Greg Atkinson

Last week I spoke on my personal thoughts and learnings of how to use social networking at the M2Live webinar in Atlanta. If you missed it, you can see it HERE. I covered the 2 L’s of my philosophy: Listening through technology and Life-streaming. Watch the video and see if it helps you see new ways to use Twitter and Facebook.

Almost 2 months ago, my friend Scott Williams, wrote a blog post on his 3D philosophy of Twitter. I thought it was worth reposting. Check out what Scott had to say…

Twitter allows us to see people in the following 3 Dimensions:

1. Personal Dimension- The Personal Dimension is the dimension of Twitter where individuals share things about, life, family and is filled with many twitpics, yfrogs and LOL’s.  This is the dimension of Twitter where personality really pops out to the world of Twitter.  This dimension is most important and sets the tone for how the other two dimensions come into focus.

2. Professional Dimension- The Professional Dimension is the dimension that allows you to share expertise, experiences, thoughts, visions, trends, happenings… in your area of professionalism.  This is the dimension where the social media professional shares all things social media, the doctor shares all things medicine, the stay-at-home mom shares all things mommy, the pastor shares all things ministry and so on.  The personal and professional dimension will definitely have some overlap.

The professional dimension is the dimension where business twitter accounts should always remain.  It’s not pragmatic for business twitter accounts to share information from the personal dimension.  I other-words @starbucks  should not be tweeting about mowing the lawn, unless they are mowing the lawn and drinking a cup of Starbucks.  Starbucks should be tweeting about all things Starbucks Coffee and all things Starbucks Coffee Customers.  Unfortunately, some business twitter accounts get this one wrong all the time.

It’s important to understand that your followers may view your professional dimension a little broader than your professional role.  For instance Michael Hyatt is not just viewed as the CEO of Thomas Nelson, but also as a Social Media Expert, Blogger and Leadership Guru.  In this dimension I am viewed as a Pastor, Blogger, Social Media Guy, Leadership Guy etc.  If you want to know how the Twitter World views you, simply take a look at the categories of Twitter Lists that people have placed you in.

3. Thought Dimension- The Thought Dimension is the dimension deals with cognition.  Cognition–being the mental process of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, thinking, reasoning, and judgment.  This is the dimension that releases what’s going on inside of your head.  This dimension is filled with random quotes, random thoughts, the sharing of information that you have read or opinions that you may have.

The Thought Dimension will have overlap with both the Personal Dimension and the Professional Dimension.  I gather the most useful information from the Though Dimension.  @RevRunWisdom  has mastered the thought dimension, he is one of the most retweeted individuals on Twitter and 100% of his posts originate from this dimension.  Again, I love to share and receive from this dimension.  My life philosophy is this: dream BIG. think BIGGER.

In order for an individual to have well-rounded and effective Twitter experience, they must be able to see Twitter In 3D.  All three dimensions must be present.  Personally I think a Twitter Profile should outline these three areas in order, for instance here is how my twitter profile reads:Husband, Father, Thought Leader, LifeChurch.tv Campus Pastor, Speaker, Diversity… Al Gore invented the internet and I invented the #FistBump on Twitter!

Now You Can See, Twitter In 3D.

What Do You Think?  Share your thoughts on Twitter In 3D.

One of the TV shows I love to watch is Minute to Win It. Ever seen it? It’s on NBC and it’s a ton of fun. Search YouTube and you’ll see tons of people attempting to do the games at home. I got to talking with the youth pastor at my church and we decided the games used on the show would be great for games (and particularly a “Game Night”) at our church.

So two weeks ago, Jay (our youth pastor) and I browsed YouTube for the games we wanted to do on Game Night, downloaded the intro videos (as seen in this blog post) and then went off to the store to gather materials. The result? The youth loved it and most were familiar with the TV show and excited to get to attempt the fun games.

Yesterday, I did a secret shopper at 12Stone Church in Atlanta and they played Minute to Win It games in their children’s ministry. My kids thought it was fun and funny.

So, go to YouTube, search Minute to Win It and start incorporating some new, fun games for your kids/youth!

Who wins when the world champion talented Lakers play against a Boston team with a bench full of heart? The Celtics (last night). Time after time I’ve seen it. I’ll take someone with heart and passion over someone just plain talented every time.

Boston coach, Doc Rivers, noticed what was going on and chose to keep his starters out of the game and let his bench continue to play with heart. It was a genius move.

When you look for team members, do you look for heart and a passion that you can’t teach?

Sorry for stepping away a few days. I’ve been out of town for a week and didn’t take my laptop with me. I’ve been working on some great new projects that I look forward to telling you about soon.

Bear with me as I’m getting the comments imported over to the new blog. Some of you have commented lately, but they didn’t appear. Hopefully they will soon. If you’re experienced with importing IntenseDebate comments – let me know. Also, my email (greg@gregatkinson.com) is temporarily down. If you’ve tried to email me, I apologize. I hope to have it back up soon. If you need me, DM me on Twitter.

I’ve traveled the country teaching on social media and the changes happening all around us. I’ve tried to educate, inform and challenge listeners. This video does all that and more in a matter of minutes. Watch it!

Parable Creative is a creative agency that helps ministries and non-profits. I’m proud to serve on the board of this new organization and will be at our first board meeting in Atlanta this coming Monday night. Check out this slide presentation…

A lot of churches are online – maybe they have a website, maybe a Facebook page, maybe a Twitter account – BUT do you actually have a strategy for how you’ll use these tools? Have you given ownership to and empowered volunteers in your church to be active on Facebook and present on Twitter?

If you’re on Facebook and Twitter, are you simply a broadcast model of making announcements or are your fostering community and starting discussions? Do you have a mobile strategy? I’ve blogged about the need for having a mobile strategy before and will blog more about it in the future.

My friend, Tony Steward (Online Community Pastor at LifeChurch.tv), said that they have a 3 phase strategy. Note the order: 1. Facebook 2. Mobile 3. The church website – They put more focus, attention and priority in Facebook than their church website. I think that’s wise.

How are you using online tools in your ministry?

I’m working on a new look for the blog and hope to be able to offer you some new resources soon. How was your Memorial Day holiday? Mine was great.

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