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Posts Tagged ‘Pew Internet’

Should Our Church Have a Mobile Website?

Monday, June 27th, 2011

I was asked this question last week and while I had a quick answer off the cuff, I wanted to sit on it a bit and consider whether that was the right answer or not. Certainly, having a web presence makes sense, but does that necessarly mean a mobile website for your church, or to just be easily found if someone is using their mobile device?

Why You Would Have A Mobile Website

Clearly, having a mobile website makes sense if you are (a) a missions organization and you want the widest exposure to your vision and resources, or (b) a faith community that locally serves a significant population of those persons who are likely to be using mobile devices to find you, or find out more about you. These are just two examples, but clearly reasons for being available in a format on a mobile device, with your message specifically geared to the means and attention span of that context.

Why You Would Have a Mobile Application

Another prevailing opinion is that it might serve your ministry better to have a mobile application. Discovery is usually the reason for doing this, but I’d like to propose that you would think better. Applications should not just be reformatted websites, they should utilize the capacities of the mobile device, and offer something that a mobile website, or even your full website and marketing strategies, cannot offer.

A good case for having a mobile application for a ministry is when you produce several types of content which are better served locally instead of being streamed. Youth, sports, and even elderly organizations could also look at creating a suite of games or puzzles which better articulate their lessons and engagement strategies. An application, in a sense, is a place to experiment with the kinds of engagement that can’t happen otherwise.

Why You Wouldn’t Have a Mobile Website or App

There are a few reasons not to have a mobile website or application, and ironically, these actually tend to be sensible reasons. If you don’t have the resources to create and maintain your current website, then probably having a mobile website isn’t the right idea (yet). If you do have a solid plan for creating and/or maintaining your current website, then look at the logs (analytics) to see how many persons are coming to your site via a mobile device. Note where they are coming to. If you can create a mobile website that capitalizes on that, then go for it. If not. Don’t hurt yourself.

If your primary concern is just being findable in a search from a mobile device, then (first) make sure that your current website has the times, location, and main contact information in an easily seen place on your website. Mobile devices load slower, and have smaller screens, this info needs to therefore be one of the first items loaded. Second, you want to make sure that your entries in search engines such as Google Maps/Local are up to date.

If your primary means of engaging your community happens on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, spend your energies making sure that your profiles for social networking services are updated and clean. These services are already mobile friendly.

We talked about this from a mobile app standpoint in a previous article.

Context Matters for This Question

So, as you can see. Its not a simple “yes” or “no” kind of answer. These days, you need to balance the resources you have, versus the realities of the audiences you want to go for.

If you do decide that you need to go with a mobile website or application, look into services such as urmobile, Mobify, ShoutEm, or Ovi Publish to get up to speed faster using your existing web assets.

Remember also that mobile isn’t your laptop. Just because you have a library of sermons, and directories to every person who ever set foot in your church, doesn’t mean that this is what people want to see on their mobile’s much smaller screen. Give the information that’s most important, and then direct them quickly to the person, group, or resource that’s better able to help them fit their needs.

Tags: applications, community, context, metrics, Mobify, mobile apps, mobile websites, MobiThinking, Ovi, Pew Internet, Pew Internet and American Life, ShoutEm, statistics, stats
Posted in Social Engagement | No Comments »

Are You Where They Are?

Friday, March 18th, 2011

In a few recent conversations, it was talked about how there was a need to get up new websites, create billboards, and fill other media channels with content so that people can find avenues to Christ. Unfortunately, these were conversations within the Christian household. So when I asked these people tasked with filling these channels if they were addressing mobile, they not only didn’t have an answer, but pointed it to being a technical issue above all else.

Caarlo Longorio (@caaarlo)from the Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP) made an interesting and important observation via Twitter during this year’s SXSW Interactive gathering:

…the walls btw internet/web/mobile/video/whatever are imagined. the tech doesn’t matter, the users do…

You see all of these channels, all of these moments and opportunities, but are you where people are? To a few generations and economic classes, there’s a definite difference towards addressing TV/radio/web/mobile, and in others, that line doesn’t exist at all – its all content. Yes, the method, channels, devices, and everything else except the effect of the communication are seen as the same thing – the end result defines whether the method was successful, not whether the channel was populated with something.

So what happens when a report like the State of the Media 2011 from Pew Internet (@pew_internet) comes forward showing that more people are getting their news from online pipes (“sources”) than newspapers? And if that’s not all, of those using the Internet as their pipe most of them are doing news consumption via mobile devices. If you are in/near some conversations that I’ve been around, you hear things like, “how can we get there,” “what’s are social media strategy,” and “we don’t have the ability to care about those people, we’ll stick with our traditional customers.”

I recall the stories recorded in the Gospel narratives and beyond about Jesus and how his fame spread further than he travelled. And by at least once account, it wasn’t just aware of his fame traveling, but that people wanted him to come along with it. But, that wasn’t his place, he served a specific geographic area and embedded within the lives of others the ability to go to those areas where Jesus’ fame was (and where it would eventually be), and be the proof of redemption that Jesus was sent to be.

That Pew Internet report will be read and instead of asking “how can we teach people in our community how to share the Gospel message,” many ministries and people will go about trying to become or fill yet another channel. They will create mobile sites, language specific websites, close some offices and open others as funding and marketing resources will need to be shifted. And they will be surprised at the results – few people will come to Christ and stay, and others will reject Him because the message was devoid of a person being attached to it.

Are you where people are? Or, are you just filling a pipe to where you’d hope they’d be?

Tags: access, accessibility, Caarlo Longroio, metrics, Pew Internet, Pew Internet and American Life, State of the Media, statistics, WIP, Wireless Industry Partnership
Posted in Devices and Software | No Comments »

What Will Happen When…

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

…What will happen when the untapped knowledge of every patient, of every caregiver, of everyone who has something of value to share actually has the opportunity to share it?

That’s the next frontier. It is no longer about access. It’s about uploads. It’s about inputs. It’s about learning from each other.

Patients are not the only ones who can benefit from this new model of participatory medicine. Institutions can too.

E-patient Dave deBronkart is a tech geek who also happens to be a cancer survivor. He used CaringBridge during his illness to stay in touch with his friends and family. He used ACOR to gather expert peer advice about kidney cancer. He used Beth Israel’s PatientSite to keep up to date on his treatments and communicate with his doctors.

Excellent post reflecting on and looking at the implications of the accessibility of information because of the advances made, and the advances that will come, in mobile and social web technologies as it relates to health management at the Pew Internet and American Life Project website. Read the rest of The Power of Mobile here.

It definitely is a matter of when, not if, mobile will take a larger role not just in health, but in education, government, and faith-based pursuits. What are some of these implications, and how do you approach these changes in light of what you want to use, and what’s being marketed to you?

Tags: developed markets, education, emerging markets, Marketing, mHealth, mobile environment, mobile health, Pew Internet, technology adoption
Posted in Devices and Software, Future Trends | No Comments »

Mobile Ministry Magazine (MMM)

Posts Tagged ‘Pew Internet’

Should Our Church Have a Mobile Website?

Are You Where They Are?

What Will Happen When…