Social Media Tips by Thomas Oord

22 Tips for Using Social Media from Theologians, Philosophers, Bible Scholars, and other Scholars of Religion

Social media is changing contemporary culture. And its changing scholarship in religion and philosophy.

I recently asked more than 90 theologians, philosophers, biblical scholars, and religion scholars others to write essays on social media. The result is a 460-page book called Theologians and Philosophers Using Social Media: Advice, Tips, and Testimonials (SacraSage). The book is currently ranked # 1 on Amazon as the best-selling book in Religious Studies Education.

With more than 90 essays, the advice is vast, varied, and rich. But I thought I’d list 22 tips I picked randomly from the book for using social media well.

Here is a small sample of what contributors to the book offer as advice:

1. “Be yourself on social media even as you let social media help you discover more fully who you are.” – Ron Cole-Turner
2. “Decide whether you want separate personal and professional social media accounts.” – Katharine Schmidt
3. “Don’t reply to people on Twitter by using a quote retweet. It comes off as rude and self-aggrandizing.” – David Congdon
4. “Sketch out your ideas on a blog first before publishing the final form.” Alexander Pruss
5. “Don’t feed the trolls.” – Brian McLaren
6. “Create a strategy and goals with your social media use.” – Greg Cootsona
7. “Posting in various places helps various people find your work.” – Janel Apps Ramsey
8. “Adjust your writing style for a broader, more public audience.” – Ben Corey
9. “Don’t let social media take over your life. Manage it.” – Oliver Crisp
10. “Try to have fun with social media. Don’t over think it.” – Helen DeCruz
11. “Be attentive to how social media may interrupt other important dimensions of life.” – Amos Yong
12. “Don’t engage bullies.” – Patricia Farmer
13. “Professors should require that class assignments be done in public, on social media.” – Tripp Fuller
14. “Go regularly to conferences on technology and social media.” – Deirdre Good
15. “Be cautious about whom you criticize on social media and how.” – Michael Gorman
16. “Decide what you want social media to do for you, and stick to that agenda.” – Joel Green
17. “Academic freedom protections may not apply to what scholars say on social media.” David Gushee
18. “Use social media to connect with people and to organize.” – Kwok Pui-Lan
19. “Broker and curate the best of social media to others.” – Len Sweet
20. “Brevity is beautiful.” – Nathan Hamm
21. “Users of social media should be ready for many requests for his or her time and energy.” – Richard Rohr
22. “If you have any good Spotify playlists for tear-inducing acoustic covers or Mongolian folk music, please send them my way!” – Kevin Timpe

With more than 90 essays from scholars and thought leaders in diverse fields, these 22 suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg!

Find hundreds and hundreds more in Theologians and Philosophers Using Social Media.

Find the book on Amazon in both print and ebook formats.

Thomas Jay Oord