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COMMUNICATIONS

Social Media

More and more social media is becoming an integral part of our ministries, and it can be helpful to have guidelines in place to ensure our ministries online remain above reproach. Our channels are to be guided by two general rules – do no harm and do good.

Do No Harm

• Be accurate in what you share and ensure that you have all the facts about your subject correct. If you make a mistake, admit it and be quick to correct it.
• Respect the privacy of others – do not publish the personal information of others in your community without their permission.
• Respect your audience and be respectful of The United Methodist Church and its teachings.
• Remember that social media is not the venue for constructive debate.
• Before posting, ask yourself, “Does this comment reflect the love of God, or will it do harm to others?”

Do Good

• Be aware that people can land on your page from a Google search and read just one post without any additional context. Your social media footprint is less like a family room and more like your front yard.
• Ask before posting, “Will this post bring God’s goodness and grace to those that read it?”

Best Practices for Sharing Online

• Use your social media to welcome people into your fellowship.
• Your ministry’s social accounts can be viewed by the public. This means that they should be treated no differently than what you would place on the exterior sign of the church for passers-by to see.
• Do not use social media to promote anything you cannot promote outside the walls of your church building.
• Be smart. From a legal perspective, you are responsible for what you post, so follow all copyright rules and any other relevant laws.
• To livestream music, your church must purchase a Streaming and Podcasting license and then only post music that is part of the catalog of the company from which you purchased the Streaming and Podcasting License. View church copyright licensing information.
• To livestream movie clips, you must follow the guidelines of your Conference-provided CVLI license. View church copyright licensing information.

Best Practices for Facebook

• Facebook pages are public, so share posts that promote your ministry, celebrate your community, and invite people to join you.
• On average, share no more than one to two times a day on a Facebook page. These posts are generally your evergreen content, general announcements, engagement posts (questions, discussion posts, etc.) and photo or video highlights.
• Feel free to share several times daily to your Facebook Stories. These are generally quick and impromptu clips. Not generally viewable after 24 hours.
• Facebook groups can be private, and when they are you can treat these as a small group. Share more intimate posts, but beware of cliques, gossip and other negativity that can form.

Best Practices for Instagram

• Instagram pages are public, so share posts that promote your ministry, celebrate your community, and invite people to join you.
• On average, share once a day on an Instagram page. These posts are generally your evergreen content, general announcements, engagement posts (questions, discussion posts, etc.) and photo or video highlights.
• Instagram encourages you to share several times daily to your Instagram Stories. These are generally quick and impromptu clips. Not viewable after 24 hours but can be “highlighted” to last longer.
• Using hashtags (# before a word) will make your post easier to find in a search.

Best Practices for Twitter

• Twitter pages are public, so share posts that promote your ministry, celebrate your community, and invite people to join you.
• Twitter is built around the idea of discussion so you will need to post regularly to have your posts be seen with any consistency.
• Because of this you should post eight to 15 times a day on your Twitter page.
• You are limited to a character count, so you will need to be brief in whatever you share.
• Using hashtags (# before a word) will make your post easier to find in a search.

Best Practices for TikTok and Snapchat

• These platforms are built for video and music content.
• TikTok is a great space for fun videos, message clips, encouraging posts and items.
• Snapchat is best for small groups as a communication tool. Be wary, as the design of the service is to have messages disappear after being viewed. But the filters over photos are fun.

If you have questions about your church or ministry social ministry accounts, please e-mail Brett Hetherington in the Communications office or call him at (800) 831-3972 ext. 119.