Social Media Code of Practice part 3

Social Media is good. 

It's a great way for church workers to engage with people and each other. But it's not without its problems. So far I've discussed the risk of inappropriate use of social media. 

To my way of thinking, the second problem that can occur when clergy tweet or book their faces is to do with mixing up the public and the private. 

It's well known that journalists find Twitter a godsend. No need to seek an interview with the famous, if they're posting their inmost thoughts online every day. Every time a footballer gets substituted after a bad game, you can bet your bottom euro that his twitter account is being watched avidly. Will he give vent to his feelings? Is he going to hint he wants a transfer?You can hear reporters chortling almost every day on the News about Twitter.

Now I don't kid myself that ordinary vicars are particularly newsworthy figures, but a few of us church people undoubtedly are. If you're a bishop, and a tweeting bishop, then you're certainly news fodder. And at the right time, and the right place, a tweeting vicar could be equally newsworthy. Remember how the media spotlight fell on the Vicar of Soham? If I was he, I think my instinct would be to stop tweeting immediately. Or maybe it wouldn't. Maybe I wouldn't think, and I'd let my friends know how scared I felt at suddenly having to deal with the attention. I'm sure a negative message could be spun out of any unguarded comment.

Most of us think that we're only talking to our friends on Facebook. But have we checked our settings? If you're privacy settings let "Friends of Friends" see your posts, then you might as well go out and write them on the front door of your church. Potentially anyone can see them. 

And then there's hacking. Facebook are just introducing https security. About time too. If you're checking your account on a public wi-fi, up to now, you've been vulnerable. 

So unless you're sure, really sure, that only the people you want to read your posts can actually read them, the only way to be safe is to assume that your favourite journalist is looking over your shoulder as you type.