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Posts Tagged with Twitter

News Feed Algorithms

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I’m no mathematician.

The smart thinking of Tim Challies explains the matter of social media algorithms.

Every time I learn how to get a blog post to get more traffic I learn that new algorithms are being unleashed and everything I thought I knew is now outdated. That’s the way a user of a product works and the smart guys producing the products are more than just a step or two ahead of me.

Challies, who writes with a much wider scope than I do, makes a strong argument about the old fashioned way we used to get things off of the internet from the guys and sites we want and not what the algorithm building guys want their customers to see.

As one who produces content to read (I’ve been blogging for nearly 15 years, that’s ancient in internet years) and one who archives sermons to listen to (over 370, and counting) and occasional podcasting series, it is valuable to learn as much as one can about how to share what I’m producing to as many people as possible in how to get content dispersed.

I don’t have any aspirations to cash in on any content I produce related to my ministry of the word and so I also realize I have to rely on word of mouth and people who intentionally come looking for things I post here and on Sermon Audio (and YouTube).

I don’t fault anyone producing platforms that many people use such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. They do what they do for the reasons they do it. I try to take advantage of all platforms to disperse content and I understand that’s the way it is.

Tim Challies, in his post this morning, makes a strong case for the consumer of information to stay in control of the content we read by actually subscribing to those sources we want to read. If you use social media to be the primary source of your news you should expect them to give you what they want you to read. If you want to decide what you read, then you need to act the part of curator, as Challies puts it.

So, today, I’m inviting you to consider a few things to help me.

  • Subscribe to this news feed to get a new email when I produce a new post (click on that “Follow” button on the lower right of the screen.)
  • Subscribe to SermonAudio feed https://www.sermonaudio.com/thebridge
  • Follow my Public Figure Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PastorPaulThompson/
  • Follow my Twitter Feed: https://twitter.com/TwinFallsPaul
  • Follow my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAhExzbgiDz3A99ci0S6WyA?view_as=subscriber
  • Share any posts or sermons on your social media outlets.
  • I write a regular column in the Twin Falls Times News (magicvalley.com). My ability to continue is largely on feedback the Times News gets on the column I write. The best way to communicate this to them is to share links directly to the Times News. Sharing and liking those columns goes a long way in telling them that people read them. (I don’t write for pay for the Times News, it is at their request and I’ve been pleased to do so for the past 7 years.)

Thank you for reading and helping spread the “news”.

 

Who Even Blushes Anymore?

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Ephesians 4:29
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth…”
The potty mouth now belongs equally to men and women.

I listened to a stump speech of a popular female “conservative” endorse a popular “conservative” presidential candidate.

(Let me just say, first, I like presidential election season. I really do enjoy it.)

Is there anyone who filters their language anymore? Sure, one might expect hyper-pumped emotionalism from a half-time locker room, but is it appropriate for a women (or man) in a political speech to talk about kicking your enemy’s ______? Or using human anatomy descriptors as appropriate? And then for that one speaking like that to be lauded as an evangelical Christian.

But really, does anyone care about wholesome speech anymore? Have we no shame?

intermission: I’m not saying potty mouth politicians are a new thing, or the qualifier of being or not being a Christian, I’m just saying… “Who even blushes anymore?”

Back on topic; This is really less about a political stump speech and more about a Christian’s duty in the public square.

Take a moment and examine your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. posts and see if you’re applying Ephesians 4:29-32. Is there even any consideration to what you post online?
Just a brotherly consideration for both men and women.
When Scripture says to “let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth” does that only mean when you are speaking when your pastor is around? No, of course not. You are a better student of the word of God than that, aren’t you?
I might paraphrase it like this… Let no unwholesome word [picture, video, quote] proceed [shared, posted, liked] from your mouth [Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc].
Don’t forget that some of the sites you like and share, as funny as they are, have unwholesome other things you may be endorsing by sharing and liking.
  • pastors, you must be careful about this.
  • older men, you must exercise caution of what ‘unwholesome’ things you like and share.
  • older women, you must use discretion when you like another’s photo, posts, quotes.
  • younger (male and female), your generation has become un-shocked by nearly anything. You don’t have to be like that.

Stop letting unwholesome words [posts] define you. You don’t have to drop an f-bomb to emphasis your point. Why not use your words that will “give grace to those who hear”?

Charles Spurgeon and Social Media

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From “The Soul Winner” (p.23-24)

“There are two sorts of proud people, and it is difficult sometimes to say which of the two is the worse. There is, first of all, the kind that is full of that vanity which talks about itself, and invites other people to talk about it, too, and to pat it on the back, and stroke its feathers the right way. It is all full of its little morsel of a self, and goes strutting about, and saying, “Praise me, please, praise me, I want it,” like a little child who goes to each one in the room, and says, “See my new dress; isn’t it a beauty?” You may have seen some of these pretty dears; I have met many of them. The other kind of pride is too big for that sort of thing. It does not care for it; it despises people so much that it does not condescend to wish for their praises. It is so supremely satisfied with itself that it does not stoop to consider what others think of it. I have sometimes thought it is the more dangerous kind of pride spiritually, but it is much the more respectable of the two. There is, after all, something very noble in being too proud to be proud. Suppose those great donkeys did bray at you, do not be such a donkey as to notice them. But this other poor little soul says, “Well, everybody’s praise is worth something,” and so he baits his mousetraps, and tries to catch little mice of praise, that he may cook them for his breakfast. He has a mighty appetite for such things. Brethren, get rid of both kinds of pride if you have anything of either of them about you.”

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