SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUTH MINISTRY - What Most People Miss
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Brady Shearer from Pro Church Tools discusses the unique role of social media in youth ministry. He emphasizes the importance of using social platforms to both reach out publicly and connect personally with students. Shearer suggests leveraging Instagram Direct groups for private communication and empowering students to create content for the ministry. He also highlights the opportunity for youth leaders to guide students in navigating social media wisely, positioning them as agents of positive influence in the digital world.
Takeaways
- 🎓 The speaker has a degree in Youth Ministry and Theology and was initially aiming to become a youth pastor.
- 🛠️ Pro Church Tools was started to teach digital skills to peers in youth ministry, anticipating their future needs in vocational ministry.
- 📱 Social media plays a significant role in the lives of teenagers and young adults, with platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok being the most popular.
- 📊 TikTok's rapid rise indicates the fast pace of change in social media platforms, especially among younger users.
- 🔑 Social media for students and young adults has two main responsibilities: to reach publicly and connect personally.
- 👴 Generational differences in social media usage are important to consider, with older individuals using it more for public reach and younger individuals for personal connections.
- 🗣️ Youth leaders should focus on personal connection, which often happens behind the scenes, such as through direct messages.
- 👥 Setting up an Instagram Direct group can provide a private channel for youth to connect personally with the leader and each other.
- 🎥 Empowering students to create content for the youth ministry, such as TikTok videos, can be a more effective strategy than creating content for them.
- 🏆 Hosting content creation events and empowering a student social media team can lead to engaging activities and shared responsibility for content creation.
- 🛡️ Teaching students to navigate the dangers of social media wisely is crucial, as it can be used for both good and evil.
- 🌟 Social media offers a tremendous opportunity for youth leaders to be agents of redemption and share the Good News where people are.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video?
-The main topic of the video is discussing the use of social media in youth ministry and the unique challenges and techniques for connecting with and pastoring students through social platforms.
What is the presenter's educational background?
-The presenter has a degree in Youth Ministry and Theology.
Why was Pro Church Tools started?
-Pro Church Tools was started to teach the digital skills the presenter was learning, knowing that peers in the youth ministry program would need them for vocational ministry.
What are some of the social platforms mentioned in the video that are popular with teenagers?
-The video mentions YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok as the platforms where teenagers spend most of their time.
Why is YouTube not included in the first infographic about social media usage among teenagers?
-YouTube might not be included because it is not considered a traditional social platform like Instagram or TikTok, even though it is widely used by teens.
What is the significance of the change in social media platforms from 2019 to 2020 as shown in the video?
-The change signifies the rapid evolution of social media platforms, especially among young people, with TikTok's absence in 2019 indicating its rapid rise in popularity.
What are the two main responsibilities of using social media in the context of youth ministry according to the video?
-The two main responsibilities are to reach publicly and connect personally with the youth through social media.
How does the presenter suggest youth leaders should use social media differently from older adults?
-Youth leaders should focus more on connecting personally, as younger people use social media more for personal connections rather than public outreach.
What practical advice does the presenter give for youth leaders to connect with students on Instagram?
-The presenter suggests setting up an Instagram Direct group for students to create a private channel for personal connection and engagement.
What is the presenter's recommendation for creating content on social media with students?
-The presenter recommends empowering students to create the content for the youth ministry, such as hosting a TikTok night or forming a student social media team.
What role can youth leaders play in teaching students about the wise use of social media?
-Youth leaders can equip students to be agents in redeeming social media, showing them how to use it wisely and avoid its potential dangers.
How does the presenter encourage viewers to support the video's content?
-The presenter encourages viewers to hit the thumbs up button and share the video with other youth leaders who might benefit from the insights.
Outlines
📚 Social Media in Youth Ministry
The speaker, Brady Shearer, introduces the topic of using social media for youth ministry. He shares his background in Youth Ministry and Theology and explains the motivation behind Pro Church Tools. The channel aims to teach digital skills to peers in ministry, highlighting the uniqueness of social media in the context of youth. The video will discuss challenges and techniques for connecting with students through social platforms. Brady emphasizes the importance of subscribing and engaging with the content, and he presents data from Statista to show the significant role social media plays in the lives of teenagers, particularly on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. He also notes the rapid changes in social media usage, especially among young people.
