Engage Students Using Instagram in Your Youth Ministry
Video Transcript
Hey everybody. It's Jeremy with Awana YM. We're talking about Instagram today and I've had a bunch of people ask me, "What's Instagram all about? What do I use it for? I'm really not sure what this whole thing is and why do I need another social media account?" The reason that I encourage leaders to get on Instagram is because that's one of the biggest places that your students are actually playing. They're actually engaging in that space probably more than Facebook and Twitter, maybe even combined depending on which students you have.
The reason that I want you to go there isn't simply because I think you need one more thing to look. I think the reason that we need to engage on Instagram is because students are showing us what they think about their life, not only what actually happened, but what they aspire to have happen. They're crafting photos to actually make it work, so that they look like the people they want to be.
Now I want to encourage you not just to get on Instagram and watch and look at what they're posting so that you can learn about who they are, and you can learn about what's going on in their life. I want to encourage you to get on Instagram to participate, to engage. When you see them doing something that you think that's awesome, like it, press the little heart button so that they know that you're watching. When you see them doing something and you're like, "I don't know about that," ask them a question, put a comment in there.
On Instagram, they way that they derive value, how well a picture did, is based on the amount of activity it gets. For people to either press the little heart button or comment says this is how many people care about me. This is how many people are paying attention to what I'm doing. I want you to use that space to hold them accountable, to build them up when they do amazing things. When you see them helping other people or you see them doing something kind or loving or generous, do something to show them "Hey listen, I saw that. That's awesome. I want you to be encouraged."
When they do something and you're kind of like "I'm not too sure you should have done that" or "I don't even know what that means," you might not want to simply sit down and say, "Let me post a comment here and get into a long conversation with you." You might just post a comment and say, "Hey, can we talk about this later or hey, I want to know what's going on here. Can you explain it the next time we see each other?" Sometimes you don't want to put them in an awkward position on social media and I appreciate that, but I do want you to hold them accountable.
When you see them doing something and you think, "That's probably not something you should post," they need to know that it's more than just their friends watching, that there are leaders, that there are people who care about them paying attention to what's going on.
Instagram, on the flip side is actually also a fantastic way for your group to put pictures out about what you're doing. If you go to an amusement park, show that, because some of those students love the fact that you took a picture of them with them at an amusement park or whitewater rafting or on a missions trip or whatever you're doing.
Show people what you're doing because when they can see it, and not only see it, but see the people that they know, that they care about, that not only reinforces the community of students that you have, but it also invites the friends of theirs who are seeing some of those pictures, especially if you hashtag them with your group name. It reinforces for those people outside, "Hey these people do some things that maybe I should go check out." It provides an awesome opportunity for those students who you know on Instagram to invite their friends to come to the group because they can see some of the things you've already been doing.
Either way, I just want you to get on Instagram, engage with your students because your students are there. If they're there, they need somebody like you, an adult who loves them encouraging them, helping them see when they're making mistakes and helping them see when they're making wise decisions. To learn more about using technology with students, you can download the free eBook Eleven ways to Engage Students Using Technology.
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