the Monday Morning Debrief: Instagram

Ok so I’m late to the Instagram party. That sounds a little odd considering that I’m big into the social media stuff. I’m always promoting the youth group stuff and my blog on twitter and Facebook. But Instagram, that wasn’t for me. Why would I need to post pictures of me or the youth on Instagram? That is what I thought until the past month.

See, I have a middle school daughter now and she has an iPhone . I know, I know, I’m one of those dads who got their daughter an iPhone when a simple phone would do fine. But honestly, I have good reasons and if you really want to know why she has an iPhone, email me and I’d be happy to share. So my daughter has an iPhone and I won’t let her have Facebook or Twitter yet. But I did let her have Instagram as long as it was private.

What I began to notice about her was that she was on it all the time! Literally, she’s always on it ALL THE TIME! That’s when I discovered that not only her, but a ton of middle schoolers are on it as well. They are on it for many of the same reasons my daughter is…because their parents won’t let them on Facebook and because they like to share pictures about their lives to others.

So, I joined the Instagram craze…but not me personally, my “ministry” did…nlstudents. I am now using Instagram to promote my ministry. I don’t use it for me personally…I don’t need to as I have other social media outlets I can do that on. But I realized that if I wanted another way to reach out to my middle school students, I need to be on what they were doing. I needed to be on Instagram to see what they were into, what they were doing and who they were. Pictures tell us a thousand words about each other and just seeing some of the pictures on my students Instagram profiles have enlightened me greatly…they have even enlighten me about my daughter.

So the question is, what social media platforms are you on…not you personally, but your ministry. Are you taking pictures to promote what you are doing and drawing people in? Or is that too “tech” and “new school” for you? Are you on these platforms to get to know your students better?

Whether these platforms like Instagram is for you or not, I want you to TAKE A MINUTE and give them an honest look. What could you use it for and how could your ministry benefit from it? Then, I want to encourage you to try them out. What platforms work best for your group? Then go with it. If we are really serious about reaching this generation of students, we have to be where they are. Which means whether it may seem too “tech” for us, we have to engage in it. Because again, that is where our students are.

Thoughts? Comments? Experiences? Post a comment so that we can all learn and benefit from it.