I find myself “preach tweeting” when I’m studying for a sermon as well. I just can’t help it! And if you’re Pentecostal like I am, you have to sprinkle some exclamation marks in there somewhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I think we should tag these sometimes awkward, sometimes context-lacking, sometimes off-the-wall and sometimes powerful 140 character sermons #preachtweets.

I’ve created a fun little chart to illustrate my observation. Disclaimer: By no means is this reliable empirical data.

There has been a lot of concern in recent days with Facebook’s privacy practices. Recently the Wall Street Journal exposed how Facebook and Twitter send your user information when you click on any external link. This violates Facebook’s own privacy agreement.

Basically, information called a referrer is sent to the site you visit after clicking on a link or ad from Facebook or Twitter. Within that referrer is a reference to your profile screen name or number. This information is collected by analytics trackers such as Google Analytics.

No longer are you an anonymous user, but with this information they have your public profile information at their finger tips. This has huge implications if you come across an unscrupulous site. If your Facebook privacy settings are not locked down, an advertiser can find your full name (sometimes your hyphenated maiden name) and even your address on your PUBLIC profile.

Facebook has launched a new program as well that gives certain websites your information so they can customize their site just for you. You may not know it but you are automatically opted into this program with the latest Facebook update. It’s only a pilot program for now, but in the future, your information could potentially be shared with thousands of sites across the net just by visiting.

Here are a few ways I came up with to protect yourself and your information:

• Lock down your profile and delete sensitive personal information. Go to Account -> Privacy Settings. Take 30 minutes and learn this like the back of your hand.
• Uncheck the following Account->Privacy Settings->Websites &Applications -> Instant Personalization Pilot Program
• DON’T CLICK (yes I’m yelling) external links from Facebook
• Delete your address and phone number from your profile. Hide your email address from everyone including friends. People can send you a message through FB’s private messaging service.
• If you have a hyphenated maiden name in your FB name, change this immediately. Your kids will use your maiden name for passwords and credit reports and applications. By posting this on Facebook, you give identity thieves a leg up on stealing  your family’s identity. And yes, they can find your kids because you linked to them on the FB relationships section.
• Un-friend people you do not know. You might be giving a crazy person your home address, photos of your beautiful family, and detailed information about your schedule.
• GET RID OF APPS (yes, I’m yelling again). Rogue apps do not have to hack your account, you give them the key to your front door. Cutsie polls and quizzes can be disguised as data mining applications.
• When you are done checking out Facebook for the day, log out and clear your cookies and sessions on your browser. If a website has subscribed to Facebook’s Instant Personalization program, they won’t be able to identify you. You can also browse Facebook in “Incognito Mode” or “Private Browsing”  within your browser so that cookies and sessions will not be stored on your computer.
• Don’t click Facebook Like buttons on websites and blogs. This may seem like a nice feature, but in reality it is a way to track your web habits. You’re handing Facebook advertising metrics.  If you like a website, bookmark it in your browser.
• Don’t post when you’re leaving your house for family vacation.

If you are really worried about your privacy, delete your account and find alternative means to connect with your friends. Facebook is reckless with your information. Only you can be vigilant to protect yourself and your family.

Go to Qhub

(via @smashingmag)

• Multi-site churches directions map
• Youth night progressive dinner map
• Outreach map to use internally
• Member directory for smaller churches
• Youth trip planner – post hotel and stopping point information for parents

Go to BatchGeo

(via Life Hacker)

Here’s a great little podcast explaining what Facebooks Open Graph means to you: Future Tense Podcast.

Currently, you are relatively anonymous when viewing websites. It takes a court order to link your name to your IP. Your IP follows you wherever you go and a website owner can track you down to your region where your ISP is located. That’s why you get ads that target the city or county you live in. However, they do not know your name or your behavioral preferences. Facebook Open Graph could possibly place advertisers one step closer to your privacy bubble.

Your “Like This” choices will follow you across the net and be used in an algorithm to control what content you are served as well as what content your friends see at initial visit. This is reality today. As of now, the only way you can be tracked on the net is if you leave a comment on a site, and that is if you use your real name. Facebook wants you to use your “identity” when surfing the interwebs. This word “identity” scares me a bit because of the implications of privacy.

A lot of publishers are diving full force into Open Graph because Facebook has a 400 million user audience. This means if you are concerned about your privacy, you should be mindful about the implications of viewing a site integrated into Facebook. Do your research, and find out if you’re OK with the new changes at Facebook. I encourage everyone to drill down and check every privacy option on Facebook. After all, it is your “identity” you’re putting out there.

What is Wordpress?

