Why You Need to Care About College Students

COLLEGE

Does your church have an integrated strategy for reaching today’s college students? If not, you might want to get on it.

Why?

Read from eMarketer.com:

College students are the most connected demographic group in the US. They own multiple electronic devices and are a prime audience for online video.

eMarketer estimates 18.2 million college students, 95.7% of the total, will go online at least once a month in 2009. As Internet usage becomes ubiquitous, the percentage of students online is growing more slowly, rising to an estimated 96.8% in 2013.

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“Not only is Internet access widely prevalent, but so is technology ownership in general,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst. “Since students own multiple devices, they want to use those devices to interact with friends and information in multiple ways. They care less about what method they use for their interactions and more about how easy and seamless those interactions are.”

That is some profound data. Virtually every college student is online in some aspect–most in a multitude of ways. This has implications for how we learn, shop, communicate and govern–why would our faith lives be exempt from this seismic sociological shift?

How Does This All Work?

Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, “I have no idea where to start!” Awesome–at least you’re honest! Here’s some helpful suggestions to get your church started:

  1. Create a fan page for your church on Facebook. Our church recently created one and now we have over 2300 people who have joined! Integrate it into your communications strategy and encourage interaction from your congregation.
  2. Sign up for Twitter. Pick a user name that matches your church’s website (you do have a website, right?). Tweet about what’s going on at your church, yes, but don’t forget it’s called social media for a reason: Be social! Interact. Interact. Interact!
  3. Consider live-streaming your services. It’s not hard–all you need is a Ustream.tv or Livestream.com account, a decent camera and an internet connection! It is painfully easy.

These are some very fundamental ways in which you begin to step into a world that can seem very intimidating. Above all else, know that with a little bit of education and effort you can integrate on online strategy to your ministry. You can, because you must!

Got questions about how to bring the online world to your church? Not sure how to make it all “work”? Contact us and we can help walk you through it!

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Contributor: Justin Wise

A religious deviant who enjoys coffee, collared shirts, spending time with his wife and son, learning about quantum physics and creatively exploring the riches of the Spirit of Christ. Culture + Faith + Technology. Contact the author
  • Great post here and I like the getting started tips. I'll offer up though, that many congregations I've been at seem to be lacking the prerequisite planning. You mention integrating tools into a communications strategy. Getting "online" as an organization needs to be a natural extension of ministry. Trying to move out without any planning will cause the online efforts to feel disconnected from the organization.

    As an example, someone at my church created a FB page "for the church" because he felt the church needed one. As far as I know it was never discussed with church leadership, nor was responsibility or ownership of the page clearly identified. As a result, the page has become a mixed bag of rubbish and is really serving no ministry purpose as far as I can tell.

    I'd encourage that before taking the 3 steps above, organizations sit down and get their collective heads wrapped around WHY they want to get online and HOW online tools can have a positive impact on their ministry goals.
  • Totally. That is very well said. I think more than anything, I want people to see that they–even them!–can "get the ball rolling."

    For instance, your church member who started the page got the ball rolling to where leadership MUST talk about it. Not optimal, but at least it gets the convo started, right?

    The "why" is probably more important than the "how", but some people won't answer the "why" until the "how" has been implemented.
  • Great points here, good stuff.
    I was wondering what is a good way for a church to use twitter and facebook?
  • Great post Justin! some incredible stats the the Church MUST consider in their approach to engaging culture. As the Church, it is our decision what kind of culture we will create, one that is isolated and out-dated, or current and connected. Let me just say, that when I was in Des Moines, you had a major impact on my leadership with our young adult's ministry, both in our conversations and me watching you engage with your community and use different mediums to connect and reach out. Thanks for pushing encouraging!
  • Thanks buddy. Can't stop, won't stop!
  • Makella
    Being a college student myself, it is so easy to see how these things you're talking about Justin, can be applied successfully... especially with the speed at which information is able to reach people... not only with twitter and facebook, but tumblr, and other websites that are gaining in popularity. I was looking on tumblr the other day, and this girl I know posted this really one-sided info-graphic, something like "A comprehensive look at the Christian faith" and it was completely tearing down (really ignorantly) what Christians believe, and she had seen it on someone else's tumblr, who had reblogged it.. I traced it back and it had been on 20 different people's tumblrs before I saw it... and then I think about this amazing message of Love that we have, and how beautiful it would be to see that spread like ripples, not only through tumblr, but everywhere online, where people can see the truth...
    Also, through my own experiences, and from talking to other people, if church's websites are either not easily found, not easily navigable, or un-pleasing aesthetically, some people won't even bother giving the church a try because some think those churches either don't care about the "online generation" or don't have people who know how to use it (which implies a less relatable congregation).. That is only some people though, not everyone's views. I have a lot of thoughts about this, sorry for rambling.
    Also, live-streaming services is so great.
  • Wow. That's a huge testimony to the power of the "ripple." Why not try and "ripple" life-giving content, right?

    I think you're dead-on with the assessment of websites–it's the new "front door" for business, organizations and churches. Well stated.
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