Mobile Ministry Magazine

At the very core of who we are, we want to be in relationship with one another. We look for common interests and experiences, and then draw on those plus other variables to be in relationship with one another. I've seen that, the use of mobile tech while being a very personal thing (from the wallpapers, to ringtones, to big screens to read and watch, etc.) is something that could be better used to facilitate those relationships.

Now, you might think, why would I want to use something like a computer to connect with people that I always see? I don't think that the place for connecting with tech is there though. Its in that next layer of relationships. Those where we might know someone, but not spend as much time in their presence. And this tech is not at all a replacement for that time together, but a tie that keeps us from losing touch with one another.

I've been really thinking hard about my use of being onlline, in social networks if you will, and those people that I interact with thru those networks. Never is it a person that I see much of, and most often it is a person that I see very rarely. But then when we do see one another, there is not that aspect of having to start from scratch because we've already been cultivating relationships in that time in between.

Instead of just saying, "use your tech to be social", I want to give you a few things to think about doing that might help keep the social as a piece of your tech networks:
- have a business card with your blog address and email (maybe even IM name) on there and post pictures often
- do not be afraid to ask members of your social network where you can meet offline to equate faces with avatars/names
- use a people-centric social network that allows for the variances of life to not disrupt it (if you will, don't use the social network service as a hub, but as a spoke in the relationship, make the hub something tangeable so that even if the hub isn't doable, the spokes are there to assist temporarly)
- do not be afraid to ask people what motivates them to keep in contact with others (there's much to learn)
- teach (youth) others how to use social networks for public-effecting prorgams and how to build personal network from those (for example, start a Jaiku group on history books recently read and link to local and national historcal resources, then go somewhere or meet somewhere together)

These are just a few items that have come to mind, but just ways were we can keep the solo time from being the only social time. We are desgned to be social, and as believers, sharing our faith means that we have to live out parts of our lives with others. So go out, be a witniss to the hope that you have; and let all your relationshps be windows into how you live unto Him.

"At the intersection of faith and technology"

Labels: mission, tech