You may have never heard the term (I haven’t and neither has Wikipedia), but I’d like to introduce you to it: digital real estate. It’s a term that I use often and think more people ought to be talking about.

To me, digital real estate is when you (as an individual) or your church or ministry claims your name on the web. A long time ago I went through all the social media and social networking sites and grabbed up the name “Greg Atkinson”. My blog is GregAtkinson.com, my Twitter is @GregAtkinson, etc.

Get this: when Facebook started offering vanity names I was on vacation and missed grabbing my name by 2 days. On Facebook, my personal web address iswww.facebook.com/greg.atkinson1, instead ofwww.facebook.com/gregatkinson. Another Greg Atkinson beat me to it!

Do you have your name reserved on various websites? Have you claimed your church’s name? There can only be one Grace Community and one Hope _______ and one Calvary _______. Whatever your church’s or organization’s name is, it’s important to grab it before someone else does.

Hear me, I don’t mean this in a vicious, beat out another Grace Baptist way. I mean someone else (not a church) could grab that name and do horrible things with it – really misrepresenting you and your church. Earlier this week I was speaking at the Bug Conference in Birmingham and heard horror stories from Maurilio Amorim, owner and president of The A Group in Nashville.

That’s why you see LifeChurch.tv (above) and Willow Creek (below) have already grabbed up their Twitter names, though they are not yet using them.

Did you know Rick Warren had 5000 followers before his first tweet? Someone on his staff (or him) grabbed the name and held it in-case Rick wanted to start twittering. Rick is now twittering and is quickly approaching 10,000 followers. His first tweet is below:

@RickWarren – 2 tweet or not 2 tweet? I fear the narcissistic possibility, but can’t pass up any tool to encourage you! Jumping in! .

And so he dove in. At the time of this writing, Rick has 14 tweets. The point is all the people you see above, including worship leader Matt Redman, grabbed their name – they, whether they realized it or not, practiced the rule of digital real estate and claimed their territory.

Maybe you, your pastor or your church isn’t into all this social media and social networking stuff. Who’s to say that you won’t be in a year or six months? Why not go ahead and grab your space now, so as to reserve it in-case you change your mind?

BONUS: In the resource section of my blog, I offer a FREE downloadable zip package of social media buttons to just about everything you could think of. Feel free to take and use them on your own website.

Greg Atkinson - www.GregAtkinson.com

With Facebook becoming like Twitter, it will be interesting to see how many people opt-in to receive Facebook status updates on their phones.  Do you already get Twitter updates via SMS?  If so, would you let Facebook status updates also come in via text as well?

When we last looked at Facebook groups or Facebook pages for your church, this was one limitation we identified that an app might be able to fill.  Looks like Facebook took care of it!

- Joe Suh from MyChurch

We discovered that the digital world offers a wealth of opportunity for young children to play and learn. But even in this small sample of 10 families we found–too easily, in several circumstances–repeated examples of attempts to manipulate children for the sake of commerce.

Here's the press release, Hawaii Church Becomes First to Stream Live Video to iPhone:

Less than two weeks after the release of Apple's iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3.0 update, Honolulu-based New Hope Christian Fellowship (http://www.enewhope.org) has announced that it will begin streaming its weekend worship services live to iPhone and iPod touch users.

Live streaming to the iPhone was one of the most requested features from church attendees, and is now possible with the inclusion of HTTP live streaming in Apple's iPhone 3.0 software. New Hope's addition of live streaming to the iPhone is significant in that it is the first non-profit organization to offer this type of service. "Typically, churches are years behind other organizations when it comes to technology and innovation. We have tried to reverse that trend and pioneer new ways to spread the Gospel using the most current tools available," explains New Hope's Technology and Innovations Director, Michael Sharpe. "We don't mind the long hours and stress that comes with innovating because we know that if we can come up with something useful, it can be used by other churches around the world."

Leveraging standards-based HTTP streaming technology, New Hope will deliver high quality video over either a Wi-Fi connection or other carrier network, providing for a truly portable experience.

After successfully testing the service this past weekend with hundreds of users, the church is now planning to offer the live streaming video of its services to all iPhone and iPod Touch users starting July 4th.

The church currently streams all five weekend services live on its website for computer users and created the streaming for the iPhone as a free service for those who may not have access to a computer.

"We are always looking for ways that we can leverage technology to reach people where they are at," said New Hope's Interactive Developer Peter Thourson, "through live streaming video on iPhone and iPod touch, users across the globe will be able to continue to attend church regardless of where they are."

Availability

The live stream of New Hope's Services will be available on their website at http://www.enewhope.org beginning July 4th. The live stream requires an iPhone or iPod touch with the 3.0 software update and an active Internet connection.

About New Hope Christian Fellowship

Started in 1995, New Hope Christian Fellowship Oahu is one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation according to "Outreach Magazine," with over 12,000 people in regular attendance at 6 locations. "Outreach Magazine" also named New Hope as one of the most influential and innovative churches in the United States.

Have a church tech question? Email them to dj.chuang[at]leadnet.org to be featured here on a future Tech Tuesday.

// DJ Chuang is a Director at Leadership Network, launching digital initiatives, and connecting multi-site churches and Asian American pastors. He joined the Leadership Network team through a partnership with L2 Foundation.

A year later, someone has compiled the data again, and Facebook looks well-positioned to be the dominant network in a majority of countries.

I wonder what this map will look like in 2010.  Will there be a single network to monopolize the world's social graph?  I didn't think this was possible a year ago, but now I'm not so sure...

Part 1: Social Networking Consumption

Q: On an average day how much time do you spend reading/viewing social media? A: "...at least an hour in my Google reader alone..." "average is probably 1-3 hours..." "I directly spend about a half hour each day reading RSS feeds..." [moderator's summary] ... they read a lot.. you’ve got to listen... turn off social networking.. when they need to focus and get stuff done.

Part 2: Social Networking for Organizations

Q: Do you think every business, church, and non-profit should blog, be on Facebook, and Twitter? A: The number of social media users is up 87% since 2003 (no distinction between churched or unchurched) and now outnumbers email users for the first time. In the past year, the time spent on social networks increased 73 percent, Nielsen says." … "This new human behavior is all about developing relational collateral online. It’s one of the most important issues facing organizations today." … "The social media tools aren’t right for everyone and every organization. … key is to know how the tools that exist will help the mission..."

Part 3: Social Media for Individuals

"It is difficult to manage a number of social networks."  "…The notion of community, the desire to associate, affiliate, and belong has always appealed to the human condition." "... If people decide to un-friend me because of that I don’t take it personal."

Part 4: Future of Social Networking

"... social networking is going to get more mobile…" "Facebook and [Twitter] didn’t even exist 3 years ago. I’m not even going to try to answer this one." "… I imagine social networking in 5 years will be much more tied to the physical world. … Pictures, videos, and messages will be tied to locations… Be honest, personal, and real. Don’t strive for perfection."

Personally, I think of social networking as connecting, not consuming. I read & reply to join a conversation to connect with people. I read & post to find and share valuable resources. For me, an average day might total up to an hour, though most of that is a few minutes here, and a few minutes there. Things with technology change very fast. Things with people, not so much. I'm seeing more integration between the online and offline worlds in many good ways, and I think the church can be the best laboratory for developing how we use social networking for the good of the world.

What do you think?

// DJ Chuang, Director at Leadership Network