Can a Facebook page/group be a “home base”?
Sean, InterVarsity staff at Jacksonville University, asks:
Would you recommend people using a facebook group or page for their home base and why?
There are two parts to this answer.
Can a “home base” be a Facebook page/group?
When Sean asks about a “home base,” he’s referring to this post about home bases, outposts, and passports. The “home base” is the page that all of your other online ministry presences–YouTube Channel, Twitter account, etc.–point back to.
In Brian’s video (linked in the post above), he suggested using Facebook as an “outpost” (like YouTube and Twitter) pointing back to a traditional web page that is the “home base.” This setup is ideal, he describes, because you have greater control over content and presentation on your own page.
Here’s my personal take on this: If you have the resources to stick to Brian’s structure, do it. We’ll be talking in the next few months about how to set up your campus group’s web site using WordPress or Drupal.
However, many campus groups don’t have the time or resources to maintain a web site like that. Since the majority of students’ interactions with your online ministry presence will be through Facebook anyway, I would say that a Facebook page is a perfectly valid home base. Most, if not all, of the functionality of a good home base is present in a Facebook page, and students are more comfortable in the Facebook space anyway.
If you agree or disagree, please speak up in the comments. What do you think?
Check back tomorrow for the second half of the answer, “Facebook groups versus pages for campus ministry.”
(photo from flickr user acupofsku)
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