Why do I Twitter? I get asked that a lot. And I seem to stumble around for an answer because there isn’t just one simple answer, so I usually just say “to keep connected with remote friends.” Which is a big part of the reason, but I thought I’d try to expound a little on why it is I have posted over 1000 “tweets” to my Twitter page. Someone recently asked me what the ministry benefits were. I’d probably have to honestly say none, or not much. It’s not about ministry. It’s more about interpersonal relationships.
Here I will try to explain what Twitter is, how you Twitter and lastly WHY Twitter.
WHAT IS TWITTER?
It would help first of all, to try and explain what Twitter is. First of all, it is found here: www.twitter.com. And if you know a Twitter-er’s username, you can simple put it after the domain, such as mine is: www.twitter.com/kidologist. Users can customize their page with a background as well as the color scheme of the page. And their Twitter profile icon of course.
But what IS Twitter? It is a micro-blog whose posts are made up not only of your own, but of those you are “following.” It is similar to a blog except that your posts are limited to 140 characters or less. So you can’t get too wordy. And like a blog, your most recent post is at the top of the page. But what makes it unique is that the post of anyone you choose to follow also appear on your Twitter page. So your Twitter page becomes not only a mini-blog of what you are doing, but a news feed on what your friends (or whoever you are following, they don’t have to be friends, as I’ll get into below) are doing or thinking or posting.
As you can see in the image above, as of this morning, I am following 65 people. 109 are following me and I’ve posted 1208 “Tweets” so far. That means that whenever any of those 65 people post, it appears in my Twitter and anything I post, 109 people are blessed or bothered with what I posted. And I’ve sent 1208 such messages to whoever was following me at the time!
HOW DO YOU READ & POST TO TWITTER?
The key to the success of Twitter’s growth, is that there are MANY ways to post and read the posts that appear on your page. You can simply use the webpage interface, but that is the least used method for me. I have a desktop application called Twifferrific. It can be on top of all windows, minimized, and set to check at intervals I choose and actually “tweet” like a bird when someone posts. A screen shot of it is to the right.
You can also post via text message to your phone.
You can also have your facebook status post to your Twitter. (I do that in reverse, anything I post to Twitter becomes my Facebook Status.)
But I do most of my Twittering directly from my iPhone using a variety of applications, each has its advantages.
If you are an iPhone user try Twinkle, it allows you to also see people who are nearby and Twittering. I tend to use Twittelator the most and love how you can include pictures taken on your iPhone so I paid $4.99 for Twittelator Pro which bosted of extra features and the ability to have multiple accounts, and it flat out doesn’t work and I can’t get my $5 back. Every time I open it is says “Server load error, unable to load Tweets, try again later.” And its been over a month. OK, rant over. Don’t waste your $5 like I did.
With the iPhone application, (showing Twittelator here) you have many more options than the website, or at least, easier and faster to access such as:
But my favorite thing about Twittelor (and Twinkle can do it too, but crashes often) is attach pictures from my iPhone picture library OR simply take and attach a picture:
Then you simply type your message and post!
(note: iPhone changes your spelling a lot,
like: Twitteding, I didn’t type that!)
To most users, the image will look like a link from Twicpic.com and they can click on it to go view it. When Twittelator Pro works, it actually displays the picture IN the Tweet, which was why I wanted the $5 version, to just show the picture and skip the clicking and waiting to view just to see a picture wasn’t worth the wait to see. (see link at the beginning of my first post)
You can see the picture of my laptop I just Twittered here. Curious if these pictures will remain hosted “forever” or if there is a time limit, no one seems to know.
BUT WHY TWITTER?
That, indeed, is the question. Yes, Twittering takes time to post and to read, and can become a bit of an addiction. So what is the value in it? Why bother? Why should YOU Twitter? Here are some of my reasons.
It’s fun. Hey, it’s O.K. to have fun, not everything has to have a profound ministry purpose!
It fills idle time. When you are stuck somewhere bored, communicating with friends is just a text message or iPhone away.
