public uproar, apologize only a little, then pull it back...but just a little. Reading the history of Facebook, this is a dramatic shift in what it started to be. After all, it began as a way to simply allow elite groups of people who knew each other on campus at Harvard  to stay connected.

The fact is, that "we" continue to willingly, not by any means coerced, pour our information into Facebook at no cost to them (in fact to their profit), but then we complain when Facebook is only doing what the company is really all about--openness and transparency.   

So do we really want privacy?  Really?

As long as the social sphere multiplies with users and platforms, our actions, as a whole,  say no. Zuckerberg is on to something.  But you knew that already, didn't you?

What are your feelings about this?

Slamming the iPad is Wrong on So Many Levels

Now, I’m a huge fan of the Android platform but understand that all of this smart phones and tablets and even social media have created all sorts of opportunities for people around the world to make money.  So what in the world was Jesse Jackson, Jr. thinking when he said this?

Shut the front door. 

Demystifying "The Cloud"

If you're wondering what "the cloud" is, we're here to tell you that it's not as mystical as you might think. In fact, you participate "in the cloud" each time you log onto a social network and share information.   The cloud didn't just appear.  It's been  around for some time.  It's just been conceptualized as a metaphor.  The cloud is ultimately another name for the Internet and the network of servers and computers where the applications actually live.   The cloud is reallying bringing all the applications you need to do what you do to you, so that you won't have to store all the applications on your computing device--wheter it's a smartphone or a tablet or a Mac or PC.  In fact, it makes sharing across platforms simple.

So what in the world does that have to do with public relations?  Here at the agency we use the cloud on a daily basis...beyond simply e-mail, which by the way has been our primary access to the cloud for almost 20 years now.  (Yes, the cloud is that old!)   Our favorite cloud space right now is Huddle for collaboration, CRM, document sharing and versioning, knowledge base management and communications.  Huddle is our private cloud.  Our clients are digging it. 

Want more insight on the so-called cloud? Here is a basic video that will help you navigate the cloud.  Don't be afraid.  The cloud is not a spooky thing.  The cloud is your friend, and chances are you're floating on one as you read this. :)

 

The State of Cloud Computing from JESS3 on Vimeo.