Catholic Tech Talk

The ashes we’ll wear tomorrow will be an outward sign of penance and contrition. As an outward sign during Lent online, I created a graphic to replace my Facebook and Google+ profile pictures with. I’d love to see other people use this as well—let’s create awareness online and remind ourselves and our Christian brothers and [...]

What kind of people would it be filled with? Would they be kind? In a previous blog post of mine, Dr. Caroline Cerveny, SSJ-TOSF, wrote a comment that resonated with me, “We are in a new day and age where we all need to be good Digital Citizens. We need to be clearer with one [...]

The past weekend our diocesan Facebook page came under attack after our bishop wrote about the spiritual implications of voting for intrinsic evil. Some of the posters engaged the substance of the arguments; some, while disrespectful, were at least not vulgar or obscene; and the rest made for the most soul-damaging work of my life. I [...]

One of my favorite Catholic rituals is the candle lighting at the Easter Vigil.  A few years ago I witnessed this event in a somewhat large parish from a balcony.  The whole worship space was pitch black.  In comes the newly lit Pascal Candle down the main aisle.  Candles of those in the pews on [...]

I recently came across an article about Sister Elaine Lachance, Vocation Director for the Good Shepherd Sisters of Quebec, and how she is using social media to spark interest and renew awareness in the religious lifestyle. I instantly loved her story. Growing up I attended weekend camps at a local convent, and as a child [...]

It’s been about 9 months since Google+ has launched, and many of us have gotten a good idea of what it’s all about and how it can best  be used.   The biggest misconception I’ve found is the tendency to try and understand the service through a simple “apples to apples” comparison with Facebook.  The [...]

I was recently interviewed by KARE11 (local NBC affiliate) for a story on how churches are using social media to connect with church-goers.

You’ve probably heard about the potential benefits for your parish.  You’ve read about it here.  You’ve heard me say it.  Even some Bishops are tweeting.  The Facebook thing looks great.  Google+ looks interesting.  So you and the Pastor decide to give it a go.  You set up all the accounts, do your customization, you tweet, you [...]

The new Facebook Timeline for Pages has a lot of great benefits for a much richer visitor experience.  One the things I like with the change especially is the more prominent “tabs” display at the top and some really good apps that have been coming out.  For example, as I was recently ramping up our [...]

So you’ve taken the time to set up your parish Facebook Page.  You’ve got some “likes” and are posting away.  It’s been fun and exciting, and now you might be wondering what the “pay offs” are and how to actually gauge the performance.  I was thinking this myself the other night.  I’ve been very pleased with [...]

It’s nice to see so many parishes embracing social media and establishing accounts on services like Twitter and building Facebook Pages.  As I look at various parish websites that have staff email addresses posted I have noticed that many are obviously personal addresses (i.e. @Yahoo.com, @Live.com, etc.) I wonder how many parishes have a technology, [...]

The Parish Website is becoming more and more common.  Most parishioners think the parish needs one, and most Pastors want one.  I’m a firm believer that every parish should have a website.  It’s my firm belief that the parish website’s purpose is to serve as a community hub and 24/7 extension of your parish office. [...]

So Google+ Pages went live this past week.  Someone in your parish office or a parishioner might even suggested that your parish set one up.  Then the thought comes to your mind, “Well, we have that Facebook page they told us we should get; why do we need another one somewhere else?”  Good question, and [...]

Facebook pages can have great uses for our parishes, and any Facebook user has probably ‘Liked’ a page or two.  As ‘Admins’ of those pages we know we need to get those ‘Likes’ right?  And building the number of those ‘Likes’ is paramount often times for us too.  But have you ever wondered why someone [...]

If you weren’t aware, October has been National Anti-Bullying Month.   When I hear the word “bully”, it sometimes seems harmless.  I picture that kid on the movie A Christmas Story.  The truth is that it’s not harmless.  In recent years it’s even been taken to another level with technology to what is now called [...]

Among the top questions I’m asked when speaking with parishes about private social networks is “Why not just use Facebook”. Public networks like Facebook are extremely popular to say the least. Setting up a company or personal page is easy and free. The ability to reach people and share information is direct and simple. Parishes [...]

I checked in at Google+ this morning and was surprised to see a user post that he just deactivated his Facebook account.  The question that immediately came up for me, “Why would he do that?”  As online social networking is evolving many are left wondering which one to use or use multiple services.  The other [...]

As the conversation continues about technology and the Church, those advocating it’s uses encounter a lot of objections.  The objections interestingly seem to be pretty consistent.  It came up again last night in a phone conversation and today online, and a question has been going through my mind for a while now . . . [...]