It’s fast. Calling a friend takes time. It’s important, but a Tweet to a friend is a fast easy way to let them know you are thinking about them, praying for them, that they matter to you.
Keep up with friends. I have a bunch of friends around the country that without Twitter I’d only see or talk to once or twice a year, perhaps at a conference. But because Tom Bump, Todd McKeever, Larry Shallenberger, Henry Zonio, Dave Truit and others Twitter, I get to be a small part of their daily life and know what they are dong. If I only see them once a year the conversation goes, “How’s it been?” They answer, “Great!” But with Twitter I know about the ins and outs of their daily lives and can ask more specific questions about the kids, the job, or whatever.
Monitor your staff. Know what your employees are really doing during the work day. Ha! Just put that in as a joke to see if my staff read this. They all have flexible hours and most are part time, so I’m just razzin’ them!
Get to know new friends. When I make new friends at a conference or somewhere, like Ken Wheeler, Twitter is a way that we can get to know each other and keep in touch. Otherwise, those infant friendships might not get the chance to grow.
Keep a pulse on the world, politics and even people unlike you. By following people unlike me, I get glimpses into how other people see the world. I’ve had some people comment that not all my followers (which I can’t control) or those I follow are Christians. Yes, I’ve even seen bad words appear in my Twitter! (oh, no!) If someone gets too offensive, you can block them. (It’s a little tedious as there is no system to how your followers are listed, that I can tell.) But I don’t just follow people who I agree with or who see the world like me. I want to be IN the world (not OF it!) and following people unlike me when it comes to religion or politics is good exposure. I’m trying to reach these people, and it starts with listening.
Argue Politics. As a passionate American, I am very engaged politically. Sometimes that annoys people - which baffles me - as to be a true American you ought to care and be engaged in politics. Not that our hope is in politics, but they do matter and impact our lives, freedom and economy. You can follow streams of political posts here: http://election.twitter.com and I’ve picked up some people I follow there. Warning, most Twitters are pro-Obama and the venom and nastiness can be shocking if you aren’t used to it. Sad but true. Go be a light. (regardless of your political leanings)
Save links and quotes. I use Twitter as a way to save links and quotes I like. Sometimes I come across something cool or funny or helpful or insighful on the Internet and I just Twitter it and then mark it as a favorite. Going back through your favorites later can be like an electronic scrap book
Follow / Broadcast Live Events. When friends get to be places you can’t be, they can Twitter and let you experience a taste of it, like a friend recently did at a McCain Palin rally and like I will at the Chicago Marathon this Sunday or at various CM conferences. When my wife went on a trip across the country with her parents, she Twittered their progress and pictures for me and the little back home. We got to feel a little less lonely and could picture where she was along the trip. It was great to get those glimpses into her days while she was away from us.
Entertain and brighten people’s day. If you are like me, you enjoy telling jokes or looking at life through a humorous lense. Twitter allows you to share those funny moments. Normally, it would be pretty lame when you see someone to say, “last week the toilet bowl handle broke and I had to reach in the water to flush.” But as a live Twitter its funny, as every one can picture you doing this, as it JUST happened. Or like one I saw this morning, “Unless someone actually invented a real flux capacitor, I’m pretty sure I need a new watch battery.”
Communicate with friends. Twitter also allows back and forth communication, either publicly or privately. If you start a post with @kidologist than I and everyone knows the comment is directed at me, though anyone can read and enjoy it. If you put a “d” before it: d @kidologist than only I will get the message. This can be fun. One time I Twittered, “Where should I go to lunch today?” and there were a bunch of @kidologist replies/suggestions. While they were all to me, others got to see the suggestions. A bunch of people separated by hundreds of miles and time zones all collaborated on my lunch destination. (Taco Bell won) That is a part of what makes Twitter unique.
There are other reasons I’m sure I’ll think of after I publish this, and please gives yours in comments. But Twittering is a fun way to interact and stay connected with a wide variety of people from literally all over the world, instantly.