Straight from the horse’s mouth – Wordpress.org:

WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

In other words, Wordpress is a software you install on a web server that allows you to easily push information to the web. Wordpress can be used as a blog OR a regular website. The Wordpress software gives you access to the following:

• Thousands of free third-party plugins that help you make your site even more awesome. (Twitter feeds, contact forms, calendar etc) Plugins can be added from within the interface with no code knowledge whatsoever.
• Thousands of free themes to change the appearance of your site. There area also dozens of premium theme websites that provide professional designs at affordable pricing. Free themes can be added from within your WP console.
• Online access to edit your website instead from anywhere in the worldof relying on your church geek who uses proprietary software to update your web presence. You can also add other users to add/edit content.
• Easy learning curve – if you can create a document in Microsoft Word, you can add/edit content on a Wordpress site. WP contains a WYSIWYG console that gives you a visual before your data ever gets published.
• One of the most mature and widely used platforms. This means there are tons of articles and support forums to find answers to your questions.
• Content and design separation so you can easily change the look of your site without re-entering content.

To boil everything down, Wordpress is one of the easiest ways for you to quickly set up your website with no fuss.

How to Install Wordpress

Installing Wordpress manually can be quite a task for someone who has no experience with FTP, databases, and PHP config files. There are no worries if the previous sentence sent your brain whirling. Most hosting providers have a one-click solution to install Wordpress automatically. That means you don’t have to learn anything technical to get the job done. Here’s a list of popular hosts and their tutorials on how to install Wordpress.

• Hosts that use cPanel
  • Host Gator
  • A2Hosting
  • InMotion Hosting
  • Host Monster
  • Green Geeks
  • If your host uses cPanel but is not listed here, find the Fantastico button to install Wordpress easily
• MediaTemple
• GoDaddy
• More tutorials on installing WP manually and upgrading current installs

Learn about Wordpress

There are many great ways to learn about Wordpress. You can learn as a user, administrator, or a developer. Here are some great resources:

• Wordpress TV – Hundreds of great screencasts
• Book: Digging Into Wordpress – An extremely comprehensive book about everything Wordpress
• Official Wordpress Starter Docs
• WordPress – Overview
• How to login to WP Dashboard
• How to Activate Your Theme
• How to write a Post
• How to write a Page
• How to Add New Users
• How to Moderate Comments
• How to use Widgets
• How to use the Links feature
• Using the Media Library
• Using the WP Gallery Feature
• How to Become a WordPress Developer

Premium Theme Providers

• WooThemes
• UpThemes
• Elegant Themes
• Studiopress
• Theme Forest
• MOJO Themes

Easy Steps From Scratch

1. Purchase a domain through web host.
2. Order a Linux hosting account.
3. Login to your hosting control panel and find the Fantastico button or a button to add applications.
4. Install Wordpress to your root directory. http://yourdomain.com/  not http://yourdomain.com/blog
5. Go to: http://yourdomain.com/wp-login.php and use the credentials given to you during the installation process.
6. Make your Wordpress site awesome.

You don’t have to be a techie to get this done. Just follow these simple steps and you’re on your way. I hope this helps you get a better understanding of the Wordpress platform and how it can make your organization a success on the internet.

The solution is pretty simple. Instead of typing your username/email into the login information, prefix it with the the handy little “recent:” filter. The proper syntax would be: recent:yourname@gmail.com This also works with Google Apps.  Your emails will start flowing like a river again in all of your clients. Be sure to check “Leave messages on server” on every account setup, otherwise the first client to download will also delete the emails on the server, and your other email clients won’t be able to download those messages at all.

Pages

• Intended for organizations, companies, bands, brands, celebrities etc.
• A place to post updates, not good for interaction.
• Fans can view updates in their feed.
• Updates can be pushed to a Twitter account.
• Multiple admins, but updates are always from the page profile avatar, not personal avatars.
• Unlimited number of fans.
• Cannot mass email fans.
• No privacy settings.

Groups

• Created for interaction among members.
• Limit of 5,000 members.
• Can assign other admins, list officers, and block members.
• Mass email group members (under 5,000).
• Updates show personal avatars rather than the group avatar.
• Privacy settings – invite only, public, etc.
• Updates cannot be pushed to Twitter.
• Updates cannot be viewed in member’s feeds.

It is my opinion that churches who want to throw their social networking eggs into the Facebook basket should have both a page and a group. The group can be used to collect photos and have discussions about events and the page can be used for announcements and your Twitter account. Typically, discussions are very rare within a Facebook groups, however you can use discussions during youth events by creating a poll or something similar and driving members to use it. Groups are important if you want to get news out quickly via email to all of your members. With pages, a member might miss your update if they don’t check their account very often. I hope this helps you figure out your Facebook strategy!

For more in depth reading check out Mashable’s post on Pages vs. Groups.

Go to Ministry CSS