How to network with other local youth leaders online

The web offers plenty of social networking outlets to connect with people, but which ones are the best to use to connect to other youth leaders? Here are a few options out there and some of my personal comments on each. Feel free to agree/disagree in the comments section!

1. National Network of Youth Ministries

These guys are great and would be the first place I’d recommend you go. Depending on how many people in your area use this service, you might get away with it being the the only place you go!

You will need to register with them. As you sign up, you will be able to see networks that have been created near your location, and you will be able to create your own network. (I will blog more about using this service next week.)

Not only do they offer a way to get connected with other leaders, they also offer mentoring. They have a regional structure so that each network has its own overseeing director, who works to equip and mentor network coordinators. I received an email within a week from my regional director and though our summer schedules haven’t allowed us to meet just yet, we are planning to get together soon.

2. Power of Connecting

I haven’t spent much time on this site, but it offers many ways to connect to other ministries who have similar interests. It’s not limited to youth ministry, though there are a few networks dedicated to youth. This would be a great tool for your ministry if you’re trying to connect with other ministries on a more global scale.

3. Facebook

Using Facebook, you can do a search for “youth pastor” or “youth leader” or another similar term. Be sure to narrow your search down to your regional network, so that you’re not looking up the millions of people on Facebook. Then, look for matches for “Job Title” or “Job Description.” Typically, if you’re in the same regional network, you can see a person’s entire information tab, in which case you can find which church or ministry they work at and see how close they are to you. Since Los Angeles is so big, I have to make sure the people I find are actually within a reasonable distance from me otherwise I could be making a very long drive to meet someone!

4. Twitter

As trendy as Twitter is, I have not found it a great tool to meet new local youth leaders. You are not able to search for anything other than a username, first or last name (at this point). [Update: I just found a service called TweepSearch that allows you to search for specific words in people's profiles in Twitter.] It is a great tool to continue to stay in contact with new leaders you meet, however. A lot of the “big name” youth leaders have Twitter accounts and posts very helpful tweets to the twittersphere. Keeping up to date with other leaders opens up doors for partnering up for events.

In fact, you can follow us @ministryallies (sorry, had to plug this!).

I’m sure I’m missing a few other great tools. What would you recommend?

Don’t forget! Check out ways to connect to other youth leaders in person, what you’ll need to network effectively, and 8 benefits to being part of a youth ministry network.