It will take a while to create online dialog, but start preparing.

If you want to encourage engagement on your site, remember to ask. Businesses use Calls to Action or CTAs. Every good ad has one. It could be a phone number to call or a web site to visit. The interactivity of the web allows you to get fancier. Ask questions at the end of your post. Include a simple poll on the topic you are covering. Direct readers to something you’d like them to download. Link to another page. We’ll talk more about this later.

There are three major forums for interaction in Social Media. Facebook, Twitter and your Blog. Focus for now on your blog. Blogs encourage thoughtful interaction. Facebook is more of a free-for-all. Twitter plays an important role, too. All need to be monitored. If help is short, start with the blog. Blog platforms send the administrator an email when a comment is posted. You can review the email before it goes public. (We’ll address Facebook and Twitter in future posts.)

There are tools to help you monitor your Social Media, but the focus of our series is helping churches use this media. The reality is that church experience with social media probably relies on volunteers. Much of the advice you find online will not help you get started with the resources you have.

Begin by Drafting Community Rules

Draft a short statement to readers about the type of content you will accept.

Post Community Rules prominently in a sidebar on your blog and Facebook or on its own tab. Rules should be very short and should encourage participation and give readers a sense of comfort in joining your community. They’ll know someone is watching out for them.

Suggestion for Community Rules:
We welcome you to participate in discussion on our parish blog with opinions or questions that are presented thoughtfully, responsibly and with respect to our readers. We will not publish profanity of any sort and reserve the right to exclude comments that bully, harass, threaten, are libelous, hate-oriented, racist, or illegal. You may post anonymously but do not impersonate someone else. If you read content on our page that you think is inappropriate, please report it. We want this forum to make the world a better place. We know that includes criticism. Following the Community Rules will make this a safe place for everyone to have a say.

It is important to be open in your approach to monitoring. Negative comments should be deleted only if they violate the Community Rules.

Negative comments are an opportunity to address issues which may concern many people. It is a chance to witness! Do so thoughtfully.

• Answer all comments. It creates relationships.
• Accept positive comments graciously.
• Address negative concerns openly. You may want to ask the pastor to respond, depending on the nature of the complaint.
• If you encounter a “troll,” someone who is out to make trouble on your blog, here are a few steps to take.
  Respond publicly to the first comment or two. Address concerns in a forthright manor. If the complaint is legitimate the negative comments will stop. If negative comments persist, respond publicly one more time, saying that you are going to address future concerns offline. Then do it. Your readers know that you are responding but any nastiness is no longer public.

You are likely to receive more positive comments than negative, but both are important. Personal attacks should not be allowed. Give more leeway for criticism of public figures or elected representatives. By virtue of their office, they are open to criticism.

Monitoring Social Media is work. We recommend that you designate a few people to monitor comments. Have a talk about how you will respond and what to do if you don’t know the answer to a question. Divide the responsibility, assigning committee members certain days.

People expect replies within 48 hours. The value of the discussion decreases dramatically after that.

Over the course of a few months, you will see patterns to participation and can prepare for busy days. But make sure someone checks daily so that questionable comments are not hanging in cyberspace without your attention and those in need know you are listening.