We’ve all heard social media horror stories. The person who embarrassed themselves and their employer by posting inappropriate pictures online. The person who undermined their organization by tweeting their unhappiness with their boss or a decision at work. The person who posted something about a client or coworker which they never intended that person to see.

These events are rare, but they do happen.

The result? Employers are afraid.

How do people respond when they’re afraid? Often they attempt to control.

So, businesses, non-profits, schools, and churches all over the world have established social media policies. These policies are rules which their employees are required to follow online.

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“How do I get more people to interact on our Facebook page?”

That’s one of the questions I hear most often from people.

Maybe you see the potential of social media to engaged, discuss, share, and build community… So, you took the initiative to get start a blog or Facebook page for your organization. You had this dream that you’d post something to the blog each day or a few things to Facebook and each time would initiate a vibrant discussion with dozens of likes and comments. Now you just wish you could get one comment.

So, how do I get more people to interact on our Facebook page?

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Becky Beery (aka @tijuanabecky) posted a couple of great questions last week to the Are You a Communications Manager or a Communications Leader? post. I thought they were big enough to do a whole blog post on on. Which got me thinking… why don’t we pause and just do an open Q&A on the topic of leadership in communications? So, that’s what we’re going to do. Let me kick it off with Becky’s questions.

1) I have to wonder whether or not it’s my right to speak up or lead..some situations you need to be on the manager side while others you can do the leader side.

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In the last previous post in this Leadership in Communications series, we discussed that An Inspiring Vision is A Communication Leader’s #1 Tool.

So, let’s say you know your organization can communicate much more effectively than it is now. You’ve got clear and compelling vision. You share your vision with your boss, board that makes budgeting decisions, a peer who you’re encouraging to give you content by a regular basis, and to your amazement they say, “That sounds like a great idea. How do we make that happen?”

You don’t want your answer to be, “Wow, you know, I’m not sure. I never thought we’d get this far. Let me research it and get back to you.”

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In this ever changing, soul seeking journey we call life; our journey is built on relationships. First and foremost is our relationship is with our Creator through Jesus Christ the Risen Son. Because of him, we have the best message to share.

How do you share it? There are the old school ways of sharing …one on one evangelism, door to door evangelism, or the shout in your face evangelism and my least favorite… “we-are-all-going-to-Hell-in-a-hand basket” preacher on the corner evangelism.

What works for you? As a radio DJ on a Christian station, I feel like I am always on “stage” to project truth and grace. With the current explosion of social networking there is a bigger “stage” on which project our lives. Your stage is the same as mine. Our lives are a reflection of Christ. So the challenge when living your life online is to make each moment count; make each tweet and status update matter. I like to follow the three “R’s” as my rule when sharing online:

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Today we’re taking a break from the Leadership in Communications series to have a little fun. Take a look at this funny video created by Meredith Gould about social media and the church.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have a actually had conversations like this. How about you?

Read the original post and join the discussion at Social Media: Don’t Be That Church [Video]

I talk with a lot of communications people who are frustrated because they know their organization could communicate much more effectively, but they just don’t have the budget, tools, people, time or permission to do what they know needs to be done.

I believe a lot of that is because many of them are working as communications managers rather than communications leaders.

What’s the difference between communications managers and communications leaders?

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Welcome to the kick off of what I think is going to be one of the best series of blog posts we’ve ever done on Christian Web Trends, a series on leadership in communications.

I’ve also decided to experiment with our first ever video blog. Have a look…

Many organizations have communications challenges that when you examine them are at their core a leadership issue. A few examples:

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Almost exactly 2 years ago I wrote what may still be the most controversial and widely read blog post every published on Christian Web Trends:

Why Willow Creek and Saddleback are Losing Influence While North Point and LifeChurch.tv are Gaining Influence

To summarize the post… Willow Creek Community Church and Saddleback Church gained tremendous influence on American Christianity in part because they were masters of the mediums that were most influential in the 80s and 90s – preaching, books and conferences. In the 2000s, however, North Point Community Church and LiveChurch.tv gained a lot of influence because they have been exceptional in their use of mediums that have been most influential this century – video, blogging, and social media, which Willow Creek and Saddleback were slow to embrace. FULL POST

Josh McDowell is the author of two of the best selling and best reasoned apologetics books of all time, More than a Carpenter and Evidence that Demands Verdict. So, while it’s not surprising to see him lamenting the decline in morals and the belief in absolute truth, it’s quite shocking to see where he decided to place the blame.

As reported by The Christian Post:

“What has changed everything?” asked the apologist from Campus Crusade for Christ International as he spoke on “Unshakable Truth, Relevant Faith” at the Billy Graham Center in Asheville, N.C.. His answer was, the Internet.

“The Internet has given atheists, agnostics, skeptics, the people who like to destroy everything that you and I believe, the almost equal access to your kids as your youth pastor and you have… whether you like it or not,”

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