Beyond the Tweet: Building Online Church Community Without Meta or X
Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
Let’s say, and believe me, this is purely hypothetical, that you’re feeling a bit bewildered by the behavior of certain tech billionaires—the moguls who own social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) or Meta (formerly Facebook). Or, if you’re blissfully unaware of the antics of such moguls, let’s say you’re looking to innovate the way you build and engage with online church communities. Perhaps you’ve grown fatigued with the usual platforms or your efforts on them have struggled to gain traction. Or, if you’re content with the typical tech channels, you’re simply looking for emerging digital trends. Whatever the case, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’re going to redefine online church community—beyond the tweet. We’ll present alternatives to the typical social media playbook and explore what else is possible for digital ministry in 2025.
But first, we need to recognize a hidden yet significant trend that has nothing to do with politics or billionaire antics. Social media platforms are stacking the deck against your church, ministry, camp, or non-profit. These platforms once promised you 24/7 access to your community. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all but guaranteed that you could post, message, and converse in a way that would strengthen the communal bonds for your church, business, or organization. That promise has been broken. In 2011, Facebook switched its news feed organization from chronological to algorithmic. Instead of showing you every post from friends, family, or communities in a precise chronological sequence, Facebook decided to curate the posts that made it to your feeds. Instead of date and time-based organization, Facebook would rank posts based on the likelihood that they would keep users on the site. Twitter and Instagram soon followed suit. At approximately the same time, the social media platforms started to introduce “recommended” content into your feeds. That’s why you see hot takes and memes from commentators and influencers you swear you’ve never followed. This trend of algorithmically curated, recommended content came at a cost. It pushed out content creators and community conveners seeking connection, rather than virality. Today, big social media wants to display whatever is likely to go viral. Your announcement about the new worship times? Your post about the upcoming soup collection or blood drive? They’re not going to garner as many eyeballs as someone slamming their political or cultural opposition. And if you do want to spread the word about Easter worship schedule or the new member breakfast, you may have a difficult time doing so on social media - unless of course, you pay for ad space. Collectively, these changes represent a 14-year shift towards virality in social media. But is “going viral” really the way of the church?
Religious content in general, and congregational conversations in particular, are unlikely to go viral. But there’s another option. What if, instead of playing the “virality” game, churches sought to convene niche communities? What if, instead of playing by big social media’s rules, faith communities found new methodologies for convening conversations about the life of faith? This pivot will require you to experiment with new platforms, some of which may never reach the point of commercial viability. They’ll also require some experimentation from those in your faith community. Here are four tactics for niche church community that break free from the problematic constraints of Meta and X.
I hesitate to identify Reddit as a “new” or “emerging” platform, because for many, it is the entirety of day-to-day digital life. Every day, over 97 million users access Reddit. Reddit isn’t quite “big social,” but it’s edging closer. Still, what I find compelling about Reddit is the growth of niche communities on the platform. With over 100,000 “subreddits,” Reddit gives you the tools to convene discussions with like-minded individuals. Want to talk with other faith leaders? Join r/pastors. Looking to connect with fellow ELCA Lutherans? Try r/ELCA or r/lutheranism. While you wouldn’t set up a congregation-specific discussion page on Reddit, you could (and arguably should) encourage your faith organization to post and participate in relevant discussions on a denomination-wide or faith-wide page. Reddit offers the potential to feel connected beyond the walls of your org chart, joining church wide or faith-wide discussions in a dynamic and growing environment.
BlueSky
BlueSky is a Twitter alternative, backed by the founder and longtime CEO of Twitter. Like Mastodon, is one of several emerging social media alternatives. Its look and feel are nearly identical to Twitter, with a few small differences. For example, BlueSky users can subscribe to “threads,” guaranteeing easy access to posts of topical relevance. I added a shortcut to #booksky at the top of my home feed, ensuring quick access to book reviews. Like Reddit, BlueSky can connect your church or faith organization to a broader conversation. Church leaders can use BlueSky to engage with their community in an open and decentralized platform, sharing spiritually-uplifting messages and posting about upcoming events. Its only limitation is audience and usage. BlueSky has fewer than 30 million users, about one million of whom post each day. By contrast, Twitter still has over 500 million posts per day. You can find niche discussions on BlueSky, you can even find discussions on religion, theology, and church life. You just won’t find that much of it.
Chat and Messaging Applications
The most promising alternative to Facebook or Twitter isn’t a newsfeed-based platform. Instead, it is a collection of messaging applications that are changing the location of online connection. Tools like Slack, Discord, and Substack are deliberately oriented towards conversation and community - without algorithmically-curated content. Church leaders can use messaging applications like Slack and Discord to create spaces for real-time communication and collaboration within faith communities. These platforms allow for easy sharing of announcements, prayer requests, sermons and reflections, and event updates, keeping members connected even when they can't gather in person. Leaders can use these platforms to foster a sense of belonging by facilitating discussions, offering encouragement, and sharing devotional content. Since these platforms are private by default, these apps ensure members receive personalized care and connection from those in their church community. In my view, chat and messaging applications are likely to supplant feed-based social media as the location of online church community. They will be the next evolution of digital ministry, fostering niche church communities online.
