Social+Networking+-+Communities+for+Christ

= Please click on this link to see a list of @Twitter Suggestions. If you can add to our list, please do! =

=As a class, we will collaborate to create a list of pros and cons about using Social Media in faith-based settings. Please add your pros and cons below, beneath the name of your coach. __**Please put your NAME next to your comments!**__=


 * EXAMPLE:**

**PROS**:
 * Easier to communicate with youth (Melody Grogan)
 * There is a lot of information about our faith, activities, etc... with several different formats to use to share with others on social networking sites (Claudia McIvor)
 * Is a new avenue for relational ministry (Sr. Caroline Cerveny)
 * Many of the people we serve in ministry are already on social media, so creating small group communities for book discussions in an online format becomes easy. (Katie Choudhary)


 * CONS: **
 * There are many social networking sites to use, and trying to choose the best one for your parish may be challenging.(Melody Grogan)
 * Trying to keep up with all of the new technologies can be a daunting task (Melody Grogan)
 * Sometimes it is hard to get members of the Parish Staff behind something new and different. (Claudia McIvor)

Response from Jackie Karmol PROS +Ability to reach families with the Good News who are not active church goers by using technology they understand. +Ability to speak in a language that is age-appropriate as compared to homilies which seem to be geared to one age group. +Ability to post daily God moments to show families that God exits in everyday life. +Ability to have a digital community to pray together for a common cause - digital prayer network. +Ability to use church celebrations and sacaments pictures/videos as a teaching tool. CONS +Making sure sites forwarded are true Catholic sites which support Catholic teaching. +Keeping posts by participants revelant to topic. +Making sure the Social Media you are using is safe and private. +Allowing work time to keep social media avenues current and up-to-date.
 * Sr. Caroline Cerveny's Group**

Thank you Jackie. Your points are helpful and important. Thanks for sharing. Good to see that you already have a digital discipleship mindset in your pros.


 * Pro- Reaching those outside of those who attend mass/church (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Pro- Able to share the good happening within ministry that all can see (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Pro- Reaching people where they are at. (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Pro- Sharing post, ideas, prayers, events etc that we are part of a larger church outside of our local community. (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Pro- Building community within a faith based community. (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Pro- Ability to build small groups with digital media (not having to ask people to attend another event physically) (ie...bible study, prayer group etc) (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Con- Not everyone does social media. Need to be able to connect those people to. (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Con- Is what is being posted true to the Catholic Church. (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Con- No face to face contact. (Tammy Mansveld)
 * Con- Assuring the safety of what is happening online. (Tammy Mansveld)

Tammy - good points here, thank you. Both you and Jackie highlight that there are all sorts of Catholic sites that have information. Just like "Fake" news, we can have poor Catholic information websites. It is important to guide our children and families to understanding how they recognize good Catholic websites...in addition to directing them to good Catholic websites and online information. (Sr. Caroline)

- Pro - Being able to reach my students who may be out of school. - Pro - Keeping my students within their school faith community, as well as, when they graduate. - Pro - Allow my students to develop their own prayer group, as well as, use this opportunity to share and give support to others. - Pro - A better way of communicating with students and possibly their parents - Con - Less visual contact with students - Con - Keeping up with technology - Con - Making the necessary time to participate.

Carol Hartmann 12/28/17 Pro Potential to create Professional Learning Networks Pro Share Vetted Catholic Sources Pro Create well written content and push across platforms to reach wider audience Con I only us Social Media for PD, not K-8 Students Con Time constraints to share links and create original content Con Network needs to be managed to keep conversation focused and avoid unwanted distractions such as sales marketers.


 * Kellie De Leo's Group**
 * ‍‍‍‍‍Pro-Easy access to resources ( Susan Dengler)
 * Pro-New concepts to provide information for our faith (Susan Dengler)
 * Con-Making the time to go to each website and check for posts(Susan Dengler)
 * Con-Because these tools are global, not everyone wants to be a part of in everyone's life (Susan Dengler)‍‍‍‍‍

‍‍High school students tend to be quite tech savvy and I think they would be attracted to social media sites as a more novel way to develop their spirituality (pro) There is a great deal of inappropriate material online and monitoring content could be problematic (con) It can be impersonal (con) Ann Frearson‍‍


 * Pro-Able to evangelize with more people(Donna Sattler)
 * Pro-A fast and easy way to get the word out on upcoming events or a prayer list.(Donna Sattler)
 * Pro-Easy way to share ideas and information on our faith.(Donna Sattler)
 * Con-No Face to Face contact. Missing the Physical aspects of God's Love.(Donna Sattler)
 * Con-The older generation does not like computers or want to learn.(Donna Sattler)