Christine Yount is a leading voice in children’s ministry and someone you need to keep in your virtual circle of advisors. I’m excited to see her blogging and podcasting now. I’ve been listening to her for as long as I can remember and her longevity in children’s ministry leadership is a true mark of someone who is dedicated to a mission, not to a business or just trying to being heard. When Christine Yount speaks, I listen. (That doesn’t mean I always agree - but it does mean she forces me to think and constantly be evaluating. And I love that!)
This is the second of a series on our Kid U 2008 Celebration Conference. (previous)
It’s no secret to Kidology users that I’ve been a huge fan of Speed Stacks since, well, before I even discovered Speed Stacks! I got my first set of generic stacking cups as my mother’s final Christmas gift to me the year she died of cancer. Her hand written note said, “I’m sure you’ll find a way to use these to entertain and teach kids.” Soon, I had developed my rules and was using cup stacking racing in my ministry. It wasn’t until a CPC several years later that I stumbled upon the booth for Speed Stacks, the premier manufacturer of cup stacking cups and the primary promoter of the Sport of “Sport Stacking.” I immediately signed up to be a member of the WSSA.
While I have never been able to attend the World Championship Tournament in Denver (which has been covered by ESPN) I hope to make it there someday to see if I can’t go home with a trophy. I have competed against a professional football player and won, as well as world champion and legend Emily Fox, as you can see here:
So when it came time to start planning our 10th anniversary Kidology University I quickly decided having a Stacking Competition would be a fan aspect to the conference, as well as help our attendees discover this fun sport for kids that actually can be a VERY effective outreach tool in the church.
I demonstrated Sport Stacking (the official term for the sport) in the opening session, and then folks were able to try it hands on in the exhibit hall.
We brought some kids to the conference to demonstrate and teach the attendees how to Sport Stack and then gave them the opportunity to qualify for a competition in the closing session on Saturday.
After three days of learning, competing and recording scores, only 8 finalists were called upon to compete in the final BattleStack Competition! What is a BattleStack? Only the newest coolest product from Speed Stacks:
When Saturday final arrived, I called up the 8 attendees who had recorded the fastest scores in the exhibit hall to compete on the BattleStack!
Competition was fierce, but it all came down to two clowns. One professional clown, Debbie George from Merry Heart Clowns (one of our trainers) and Pastor Ken Wheeler from Graceland Baptist Church of New Albany Indiana.
Competing against a clown must have been intimidating to Ken…
In fact, it proved to be too much, as Ken got a whoopin’ from a clown!
Who instantly broke into a victory dance all over the stage! Actually, it may have been ME that was intimidated by the clown, because I had promised to challenge the winner of the competition and I completely forgot to race the winner! So we’ll never know whether I would have won or not!
Many thanks to Speed Stacks for sponsoring Kid U and providing the BattleStack games and awesome prizes to our winners. All eight went home with some cool Sport Stacking equipment!
As I always say, “Don’t be a Slacker, be a Stacker!”
While I am not Catholic - I have great respect for so much that the Catholic Church has done and stood for. While theologically my saving faith is in the person of Jesus and not the Church, when it comes to what is at stake in this political season, I find the following video from CatholicVote.com to be right on:
I am tired of hearing Christians say they aren’t going to vote for one reason or another. ANY REASON NOT TO VOTE IS A LAME REASON. Hey, I’m in Illinois, voting Republican is a “waste” of my vote, but I vote because I am an American and many have died to give me that freedom.
Be American and VOTE. I don’t even mind if you vote for the man I think is the worst possible leader for our nation. I will still applaud you for voting. We are both Americans after all.
This is the first of a series on our Kid U 2008 Celebration Conference. (next)
The greatest highlight of Kid U is the PEOPLE who come. As one of our feedback forms said:
Coming to the Kidology University was like coming to a family reunion even though it was my first time attending. I will be back! - Heather Marshall
There is just something unique about the feel of a Kid U, and it’s hard to describe - you have to experience it. One example would be how Josh Kornberg became a highlight of the conference.