🤝 Leveraging Social Media for Personal Connection and Content Creation
This paragraph delves into the unique responsibilities of social media in youth ministry: reaching out publicly and connecting personally. Brady points out that while public outreach may come naturally, the personal connection aspect often happens behind the scenes and is crucial for youth leaders. He discusses generational differences in social media usage, noting that younger people tend to use it more for personal connections. Brady suggests practical steps, such as setting up Instagram Direct groups to facilitate private communication with students. He shares a real-life example of how an Instagram Direct group led to pastoral care, where a youth's cry for help was responded to immediately by the group leaders. The paragraph transitions into the idea of creating content with students rather than for them, suggesting activities like TikTok or YouTube video creation nights as a way to engage and empower students. Brady also touches on the importance of teaching students to navigate the potential dangers of social media wisely, positioning them as agents of positive change in the digital space.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Social Media
💡Youth Ministry
💡Pro Church Tools
💡Media Director
💡TikTok
💡YouTube
💡Instagram Direct
💡Snapchat
💡Content Creation
💡Pastoral Care
💡Digital Platforms
💡Redeeming Social
Highlights
The video discusses the unique challenges and techniques for using social media in youth ministry.
The speaker has a degree in Youth Ministry and Theology and shares their experience in church communications.
Pro Church Tools was created to teach digital skills necessary for youth ministry in the modern world.
Social media is a powerful force in the lives of teens and young adults, with platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok being most popular.
Data from Statista in 2020 shows the percentage of American teenagers using social platforms monthly, excluding YouTube.
YouTube is the most widely used social platform among teens, according to a 2019 Statista infographic.
The rapid change in social media platforms is illustrated by TikTok's absence from the 2019 infographic.
Social media for students involves both public reach and personal connection.
Older individuals tend to use social media more for public reach, while younger individuals use it more for personal connection.
Youth leaders should consider setting up Instagram Direct groups to facilitate personal connections with students.
An Instagram Direct group can lead to pastoral care, as exemplified by a youth messaging for prayer and support.
Youth leaders should focus on creating content with students rather than for students, empowering them to participate.
Hosting a TikTok night or similar events can engage students in content creation for the youth ministry.
Empowering a student social media team can distribute the content creation burden and align with students' interests.
Teaching students to navigate the dangers of social media is a responsibility of youth leaders.
Youth leaders have the opportunity to model and teach responsible social media use, guiding students to use it wisely.
The video concludes by encouraging viewers to engage with the content and share it with other youth leaders.
Transcripts
- In today's video, we're talking about social media
for youth ministry.
Believe it or not, I actually have my degree
in Youth Ministry and Theology.
And before I was seduced by the powers
of church communications and became the Media Director
at my church, I was hoping to become a youth pastor.
And the primary motivation behind starting
Pro Church Tools seven years ago, this channel,
was to teach the digital skills that I was learning
because I knew my peers in the youth ministry program,
the Bible college, were gonna need them when they entered
the world of vocational ministry.
And when we're talking about social media in the context
of students, it is absolutely unique.
So, in this video, we'll talk about some of those challenges
along with a few of my favorite techniques
for connecting with and pastoring students
through social platforms.
(upbeat music)
Well, hey there, I'm Brady Shearer.
This is Pro Church Tools and we're here to help your church
navigate the biggest communication shift in 500 years.
So, consider subscribing, if you're already subscribed
turn on notifications to get instant alerts
when we drop new content.
And if you learn something in this video, please,
give it a thumbs up, it's perhaps the best way to give
back on YouTube.
Now, if you serve in student ministry, as a church leader,
as a youth pastor, you surely don't need me to tell you
that social is a powerful force in the lives of teens
and young adults.
But let's look through some recent data anyway.
This comes from Statista and it was gathered early in 2020
prior to the pandemic.
And what you're seeing here is the percentage of American
teenagers that use a social platform at least once a month.
And keep in mind when you see this, the YouTube
is not included here.
Perhaps, because it's not a social platform
in the traditional sense, like maybe Instagram
or TikTok is, but don't underestimate it
just because it's not on this chart.
Take a look at this other infographic also from Statista.
This is from early 2019,
and here you'll notice that TikTok isn't even on the chart,
which just goes to show you how fast social changes,
especially with young people.
And here, YouTube is the most widely used
social platform amongst teens.
Back to our other infographic now, and we've got Instagram,
Snapchat, and TikTok as big players.
These numbers will all be self-reported by teens
gathered through a survey,
and I would suspect TikTok is higher now
than it was at the beginning of the year.
But the main takeaway that I want you to get from this,
is that yes, obviously social plays a big role
in the everyday life of a teenager,
and the platforms they're spending the most time on,
are YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.
Now, they might have accounts on Facebook and Twitter,
they may check in every so often, but the majority
of their time on social is gonna be
spent on those other platforms.
And lastly, yes, this is American data,
but in my experience, you're pretty safe to assume
these splits apply similarly to most Western countries.
Now, let's get into what makes social media different
for students and young adults, than compared to old washed
Millennials like myself.
And for you as a youth leader,
there are really three things to consider.
Number one, social media comes with two responsibilities.
You need to reach publicly and connect personally.
All of what we do on social media is summed up
in those two things.
Reach publicly, connect personally.
Now, the reach publicly side is what
will almost certainly come more naturally to you.
It's the visible side of social.
We can see what others are doing,
we can take cues from them, we get that.
It's the connect personally side that we often miss on.
