Me and the Lord Jesus on Facebook. Using Twitter one with Christ. Social networking, the Lord Jesus, and me

What does God have to do with the social networks? What does Jesus have to do with Facebook? Can you actually have God seen or expressed on twitter? In the world of free expression of everything that's going through your head, everything you see, everything you want to do, all your emotions, the things around you, etc - can you actually say something meaningful about the Lord Jesus? Can you find Jesus on twitter? Do you see Christ on facebook? Is the word of God on Google+? - these questions many Christians face and deal with in one way or another, mostly ignoring the Lord when it comes to social networking...

It's free to use the social networks, and this also means that you can literally say whatever you want, you can post pictures and videos and other media items - freely! The social networks allow you not only to connect with people you know, but with people you never met nor will ever meet, with all kinds of superstars and dignitaries, famous people or infamous persons, and you can "become best friends" with people you have no idea how they look like, what do they really do, what's their personality like, etc. Many times I am asked - probably TOO many times I am asked, Stefan, do you really know EACH and EVERY ONE of your over 2.8K friends on Facebook? Do you know each one of your over 1K followers on twitter? I stopped trying to answer this kind of questions, even though for a while people would start naming my friends and asking me "how did you meet them? Who are they?"

But what about expressing Christ on Facebook? How about speaking the Word of God on twitter? What if we +1 the articles and websites with spiritual and nourishing food? How is our being on the social networks - do we use these intensely personal and private websites (which happens in public...) together with the Lord? Have we ever asked the Lord to be with us as we browsed our friends' pictures on Facebook? Have we ever prayed for our followers or the ones we follow and chat with on twitter? Did we ever ask the Lord's advice and feeling as we use the social networks? Or do we just post how we feel ("I'm bored", "what is everyone doing - I'm dead bored", etc - the most popular status updates), what we think about (cool quotes from famous rappers, movies, world renown philosophers, inspirational quotes, etc), or where we're going / what we're doing... ?

No, we don't have to be super-spiritual while using Facebook or twitter, we can and should write things we are interested in, but what if we share with the ones we're friends with / the ones we follow something of our enjoyment of the Lord? Have you ever felt responsible for your friends on facebook? Has it ever crossed your mind that you owe the gospel to each and every friend you have on facebook? You may be among max. 100 people in school, but the average number of friends one has on facebook these days is close to 500, and on twitter is rising up to 100-200... We as Christians - no matter how we feel, what we had for breakfast, or what we are thinking of right now - owe all the people we interact with THE GOSPEL!

And the gospel is simply the Word of God! If we enjoy something in the Word, why not share a verse on Facebook as a status update? If we enjoyed a song or a hymn chorus, why not share it either on twitter, on facebook, in a facebook group or on a facebook page, on our google + stream, or even as our Skype status! All these means of communication and interacting are just helping us express how we really feel - we love the Lord Jesus! "I don't care now how I feel / I just know that this is real / And I know - O, Jesus, You're alive" in me! This is the reality! The Lord Jesus is living again IN ME, in YOU, wherever you are!

Are you on facebook? The Lord Jesus is right there with you on facebook. Are you tweeting away all kinds of random things going through your mind or some feelings you wish you had? The Lord Jesus is inside of you as you punch in the keys or gently touch the touch-screen keyboard of your smartphone! Our being on the social networks with our friends is so that we would bring our friends to the Lord, pray for them, and then "give them food"! We have the food - we have Jesus Christ as the tree of life, we eat Him every day, He is our constitution, and... we can minister food to others! A Tweet like, O Lord Jesus, I love You! - so real, so genuine, coming out of your inner being, is so much better and more helpful than your opinion on the recent football game!

... the question still remains. Am I one with the Lord Jesus as I am using Facebook? Do I express the Lord as I tweet, check into foursquare, +1 things away, or share links on the social networks I'm active on? ...

Photo From London :) Priceless Shoes store

[one of the many shops called, priceless shoes, with less expensive shoes, scattered all around the UK :) ]

[what do YOU think? What is Your experience related to using the social networks and also touching the Lord as we post stuff there? Did you touch the Lord in this aspect as you were "networking"? Share your experience / opinion below...] 

why comment on others' blogs AND measuring social media - article reviews

There are many articles online about the pros and cons of commenting on other people's blogs - here are 6 Vital Reasons to Comment on Other Blogs.

1. Comments help build your online presence
2. Develop professional relationships
3. Enhance your site’s brand
4. Grow your credibility
5. Create links to your site
6. Build your page rank
   

Basically: why not treat this, the commenting on other blogs, as a serious matter that can help you toward your goal? Make sure that you take the time to make each comment genuine and credible. Don’t start spamming other bloggers with junk! Continue to read this article online - 6 Vital Reasons to Comment on Other Blogs.

On the other hand, when one gets into the social media realm, he tends to measure the success/events with the wrong measuring stick - The Five Biggest Mistakes in Measuring Social Media.

1. Big Mistake No. 1: Assuming Your Fans/Followers Will See a Post
2. Big Mistake No. 2: Failing to Account for Overlap Across Networks
3. Big Mistake No. 3: Failing to Count Clicks
4. Big Mistake No. 4: Disregarding Search
5. Big Mistake No. 5: Focusing on Followers
   

Author's TIP: Pay very close attention (and make a note of) the people who respond to the things you post up: the people who comment, retweet, or engage in discussions. Those people are the most valuable subset. Read the whole article online here: The Five Biggest Mistakes in Measuring Social Media.