SOCIAL MEDIA use is becoming more and more prevalent, consuming more of our time, attention, and headspace than ever before. I figure this is nothing new to you, because for starters you probably followed a link I posted on Facebook to read this! Nevertheless, with so many of our youth online, social media is an excellent tool for us as youth leaders to use, but like all tools, it can be dangerous if handled incorrectly. So here are some helpful things to EMBRACE and AVOID when it comes to using social media as a youth leader.

THINGS TO EMBRACE

1. Have online messaging conversations with your youth. Often youth can find it to be a non-confrontational way of having a conversation, especially given there can be a chosen delay when responding to messages. Keep in mind that they can also be a little more reserved with what they share, but it’s worth noting that normal offline conversational rules still apply online. Read More…