And that's because it's the part of social media
that happens behind the scenes.
But for you as a youth leader, here's what you need to know.
There are generational differences in how people
use social media.
So what do I mean by that?
Well, older folks will generally use social more to reach
publicly, younger folks will use social
more to connect personally.
So think about your students for a moment,
the vast majority of the time they spend on their phones
on social, is probably gonna be DMing their friends
and consuming content, rather than publicly sharing content
with the world.
And this needs to influence how you use social
to connect with them.
Practically, one thing you can do is set up an Instagram
Direct group for your students.
Groups can have up to 32 people in them,
and what this does, is creates a private channel
for your students, with opportunities to connect personally
with them, and it dovetails off of the existing social
behaviors of your students.
So, yes, you can spend a ton of energy creating content
for the Instagram feed, trying to engage your students
that way, or, you could setup this Instagram Direct group,
get all of your students in there.
Set up multiple groups if needed.
It's gonna be less work, and it will synchronize
with how your youth prefer to use social.
And, if you're wondering what this can actually look like,
what is it going to lead to, here's what one pastor told me
about how his Instagram Direct group lead directly
to pastoral care.
- [Pastor] A few months ago one of our youth messaged
our group DM saying, "Hey, can you guys pray for me please,
my brother got kicked out of rehab, me and my parents got
into a fight and I currently have no place to live.
Please, pray god has a plan, thank you."
Our leaders jumped in immediately and consoled her
amongst the group,
while at the same time a leader reached out privately
to get more information, and ensure that she was safe.
We were able to arrange accommodations for her that night
while also leading her into a way to be restored
with her family.
- This now leads nicely to the second big idea I want you
to grasp when it comes to social for students.
Here's the change you need to make.
Most of us are thinking about creating content
for our students on social,
instead, you need to concentrate your energy on creating
content with your students.
When I was in youth ministry, back about 10 years ago,
my youth group would often host a basketball night
or a laser tag night, mini-golf night.
Because those were activities that we as teens enjoyed
doing, and so we integrated that
into our student ministry calendar.
With teenagers today, creating TikTok videos, and creating
YouTube videos, those are the kinds of activities
that have ascended to be some of the most popular
recreational options amongst young people.
So, your focus as a youth leader when it comes to social,
shouldn't be on creating content for your youth,
but instead, empowering them to create the content
for the student ministry.
What does this look like practically?
Well, you could host a TikTok night,
break the students up into groups of three, or four,
and have each group create a single TikTok video
or a couple of them.
And then, the group that creates the best video as voted on
by all of the students that evening, can win a prize.
And then use all of that content that was created
that evening for the days and weeks ahead.
I spoke with one of the social media leaders
at Life Church earlier this year and they hosted
a night like this.
I spoke with a pastor of a youth group of about a dozen,
and they hosted a night like this.
So, whatever size of group you have,
this makes for a great evening.
And then, you can take it one step further,
and empower a social media team made up of students
to create content for the youth group.
Youth love to do this sort of thing,
it's what they're choosing to do
in their spare time already.
Intersect that passion with their faith,
put a bunch of gear in their hands, and you're off.
And as an added bonus, now the burden to create the content
is no longer entirely on your shoulders.
Finally, if you get to the place where you are using social
to connect personally with your students and pastoring them
through these digital platforms,
and, you've empowered them to create content for the student
ministry as well, you are now in a privileged place
where you can play a role in teaching your students
how to wisely navigate the dangers of social.
Because, guess what?
Humans are involved on social, meaning,
social can be and will be used for evil.
And really, you have two options here as a leader.
You can reject social altogether, and leave your kids
to fend for themselves online, throughout youth group,
and then on for when they graduate,
or, you can equip your students to be agents
in redeeming social.
Jesus talked about how we are the light of the world.
A city on a hill, not meant to be hidden.
And you don't light a lamp just to cover it up under a bowl.
The Good News is meant to be shared.
So, where do we share it?
Where the people are.
And that's what social provides for us.
A tremendous opportunity.
Does it come with its challenges?
Yes, absolutely it does.
Whenever humans are involved in anything,
there will be challenges.
So, this is where you can come alongside a student's parents
and be a voice and influence,
modeling behaviors for your students, and showing them
how to use social, while not letting social
be the one that uses them.
Thanks for your time as always.
If you liked what we talked about in this video,
make sure to hit the thumbs up button,
it might seem trivial, it might even seem juvenile, right?
I get it, but, this was a video on student ministry.
So, maybe you're that person that always watches
these videos and doesn't hit the like button.
Look, I get it, do you.
But, it would mean a ton to me if this was the day
you decided to change your ways,
and of course, to all of you that are consistently hitting
thumbs up on every one of our videos,
thank you kindly.
And I also encourage you to share this video with a youth
leader who could benefit from it.
And as always, I'll talk to you real soon.
(upbeat music)
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