Lessons Learned from Google Buzz

The privacy concerns that accompanied the announcement of Google Buzz illustrate the importance of scrutinizing every option, feature, and aspect with a rollout on your website. Even though your church won't announce anything that will be as widely used or talked about as Google Buzz, there is a lesson to be learned. Google Buzz was announced recently, but many people quickly grew worried that it automatically followed people you frequently contact, allowed followers to view your posts, and exposed email address. Even though Google quickly changed the default settings and added options, it had a bad reputation after only a week. Even though it was widely used and tested within Google for a year, these problems were not realized or fixed.

Recent discussion on this Network about posting bulletins on your church website illustrates this. Some of the discussion included: It is okay to keep names in the bulletin when you post them online? How long do you keep them online?

Another example is If you church adds a Facebook Page: who will manage or post to it? Will posts have to be moderated first? Is the audience for this Page different than your website?

It's important to fully flush out all the problems and kinks before you add a feature on your church website. If you don't, it can be harmful for reputations, expose private information, and lead to confusion for visitors.