Advice Needed on Online Web Presence

[cw4u]

Our church has recently expanded it's only reach to include social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter and also online video sites such as YouTube and Vimeo.

Recently, a few members of the church have raised concerns over our online video sites...specifically Vimeo at the moment. They are worried that potential viewers might wander off of the church sub-page and view material that would not be appropriate.

For the time, we've put a disclaimer on all of our external sites asking people to exercise caution, etc.

But this I think could have far more reaching implications. What about ustream? We stream with them and they put ads in the stream. What about those ads? Are we responsible for them? And what about facebook and twitter? People could randomly click off our social media sites and find something that they wouldn't like.

The same could apply to our TV broadcasts and commercials placed before and after that. We're not responsible for those but some people might think that we are.

How responsible is the church for how it's viewers interact online?? I mean, we can't go and baby-step them through each little URL. I think people should be able to differentiate between church related and non-church related material. And if they have a concern, shoot us an email and we'd be more than willing to sort it out.

So...how are all of you guys dealing with this? I was thinking about putting a general "You are leaving this site" type of page when accessing domains not under our control. Vimeo Pro is also an option but I don't think that this will end at just Vimeo.

Any other suggestions?

[waynehoskins]

In the days of Web 1.0, normal people were pretty stupid when it comes to the web. Sites were also more independent, and people largely didn't understand the idea of ads and such, especially host-provided ads and Google-provided ads.

These days, everyone should understand how to work Web 2.0. Virtually every web application, from Facebook to Google and beyond, has ads. Some people might be able to manage a series of clicks and find something they don't like. If they do, and they think you're somehow responsible, they're web idiots.

Maybe my opinion is a little strong, but people have to learn. My pastor, who's only in his early 50s, can't figure out Facebook. He has to have his assistant help him work it, and largely work it for him. If he's going to use it, he has to learn how, and the same goes for web video viewers.

[JoshGuerette]

I don't think it's a huge issue. The majority of people visiting a church's Twitter/Facebook/Vimeo/Ustream are regular internet users, so they are fully aware of what's out there and know their way around. A disclaimer could potentially be useful, but personally I think regular users will ignore it and it could scare new users away, thinking they're going to run into something offensive.

For Twitter and Facebook, it's pretty sheltered. People with accounts are usually only seeing what their friends are posting, so that area is self-governed.

For Vimeo and Ustream, there is that added potential to "wander", and that's when Vimeo Pro and Ustream Pro (Watershed) come into play. They allow you to govern which ads (if at all) appear on your stream/video and solve that problem for you. Realistically, there are other benefits to both services other than safety, so for some it's much easier to make that jump to a premium service.

For YouTube, your kind on your own. People just need to use common sense, but there's no getting around that some things will slip through and you have no control over what is linked to from your videos.

Personally, I think the big issue is external links. On Twitter and Facebook, it's very easy to post a link to a video or article, and then find out later those external and unrelated pages had "undesired links" on them. As soon as you start thinking about "ok, what am I posting and what could go wrong", it's a little more risky.

Also, I would highly recommend turning off anything that allows others to post on your church page without going through some sort of screening/approval process. It's crazy what people post on their own pages, you really don't want your entire church to be exposed to some of the things that get posted.

Edit:

Originally Posted by waynehoskins

Maybe my opinion is a little strong, but people have to learn. My pastor, who's only in his early 50s, can't figure out Facebook. He has to have his assistant help him work it, and largely work it for him. If he's going to use it, he has to learn how, and the same goes for web video viewers.

Definitely agree. Nothing worse than not knowing what's going on when something goes wrong, and not being able to fix it. Luckily, our lead pastor is very proficient with social media.

[Paris MkVI]

You have a responsibility to them. Managing posts, monitoring posts/links.

You are not responsible FOR them. People can - and will - do virtually anything you can imagine.

To isolate ourselves exclusively to "safe" online areas means the people who might need most desperately to find Jesus will be virtually unable to find folks like us to introduce Him to them..