Who is Josh? Well, according to children’s pastor Kenny Conley who Twittered me that the following:
Karl, I’m sending an ambassador in my name to meet you at Kidology U. His name is Josh Kornberg. He’s 18 and he was a summer intern for me this summer, was a kid in my ministry many moons ago. And believe me, he WILL be making a mark in this world in the area of Children’s Ministry… someone to keep an eye on. Do me a favor though. When he introduces himself (Josh Kornberg) can you make a big deal out of it? You and Kidology are a big deal to him. Thanks!
Kidology is all about encouraging those who are just beginning to minister to kids and who are passionate about it! So when I met Josh, I announced to the entire lunch and exhibit hall, “Ladies and Gentleman, this is Josh Kornberg, and I have it on good authority that he is a young man to keep an eye on, one who is going to make a difference in the world for kids!”
Then, every time I saw him, I had everyone clap for him! I even started chants, “Give me a J! Give me an O!” etc. It was fun to see his reaction. He was one of the stars of Kid U, and even got some special attention during the Kidz Blitz event when he accidently let a donut fall on the floor. This is how he was punished:
We were excited to have people from all over the United States at this event - more than ever before as we marketed nationwide for this 10th annual event. But we were especially excited to have a few international attendees as well who came for the entire event, Wednesday Celebration Banquet through Saturday!
Here I am with Scheila Avellar from Brazil!
and Michelle Strasser from Switzerland! She even brought me some Swiss Chocolate and the first few chapters of The Order of the Ancient which she is translating into German for me!
While I was disappointed that former CP Team member Frank Tan was unable to come to Kid U, I was excited to meet his team that he sent all the way from Oregon in his place! Hey, if you can’t come to Kid U, the next best thing is to send your team! In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever known a CP to send the team even when they couldn’t come themself. What a gift!
Another person that added a wonderful spirit to Kid U was Alan Root. Alan is a guy I’ve seen around children’s ministry conferences for years but never had the chance to get to know. Boy, have I been missing out! Here is a guy who loves the Lord, loves kids, and his positive and fun outlook on life just rubs off on everyone who comes near. We will definitely be having him back at future Kidology events! I think I finally met someone as good at puns as my dad… almost.
I can’t even share all the snap shots that I’m enjoying going through now that Kid U is over. And while I’ll be blogging more pictures and more details from this historic Kid U event, I had to START by telling you about some of the PEOPLE who attended. No matter how great the trainers are, no matter how exciting the performers are, no matter how helpful the exhibitors are, it is the PEOPLE WHO ATTEND Kid U that make it such a wonderful event. If you have never been to a Kid U, you truly are missing out!
Well, I decided to bless my wife by cooking the Kid U Post-Conference Pizza Outing Left Overs last night… it was good stuff, Gino’s East if you’re curious. Deep dish pepperoni pizza to be exact, and there was some left over to take home to my wife who missed the late night dinner due to getting our little boy to bed.
I could swear (though I don’t) that she said, “Just put it in the oven at 350, it will heat up better than in the microwave.” I was a little surprised, thinking she meant just put the box in, so I answered, “Really? Just put it in the oven?” She replied, “Yes.”
So I did. I set the timer for 20 minutes but about 15 into it the kitchen smelled of smoke. I was on the phone with my dad giving Kid U highlights when my wife comes in crying, “Did you put the BOX in the oven?!?!?”
I said “Yes, just like you told me too.” Turns out it was on fire!
The fire was quickly put out, and after all the excitement, the pizza was fine, though it definitely had that “smoked” flavor! Please tell me we aren’t the only couple with communication problems.
The lesson learned? Best to just let the wife prepare the food and I’ll stick to clean up duty!
WEDNESDAY EVENING, October 1st, 2008 is the Kidology Celebration Banquet as the Kick Off Event to Kid U Celebration Conference. YES! We are celebrating 10 YEARS of KID U! Actually, we’ve done FIFTEEN of these large conferences (in different states same year) and I’ve literally lost track of how many of the smaller Kidology To Go events we’ve done, including their predecessor, “Science of Kidology.” We are takin the opportunity of this 10th anniversary event to celebration, look back, and vision cast for the future of Kidology!
