John Hayward Posted: 24 June 2009
Keywords: Science & Technology, Worldviews & Culture,
This weekend, I discovered Twitter. I have been following the news on Iran's presidential election perhaps closer than most people in the UK - in part because I speak a dialect of Persian and visited the country in the days preceding the 2005 election that saw Ahmadinejad come to power. On Saturday, I wanted to find out more than the mainstream news services were reporting, and I soon discovered #iranelection. It wasn't long before I was watching the latest mobile phone footage exposing the regime's brutal response to protests on the streets of Tehran. It also wasn't long before I had worked out who some of the more trustworthy primary sources of information were, enabling me to 'follow' them, rather than having to sift through the constant stream of new 'tweets' trying to discern what was genuinely new and what was reliable.
Regular readers may recall that earlier in the year we wondered whether Twitter was perhaps a comment on society. One respondent suggested, 'It's just a tool.' The question is, what kind of tool is it? It was designed to enable friends, family and co-workers to stay connected. However, its restriction of 140 characters means that email, facebook, the phone, or even old-fashioned letter-writing are better tools for achieving that purpose, when seeing people face-to-face is not possible. Yet, perhaps its real purpose is proving to be as a means of getting information out to people.
Two months ago, high-tech activism via Twitter, Facebook and SMS messages that resulted in anti-Communist protests in Moldova was dubbed the 'Twitter Revolution'. Even though this might more accurately be called a 'New Technology Revolution', the truth is that, although some Iranian election protesters used communications technology to mobilise people, most of the organisation happened by more traditional means - word of mouth. Nevertheless, it was a communications revolution in the sense that the protestors used the technology to show the world what was happening.
Concluding a recent sermon on 1 John 2:28-3:10, I suggested that 'Anyone who is born of God will be concerned not only for their best friends but also the nominal members of their fellowship, and the Christians who are unable to get out and about very often; they will be the ones who make an effort to write to the often-forgotten missionaries, sharing the things God is doing in the home church, the things God has revealed to them recently through the Scriptures.'
I know a number of churches that use email as a tool to encourage and promote prayer among their members, and others whose websites include an updated diary of events. I also know a number of overseas Christian workers who stay in touch by sending news, photos and cultural insights via blogs. I now wonder whether churches should be adding Twitter to our communications toolboxes and, if so, how we might best use it. Simply to stay in touch with our overseas members, particularly those who have mobile phone access but limited internet access? As another source of information to inform our prayers for persecuted believers around the world? To ensure our prayers for the nation are informed, by subscribing to the latest updates from our local MP (apparently 10% of Parliament is now on Twitter), Parliament and Government?
Twittering is already a way of communication. the question is not whether your church should twitter, but how should it twitter. Twittering has already made a vast impact on the political landscape of Iran. Twittering will also impact the religious landscape in general, and the church in particular. As the printing press lifted the "soli scriptura" from the realm of rhetoric to realm of practice, so will social media lift the theological term "priesthood of all believers" into a common reality.
Samuel Son (via FB) 24 June 2009
God intended twittering for birds ;-)
Jonathan van Tongeren (via FB) 24 June 2009
Parliament and many EU countries make extensive use of twittering, for reporting floor debate in realtime, communicating within teams, and getting their marketing message out.
Whenever you need asynchronous realtime communication and might be tempted to use sms, I say reach for Twitter.
J. Nathan Matias 29 June 2009
I just started using Twitter for a conference and it definitely generated some discussion. I doubt it will last long in the grand scheme of things but it is useful. Most people in a session at the conference discussing Twitter thought it was best used for conversations rather than marketing. If you have a broad network of people you follow and who follow you, you potentially can access a lot of information very quickly (from your phone).
Nigel Eady 30 June 2009
Love your thoughts. Check out http://twitterforchurches.com
Anthony Coppedge 11 July 2009
Don't want to seem to spoil the party with some anti-twitter thoughts but I have some reservations.....
Does it matter how much information you actually receive - from far flung places. The electronic global connectedness that we all experience - does it make us any more fulfilled or happy. Are our prayers "better" in some way because we are "more informed" about a country. Dont we have enough stimuli - more than our minds can handle - from our immediate network of family and friends. Is there a limit that God has placed on us - 2 eyes, 2 ears, one mouth and one brain. Twitter like other forms of electronic communication gives a lot of information and very quickly. System overload?
I know that the apostle Paul used the medium of his day - the written word and the infrastructure the Roman empire provided to communicate the Gospel. How come Jesus never did. He never courted a following. e.g In John 7 we read how his brothers urged him to use the public stage to get his message across, but he declined.
Creation of illusion - the archbishop has said it already but social networking can give the impression of having lots of friends. Hundreds of people may follow me on the net but when I die, my body may not be discovered for months as I don't know my neighbours. Thats the internet community. OK, I may be spotted/missed on CCTV.
I am sure the Internet will have the same huge impact on corporate and personal religious life in our day as the invention of printing. But I am not sure its going to make one iota of difference to God's plans and purposes for his kingdom.
Swaraj jeyasingh 4 September 2009
That's understandable that money makes us independent. But what to do when someone has no money? The only one way is to try to get the loan and just bank loan.
STEVENSONJami 19 March 2010