UMNS Photo by Kathleen Barry
Tweet That iPad
Social media played a crucial role at General Conference and now is the virtual venue for ongoing conversation about the UMC's future.One of the new initiatives that I’m involved with is DreamUMC, a social media-fueled conversation among young and young-ish adults about the future of the United Methodist Church. It’s a response to the exclusion of young adult voices from the Call To Action process during the past two years and a commitment to include Young People from the get-go on a grassroots initiative not ran by anyone on any committee or board.
There’s a tweet-up on May 14th with young and youngish people to share their reflections and revelations after General Conference. We hope to share many stories via twitter tag #dreamumc and the conversations will be super-easy to follow.
Here’s how to join and follow the conversation. Two suggested methods: Basic and Pro
Basic – Tweetchat
If you haven’t already, create a twitter account at www.twitter.com. Pick a username (may take a few tries to get a unique one) and enter your email address and you are done.
Go to www.tweetchat.com and click “Sign In.” It will ask you to “authorize” Tweetchat to access your account, click Authorize (it can’t see your password and is an approved service).
Enter in #dreamumc into the “hashtag to follow” field at the top of the screen and hit GO
You are IN! Now you will see streaming in all the updates with the hashtag on them. Also, whenever you post something in the box, the hashtag will automatically be added. Play around with it but you will be able to follow the conversation.
Now, just login to tweetchat at 9pm EST on May 14th to join the conversation!
Pro – Tweetdeck
If you haven’t already, Create a twitter account at www.twitter.com. Pick a username (may take a few tries to get a unique one) and enter your email address and you are done.
Go to www.tweetdeck.com and install the desktop client (Mac or PC) or the Chrome app (I’m using the Chrome app and it is boss)
Register with tweetdeck.com, then launch the program. It will ask you to “authorize” Tweetdeck to access your account, click Authorize (it can see your password but it is an official Twitter service…they have your password anyway).
You should see the three columns. Sweet, right? Click “Add Column” at the top. Click on “Search” and enter in #dreamumc into the search field at the top of the screen and hit enter.
You are IN! Now you will see streaming in all the updates with the hashtag on them. Unlike Tweetchat, whenever you post something using the blue feather button, the hashtag will not automatically be added…you will have to add it yourself. Play around with it but you will be able to follow the conversation.
Now, just start up Tweetdeck at 9pm EST on May 14th to join the conversation!
If you have any questions, feel free to follow me on Twitter or follow the official DreamUMC account and I’ll try to help you out.
See you then!