Maybe I will…

I like blogging.

Over the past few months, I have missed it.

I have missed the reflecting and the active searching for new information to share.

Life has calmed down for me, I now have three months of holidays (though I have quite a bit to do). So I think I may have some time to casually blog.

I make no promises as to daily posting, but I will try to make quality posts when I do. I hope that I can share some helpful thoughts, and I look forward to discussion that will ensue.

Some things I may blog about include

• Continuing the Public vs Private debate (with new thoughts and possibility of creating a resource for pre-service teachers)
• 6 children’s talks I am writing for beach mission (on crazy stories from the Bible)
• General reflections from the Bible
• Thoughts about technology
• Anything else…?

A photo uploaded to Posterous

So first thing to blog about… Posterous

I just started an account (here), after seeing Dave Miers use it. It’s pretty cool, and allows you to immediately post to Facebook and Twitter (and other sites).

It’s pretty easy to post, just via email or on the web. I think it’s better than Twitpic or other photo services, and it’s not just for photos.

Well that was fun. I look forward to this casual blogging, and will see where it leads.

Some fun: 25 things I hate about Facebook

This is pretty old, but it’s awesome.

4 benefits of 3rd party Twitter applications

This is the last post about Twitter for a while after “5 reasons to Tweet” and “How to use Twitter“.

One of Twitter’s great advantages is that it can be used in many different forms. Yes, you can Tweet from the Twitter website. But, there are also tools that allow you to Tweet from many other areas. These take the form of both Desktop clients and mobile clients. You can read about some of them here and here.

These other methods of sharing and receiving content are one area where Twitter really stands out from Facebook. Here are 4 ways that 3rd party clients can benefit you.

Ancon on Facebook

Ancon is coming up soon!

Ancon is the sueu’s (Sydney Uni Evangelical Union) annual conferance. An awesome week of biblical teaching! I went last year and it was truly amazing. Last years topic was Justification, and this year will be on the Spirit.

Ancon is at the moment, being touted on Facebook by just about every member of the EU, and I think that anyone with any connection with friends in the EU, would find it hard to avoid hearing about Ancon.

There are a few strategies being used

1. Change your middle name to “Ancon”
2. Change your profile pic to Ancon pic
3. Change your status to have Ancon in it somehow

Sounds pretty simple, and I think it will achieve it’s goal of awareness about Ancon being raised.

Thumbs up for Ancon on Facebook! Good work guys!

5 Reasons to Tweet

It’s time to Tweet.

Tweeting is the act of posting updates on Twitter. Twitter is a growing social network and is massively increasing it’s user base, all over the world. It now has over 32 million monthly viewers, which is more than the NY Times (from here). Both Dave Miers and Steve Kryger have posted on the growth of Twitter.

So here’s how Twitter works.

• You sign up for an account
• You follow people
• You tweet (140 character posts, or “microblogs”)
• People follow you and they receive your tweets
• You receive the tweets of those whom you follow

It is catching on, and I think it has reached a point where it is valuable to be using Twitter. Here are 5 great reasons to get tweeting.

Facebook: Group or Page?

Facebook is a great tool that Christians can use to serve God. One of the main benefits of Facebook is that it allows Christian groups to connect together online. But there is one question for a Christian group to consider: Should we create a group or a page?

A facebook group can have members, officers, admins, a wall, news, a discussion board, as well as links, photos and videos. Members of the group an interact through some or all of these means (depending on how the admins set up the group). Admins of the group can also message all of the members and create events for them. So a group is like a community.

A facebook page acts more like a profile. People can only become fans of the page, which doesn’t sound great for a Christian group. Do I really want to become a fan of my church?  A page can host events, but you cannot host discussion. It is very similar to using twitter, as your updates come for everyone (who is a fan of the page) to see.

For me, becoming a fan of a page is just that, a one way connection, which is not ideal for Christian groups. Groups however, allow discussion between members, as well as allowing the admins access to address the group as a whole.

So let’s create groups (and use them well)!