One of the things I suggest when talking to people about how to use social media is to post links to a lot of different things. It lets people know what you've been thinking about, and it also allows you to share a lot of content while doing minimal work. Doing minimal work is one of my favorite things.
In the spirit of this, let me share with you a few of my favorite websites to post things from. You will notice several things: they are often snarky, sarcastic, and sometimes secular. That's ok. For me, that's what a decent part of my life looks like. If I only posted Bible verses and pictures of white Jesus holding babies surrounded by lambs and rainbows, no one would pay attention and everyone would know that it isn't authentic to what my life looks like on a regular basis.
These are in no particular order, and at any given point in time, the list is different. I find that I often get on a kick with certain websites and it lasts about a month until I find some new ones.
1. Ev'ry Day I'm Pastorin'
This Tumblr site is brilliant. It is nothing more than a bunch of animated GIFs that show quirky and humorous situations that clergy find themselves in. I've been told it's funny for non-clergy as well.
2. Jon Acuff's Blog
I have often proclaimed my affection for Jon Acuff. No Christian I know uses social media as well as he does. More than that, he's funny, clever, and well-spoken. His "Stuff Christians Like" is brilliant.
3. Huffington Post
Huffington Post is an online newspaper. Look, it's unapologetically liberal and sensationalist. Huffington Post is to Democrats as Fox News is to Republicans. While I usually steer clear from politically motivated stories, I do find some nice gems in this, as well as in Fox News. But Fox News has a terrible website.
As an aside, some people refuse to get their news from sources that have a slant they don't agree with. For me, I try to stay well rounded, even hearing the extreme ends of the spectrum. Truth is, I minister to people at both ends of the spectrum. It's all a part of speaking their language.
4. Stumble Upon
OK, so this isn't really where I post things from. It's the answer to the question I always get "where do you find this stuff?" Stumble Upon lets you input your interests and then randomly sends you to websites that would meet those interests. You can then continually refine what type of sites it sends you to in an infinite number of ways. It's a tremendous way to surf the web when you don't really know what you're looking for.
5. Know Your Meme
Ever get on Facebook and see people all posting the same type of thing or that video that you've never heard of but everyone keeps referencing? Know Your Meme tells you where these things come from and what they mean. Don't be "forever alone." Check this site out, or Scumbag Steve will tell McKayla Maroney, and she will not be impressed.
6. Snopes
Oh my goodness, people, start using Snopes. Snopes is the place to go when you hear that your favorite actor died in a car accident or that a Saudi Prince wants to give you his fortune. They will tell you if this internet rumor is confirmed as true or not. (Hint: everything is usually a fake)
A lot of posts come from these sites, but actually, most of my posts are reposts of things other people post that I find on facebook, twitter, or youtube.
What are some of your favorite sites?
Enjoy HuffPo as well -- Jon Foreman from Switchfoot does some pretty amazing stuff on there, and somehow the liberal bias they exhibit seems less overt and/or heavy-handed than the Fox News bias - the difference between being punched in the face by a velvet-gloved Mike Tyson over an iron-gauntleted Mike Tyson, I guess :-)
ReplyDeletethisadvertisinglife.com -- lots of animations for us in the creative world...much like the EDIP site you like so much, I'll wager.
Woot.com - not so much for the crap they sell as for the snarky commentary they deliver
and columbus.craigslist.com -- for without it, I'd have no guitars :-)