media salt

With the rising dominance of social networks as the new hub for communication, it’s only natural to expect a little resistance to opening uncensored communication channels. We work hard to create branding and clearly worded communication pieces, but once your information is out there and consumed through social media, you have very little control over the way people interact with your data. There are more options than ever for your visitors to voice their opinions about your content for everyone else to see.

This makes me a little paranoid.

Specifically, I get really paranoid over ministry-related endeavors, simply because of the potential for abuse on open discussion forums. For the 95% of folks that want to voice their support for something or have some healthy discussion about an issue, there’s always the crazy 5% that come out of the wood works (believing that this is finally their chance to discuss the use of drums in worship/gripe about something stupid/advertise their business/etc). So what’s the best way to operate in this brave new world? I normally abide by the following guidelines:

• Moderate discussion, but rarely intervene. On all of our communication vehicles where this is possible, I keep a daily eye on what’s being said. Very seldom will I step in the middle of an argument (which is rare anyway), but I’ll stop a discussion and delete posts if the conversation is going sour or harsh words are being said. Debate is healthy, but flame wars can get out of hand quickly.
• Have blocking controls in place. Sadly, it’s just plain necessary to be able to block folks that are crossing the lines or are trying to cause mischief.
• Trust your audience. More and more, I’m finding that the benefits of enabling open commenting/discussion far outweigh the negatives of dealing with the occasional bozo. I would rather build community than a walled garden.

Paranoia about all of this quasi-uncensored communication is normal, but it’s important to push past your fears and open up as many lines of communication as you can. As long as you put a few guidelines and controls in place, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

[Image © fluffbreat]