Over the past weekend I received another reminder about how important in any organization that thinking digitally has to be one of many communication options. Most of the people with whom I met were over 60, many over 70 years old. As a group they were struggling with communication issues. I made my pitch and kept reiterating the need to consider seriously the new world of social media. They politely listened and understood, then returned to their discussion about old media.
In some ways I am reacting with enthusiasm to social media because it is new for me, and yet has such a huge potential. I also understand that the old one-way media are in a struggle for survival as younger generations draw their entertainment, information and interaction from new sources on their own terms.
The thing is, unless we learn how to access and use the new media, we miss the opportunity for engaging a broader audience. We will only reach those who have a greater comfort level with radio, TV, print and Web 1 communication. I’m not saying stop communicating that way, but create a mix of communication vehicles that will reach the widest greatest number of people.
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I agree, and in my experience, bridging the gap is proving to be tremendously difficult. It seems that most discussions of new media are perceived as an instant threat to old media (true to your example). For example: we talk about setting up an email newsletter for a congregation. The first reaction is "but not everyone has email", and that just kills the idea right there. (Isn't it a rather curious idea that everyone reads the stuff that comes through the mail?)
Any thoughts on how to bridge gaps like that? Trying to coordinate both email (or any electronic form) and snail mail is perceived to be messy, so do we settle for one or the other, or try to do both? The easy answer so far seems to be, "let's just keep doing what we've been doing"...
Also, this creates many issues for multiple-staff congregations and/or those with diverse ages/mindsets in lay leadership - what does one do when you have some people in leadership willing and able to embrace new media, but others, especially if it's senior leadership (pastor/elders/council), are not? Or worse, senior leadership is willing for it to happen, but is not willing to be personally involved. (I say that's worse, because then we can have an uneven playing field which can be very tricky to navigate.) How do we bridge those gaps? Push ahead, do nothing until everyone's on board, or some combination of both/and?
You answered your own question with the last words: both/and.
I know it's messy, but you need to let people have the information in the way that is comfortable for them. As for leaders, it is a matter of helping them understand the current media mix.
I subscribe to the Twitter @themediaisdying. There are daily reports about the huge shifts in the move from old media to new media. Just dropping some of that information into everyday conversation can help plant seeds.
Remind them of the move from letters to telephone to fax to email. Each generation will want to cling onto that with which they are familiar as long as they can. Sometimes the church doesn't do a good job of acknowledging the need for transgenerational continuity (a new term I made up...I like it!!)
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