the Social Sidekick: Using Social Media for Games

This Sunday we are taking an old game and making it new while also using it as a huge promotional piece for our Student Ministry.

What are we doing?  We are taking the old, Photo Scavenger Hunt that you used to play with cameras (remember those?) and turning it into the Instagram Photo Scavenger Hunt in our own facility (the nZone).  I know, it’s not much different.  However, it is an updated version of the game and it will provide us with a HUGE opportunity to promote out student ministry as that same time.

“How will this be a HUGE opportunity to promote our student ministry?”

It’s a huge opportunity for us for 3 simple reasons:

1. Almost every teen in your program is using Instagram (and all their friends who aren’t coming).  They love to snap pictures of themselves and what they are doing and post it all over Instagram.  You become culturally relevant when you incorporate social media like Instagram into what you are doing at group.
2. You can take old games and re-purpose them as an updated version.  Good, quality games are hard to come by now-a-days.  Once you’ve played sardines for the 10th time, it becomes a little hard for students to get excited about it.  By taking this old game and updating it a little with social media, you change it enough where students can get excited about it again.
3. It is an easy, organic promotional material for all your students friends who aren’t coming to your program.  Your students are going to be posting pictures of themselves doing funny things with other students.  Then, they are going to be hashtagging or mentioning your Student Ministry Instagram account.  When their friends who don’t come to your ministry or even know Christ sees this, they are probably going to explore your ministry a little and hopefully come to know Him.

Because of these 3 reasons, incorporating social media can be a game changer from this moment forward for our student ministry.  It will liven things up with our students and provide an easy way to self-market through our teens.  I’m really excited about how doing these kinds of things with social media will help our student ministry.

Have you used social media during an actual youth group event at all?  How have you seen it as a game changer?

That, I think is the best reason why you need to use social media in your student ministry.