 * Ruth Manlandro's Group**


 * Pro - Social Media is low cost marketing tool that is able to get the word out instantly. (Aida Tristan)
 * Pro - Social Media also caters to a larger audience and generates interaction from those viewers. (Aida Tristan)
 * Con - It takes away the face to face communication. (Aida Tristan)
 * Con - It is time consuming. (Aida Tristan)

pros - reaches many families where they are at; instantaneous (we had a snow closure recently); sharing visual media is much easier and lest costly than providing actual reproductions to each person; the possibility of virtual discussion groups, pre-tests & follow-up quizzes (for faith formation), and user created content (faith formation families, for example) is intriguing - is it legal is the question. (Brenda Bellamy) cons - so many distractions!; filtering out false and misleading information is sometimes not possible (example: posting a link to youtube); there is no paper trail, or the virtual trail can be easily masked; moderating discussions is time consuming; our parish has an enormous socio-economic spread - we need to be careful about assuming that a person has access to any one given platform. (Brenda Bellamy)


 * Andrea Slaven's Group**
 * Pro - ability to create target group (i.e. Facebook Page for parents of religious education students) to foster communication and build community (Dave Gruber)
 * Con - sometimes that "forces" participants into a network they do not use, want to use - they prefer Twitter, Facebook better suited for your particular usage, or someone has had an issue with being hacked on FB and do not want to use. (Dave Gruber)
 * Pro - ease of using curation techniques to share or retweet pictures, videos, links that are timely to communicating the Gospel and Teachings of the Church that are already available (Dave Gruber)-=
 * Pro - cost of using social media to parish budgets is minimal or free. (Dave Gruber)
 * Pro - notifications from social media sites often pop up or provide a notification on smart phones and tablets when info is posted (Jillian Frost)
 * Con - If notifications are not turned on, people may not always go back and check out what info has been provided (Jillian Frost)
 * Pro - Once people get in the habit of checking social media outlets for our church info, it will cut down on the amount of paper hand outs that will be needed (Jillian Frost)
 * Con - Some parents won't check any social media out of lack of time (Jillian Frost)


 * Pro-Very easy to connect with your interest group, create an event, direct awareness toward a need. (Sandra Beaugh)
 * Pro-Most people use some form of social media and the number of users are growing. (Sandra Beaugh)
 * Pro- Once older adults get over the fear of social media, they usually find themselves on it more than they ever thought they would. (Sandra Beaugh)
 * Pro- Calendars can be synced easily (Sandra Beaugh)
 * Pro- Links and information can be shared easily (Sandra Beaugh)
 * Con- Links and information that is shared is not always correct (Sandra Beaugh)
 * Con- Following up on comments/conversations can be time consuming. (Sandra Beaugh)
 * Con- Keeping up with changes/trends in social media can be frustrating. (Sandra Beaugh)


 * Linda Fitzsimmon's Group**


 * Pro - Sense of immediacy of event, information, etc. (Sr. Connie Derby)
 * Pro - Easy, instantaneous way of making contact with many people. (Sr. Connie Derby)
 * Pro - It can be fun and a real adventure to embark on a new way of communicating and connecting! (Sr. Connie Derby)
 * Both pro and con: You have to be attentive to and engaged (almost on a daily basis) with those with whom you are wishing to connect. A lot like any relationship. You can't just set this up and walk away letting the technology do the work. You have to be present. (Sr. Connie Derby)
 * Con - Not all online content reflects sound church teaching - some kind of content control is needed. (Sr. Connie Derby)

Thank you, Sr. Connie. You've offered some excellent insights. Your "con" relating to online content is so important to keep in mind. To some people, if something is on the internet, it must be true! That's why knowledge of technology, while important, isn't the whole story. We still need to be well-grounded and knowledgable in the faith, and to develop those all important skills to kindly correct and guide others when needed. (Linda Fitz)

Pro - Reaching out to those that feel alienated (Bonnie Schlott) Pro - Posts are available to view when they have time. (Bonnie Schlott) Pro - Reaching those that are homebound (Bonnie Schlott) Pro - Parishiners/Teens using social media will feel that you care about their needs. Some think the only way to communicate with the church is to walk through the doors. (Bonnie Schlott) Pro - Can be used as a follow up for Religious Ed. A quick post about the lesson can generate conversation at home (Bonnie Schlott)

Con - Lose that personal interaction (Bonnie Schlott) Con - It's easy to ignore a post or pretend you didn't see it (Bonnie Schlott) Con - Like we teach our kids in Safe Environment....something you post on the internet is forever (Bonnie Schlott) Con - Content can easily go astray, you lose the importance of the message (Bonnie Schlott) Con - It is easy to be negative when you don't have to look them in the eye (Bonnie Schlott)