Pontifex

I did it!  I finally sent a tweet to Pope Benedict XVI.

I don't really like Twitter.  There's no pictures.  There's no sentences.  (usually)  I tend to think of it as instant message but it's not because there's no give and take interaction, unless my receiver is "on."  If they are, then I switch to instant message.

Anyway, I wanted to encourage his Holiness for trying.  He is trying to reach out to people.  So I responded.

What did I tweet?  I thanked B16 for the Beatification of the Apostle of Prisons, Blessed Pere Marie Jean Joseph Lataste, op.

#chsocm

This is a hash tag for a new Twitter group, I just discovered.  I lurked tonight and the hour flew by.  They discussed using social media in church, what needs to be in place, and QR which is the Quick Response codes or bar codes products have.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I gather that this chat takes place every Tuesday night at 9:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time).  Any interested person can participate (or not, like me) and it's for all denominations that like to discuss topics of mutual interest.

The hash tag #chsocm is easy to remember if you associate it with Church Social Media.

I kept thinking of my parish.  It's not that I don't think we couldn't have the latest social media; I just don't think it's needed.  People like the bulletin.  That's where the vast majority are getting their parish news.  I don't see anyone (unless it's the teen Mass) checking their iPhone for updates, during the homily.  And we're doing alright.  We have one of the best, if not the best parish web site ever made by man. We have online registration for joining the parish, and other activities.  The pastor sends out important notices and appropriate messages via email.  Ministry schedules are on-line.  The parish is on Face Book.  Our entire Religious Education communicates via email.  We have what we need.

So if social media reflects the culture of the parish, then St. Mary's is up there.  Let us pray for those who fear new communication initiatives.

Pope Sends First Tweet

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Talk about the media!

Too Old for Facebook?

Robert Strohmeyer, in an article for PC World questions whether Baby Boomers are ruining the new social networks, like Facebook and Twitter.

In Are Baby Boomers Killing Facebook & Twitter Strohmeyer gives a little history of how we Boomers have affected everything we've ever been involved in, from school to business, to family life. It's a very interesting article.

It is true that our numbers have affected everything in our environment. I remember how crowded my elementary school was, how many schools had to be built to accommodate us, etc. I also remember that when our soldiers came back from Vietnam, they dribbled back, bit by bit. This was very unlike the mass arrival home of our fathers, after WWII. (Remember the pictures of the huge ticker tape parade in NY City.) The reason being is that too many babies were born all at once from our fathers coming home all at once.

They didn't want another baby boom.

So I'm not surprised that we're taking over Facebook and Twitter.

The question is, however, are we ruining it?

I suppose it all depends in what year you were born.

Do You Tweet?

If you use Twitter, set your location to Tehran & your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut down Iranians' access to the internet. Cut & paste & pass it on.