As many of you know, I am not only the blogger here but I host Masonic Central with Greg Stewart. Masonic Central is a weekly podcast focused on Masonic issues and interests.
In our first show of 2009 (click to download) we discussed the plans for the new year and tackled the changes masonry may have to face. One item that was discussed was the use of technology to reach the new generation of masons. Fred Milliken, author of the Beehive blog suggested Twitter may be a great tool for this. Well I don't think it's the solution to our problems but I have been Tweeting lately and want others to try it and be able to find fellow masons on the service.
With that in mind, I have started a Freemason Twitter group. All you Tweeters can find it at http://tgr.me/g/mason When you get there just ask to join and sign in with your Twitter account.
Oops... You mean you don't have a Twitter account???
Head here and find out what it's about. Don't ask me to explain. It's free and you will either love it or hate it, but give it a try just so you can tell your "younger hipper" friends that you did it. I honestly don't think it is the answer to Freemasonry, but it's a great tool to keep in touch and get your message out.
So you signed up for Twitter and hey you even signed up for the group I mentioned above. Well how about getting some other friends to Twitter with. You can find me at "dbk" and I have a second account JUST for the masonic podcast "masoniccentral". One more guy you can follow is "masonictraveler" I'm sure Greg will not mind me saying so...
Have fun Twittering with Masons and the world.... Let me know how it works for you.
PS - If you like it, I recommend a third-party software such as tweetdeck to enhance your Tweet'ing experience. But start with the basics first... Tweetdeck is a Beta.
7 comments:
Dean,
Saddest part is that I have already switched over to Friendfeed. I know, I know, I am incredibly impulsive but that is just the world of Web 2.0, collective ADD. Friendfeed does offer advantages because it aggregates every social network that you may be on so I still Tweet.
Nick
Oops, forgot to mention that I can be found at www.friendfeed.com/millennialfreemason
Nick
Young wipersnapper!!!!
OK... maybe next post will be about Friendfeed then... Off I go! Gotta keep up with Nick afterall!
I should explain Friendfeed a little better. It doesn't replace Twitter but allows you to put everything you do online into one location. Like if you want to post to your Twitter account and Facebook, you can have Friendfeed post to both locations. So yes, I tweet just using a different service. Dean, you are still hip and with it.
Nick
Technology is no different than any other fad, Dean. Something will be passé pretty quickly.
Freemasonry isn't looking for fad-seekers. People join for the long-haul. That may have been our problem after WW2. Joining a Lodge or service club became the thing to do. Membership ballooned. We're still feeling the effects of when it stopped becoming the thing to do.
Justa
Justa,
I don't disagree with most of your points but I do disagree with your comment on fads. Technology, especially social media, is bound to evolve and change. That does not make it a fad. The vehicule may change (just like cars change, yet we still drive cars) but the channel will remain. I believe we must be conscious of this new communication channel and create/maintain a prescence. Many times people think I'm suggesting promoting membership via technology. What I am suggesting is they we are there for the seekers so we are easily found to answer the questions. Also, we must be there to make them aware that we exist and what we do. If we do not do that then nobody knows to seek us out. In addition it gives the brethren a place to go to interact with their geographically diversified fellow brethren, which if very valuable as well.
Have you ever noticed that snowmen do not exist anymore? It is because everyone is home on his or her laptop. Technology has its good points, but we must be aware of the bad. Moderation is key, why do we need to keep up with a person every day-to-day thought.
I’ babbling…..I will stick to blogs and fresh air.
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