July 7, 2012

Twitter helps churches, leaders spread the word

An examination of the most popular tweets finds spiritual messages trumping the mundane.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Twitter gives the impression of being obsessed with mindless trivia, from Justin Bieber's latest heartfelt tweet to LeBron James' reflections on winning the NBA championship.

But Atlanta-based Twitter executive Claire Diaz-Ortiz learned something surprising from an examination of the most popular tweets: Spiritual tweets were whooping up on the mundane.

"We came upon data that religious leaders were completely punching above their weight on Twitter," she said. "They were super-engaged."

Though Lady Gaga might have 26 million followers to Joyce Meyer's 1 million, Meyer, a charismatic evangelist based in St. Louis, was having a bigger impact because of her connection with her followers.

"Joyce Meyer will send out, whether a Bible verse or uplifting commentary, or an aphorism or a message, and we see her being retweeted more than Lady Gaga," Diaz-Ortiz said. Such retweeting produces more ripples than the original message because the rule in social media is that a message from a friend has more impact than a message from an institution.

Twitter, like other social media, is dedicated to serving its big customers, so Diaz-Ortiz relocated to Atlanta this year for easy access to the megachurches in the Southeast, and the religious leaders that set Twitter on fire.

Among them are heavy hitters such as Andy Stanley of Atlanta's 25,000-member North Point Ministries, with 177,000 followers.

Stanley, 54, has embraced social media as a way to stay in touch with a large congregation without being spread too thin.

"You don't have all the time in the world to do this face-to-face relationship-building," Diaz-Ortiz said. "Twitter is an excellent way for him to reach his flock."

Stanley's tweets range from Bible verses to personal history to name-checking amusing product reviews in Amazon. He also retweets folks ranging from Gene Simmons of KISS to Albert Einstein.

While conservative and progressive churches connect with their congregations through social media, it's a natural fit for Christian churches that are directed by the Bible to spread the word.

 

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