We have many family, friends and fans who were not able to make it to Chicago for the banquet so I’m excited to announce that we are planning to broadcast the event LIVE via Ustream.com.
GO TO: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-with-the-kidologist or just visit the home page of Kidology.org. You not only will be able to watch the event, but chat with others who are watching as well. I recommend you register on the site for a free account so your chat name will be your username. I did a test braodcast last night and got to chat with four members from virginia, florida and oregon all at once and they got to see my Star Wars museum in my basement. What a perk for being the first! I will send out a reminder via Twitter if you follow me there or on facebook.
I HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE - well, you’ll be able to see me, I’ll be able to say hi at the camera and occasionally in the chat room! Now you can attend the banquet no matter where you are! (Isn’t technology fun?)
September 20, 2008 at 8:29 pm · Filed under Family, Luke
Today was the day we finally gave Luke another haircut. We love his curly hair, but when it starts getting in his eyes we know we have to cut it again. It’s a bummer because he always seems to age three months with a hair cut. We know, “It’ll grow back” - but he’s so stinkin’ cute with those curls! Too bad, today was hair cutting day! And for the past two years Sara has been cutting both boys hair to save money. (haircut prices have gotten ridiculous if you ask me!)
Here he is, all smiles and read to go under the knife,
er, scissors anyway.
That’s one curly head!
Our personal hair stylist at work!
Bye, Bye Bangs! (my wife would like to ask you not look at the
messy counters in the background)
Oops, was that an ear lobe?
Elmo helps the time go by as mommy sculpts the head.
It’s a brand new boy!
Is this the same boy!?!? Amazing how different he looks.
September 20, 2008 at 8:05 pm · Filed under Family, Luke
First off, I have to say, my sister is the ultimate party planner. She puts together the most amazing themed parties for her kids (sample). Today was no exception. It was an overnight camping Indiana Jones theme where they went geo-caching for treasure and every kid got an archeologist bag, brown fedora and a whip! Due to having a two year old, we came for the morning fun. It was a beautiful forest preserve I’ll be returning to for hiking! Luke took to the trails immediately…
It is right along the Fox River in Cary, so there were many water views on the hike.
One funny sight (that I couldn’t take a picture of) was three guys fishing with beer bottles. A poor man’s technique perhaps. They tied fishing line to the neck of their beer, threw the line out, drank while waiting, and when then got a bite, wound the line around the beer bottle to reel it in. Yes, we saw them catch one!
One of the kids caught a craw fish. Going with the theme, we just pretended it was a scorpion!
I showed my son how to intimidate a small creature by returning its taunts right back at it!
While he wasn’t given one, due to his age, Luke found a whip and quickly was giving the bigger kids an amazing demonstration on how to do it!
Which is how he earned the title, “Illinois Luke.” Yup, that’s my boy!
Wife gave permission to go see movie with a buddy! Then called back to retrack the offer, now I'm watching boy while she goes out w/ friend 55 mins ago
@shellysexton I told your "JESUS" story in my keynote Thursday if your ears were ringing.. you know the story I mean? One lady cried. :) 1 hr ago
did you see my post today about Twitter on my blog? 1 hr ago
But what IS Twitter? It is a micro-blog whose posts are made up not only of your own, but of those you are “following.” It is similar to a blog except that your posts are limited to 140 characters or less. So you can’t get too wordy. And like a blog, your most recent post is at the top of the page. But what makes it unique is that the post of anyone you choose to follow also appear on your Twitter page. So your Twitter page becomes not only a mini-blog of what you are doing, but a news feed on what your friends (or whoever you are following, they don’t have to be friends, as I’ll get into below) are doing or thinking or posting.
Save links and quotes. I use Twitter as a way to save links and quotes I like. Sometimes I come across something cool or funny or helpful or insighful on the Internet and I just Twitter it and then mark it as a favorite. Going back through your favorites later can be like an electronic scrap book
Many thanks to Speed Stacks for sponsoring Kid U and providing the BattleStack games and awesome prizes to our winners. All eight went home with some cool Sport Stacking equipment!
