I’ve been using Twitter for a year or so now. When I first joined up, it was in the middle of the throes of people who “got it” by using it primarily as a push mechanism and those who were n00bs because they were still using it to tell people where they were instead of providing “useful” information. Being as I was a person who rarely had any add’l useful information to add to the “conversation” I rarely tweeted.

Then I joined Soma. Twitter is being used for a very different and, in my opinion, a much better purpose. It’s a communication medium, but also a communal one. It’s like facebook (almost every Soman on Twitter is also on FB), except it’s not facebook. The conversations on Twitter are really more like conversations – could this happen on FB? Probably, but not as easily… FB has way more noise (due to games, events, apps, gads of friends, etc.) The conversation on Twitter can be immediate, delayed, or a hybrid of the two – but somehow far easier to follow and, interestingly enough, more encouraging to watch.

Active community is a primary goal at Soma and Twitter is evidence that a communal environment is growing. People “check-in” at various locales to let others know where they’re at and there’s a pretty solid understanding that if you’re nearby, please drop by and say hi or even join in (depending on what’s happening). In the one week since I’ve been following the Soma peeps on Twitter, I’ve seen the typical social media stuff like meetups announced and in-jokes and shout outs and cool links posted… but I’ve also seen confessions regarding struggles, concerns voiced, strong solidarity evidenced through group encouragement, church-wide mobilization to bring aid to Haiti, and prayers and praises offered… what’s amazing about this is that Twitter, unlike FB, is a fully public forum. Anybody can look into this, follow one of the soma lists and see what we’re talking about and how we’re interacting without “friending” anyone in the church.

Whether intentional or not, this public view is evidence of a growing gospel community: transparency, confession, prayer, encouragement, and social conscience on public display. A stream of thought display of people showing their love for Christ by clearly declaring His name and evidencing that love through our love for one another and our love of our neighbors. It’s beautiful to watch and by God’s grace, it will become more and more prevalent and then Austin really will know Soma belongs to Jesus because of our love for one another.