There are times I've felt misunderstood. I've written great posts, but they just don't get much response. I've posted on Facebook and Instagram and not gotten the likes and shares I thought the posts deserved. I get frustrated when I get interrupted. I've made observations many times, and then someone else has this "brilliant idea" - which is exactly what I've been saying all along. There are reasons for all these, and I've figured out why and what I can do to change them.

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Are you using email to communicate with your audience? You probably should be. One of the most effective ways of communicating with a group of people is with an email list, even in today's Twitter and Facebook culture. In order for your list to be effective, it first needs to exist, and then you'd like for it to grow. Just how do you let people know about it and get more email subscribers?

Typically, you'll have a sign up form somewhere on your website, possibly on your Facebook page and you might get some referrals from current subscribers. In order to get more attention for their email list, there are plenty of folks employing pop-ups and overlays to get people to sign up for their list. You may even already subscribe to this site's email updates, but you get the pop-up, just the same. I'm not sure this method is the best way to do that.

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Saturday is the one day I don't have anything else dictating my schedule: Monday through Friday is dominated with work, Sunday is dedicated to church and family. On Saturdays, I tend to spend a lot of time sifting through all the social media updates for the past week. I don't look at volume, or engagement, or other metrics commonly used. Instead, I look at the posts and how they relate to the stated mission of the account (the bio should reflect this). I also look at what hasn't been posted - what is missing?

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What rules do you have for Twitter and who you follow?

I generally spend part of a day each week going through my list of recent Twitter followers and getting to know some of them a bit better. I usually do this at least once a week, sometimes a little more frequently. But, I do give this personal attention - no automatic follows, unfollows, mentions or direct messages. I thought it might help a few of you in your process of developing some social media disciplines.

My rules may differ from your rules, but there are things that should shape our rules, no matter what they are - Why do I use Twitter? Why do I follow somone on Twitter? Why won't I follow someone on Twitter? Will I ever unfollow someone and why? You don't need to follow everyone who follows you - I don't. Likewise, not everyone I follow also follows me.

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What are the secrets behind these curious symbols? As it often happens, a midweek tweet among thousands sparks a further exchange of questions, observations and comments. Which then goes on to gather more participants, more viewpoints, and ultimately - it becomes the topic of a Twitter chat, especially when it catches the watchful eyes of the Church Social Media group (check the #ChSocM hashtag on Twitter and their website).

Which synod has QR codes posted for their assembly? Nebraska. Bam. #missionpossibleELCA twitter.com/Sarcasticluthe…

— Nadia Bolz-Weber (@Sarcasticluther) May 31, 2013

What started out as a hat tip (HT, in Twitter shorthand) turned into a rather informative discussion about the acceptance of QR codes, ways to improve their acceptance and effectiveness, and some of the ways they have been used, with and without success. This post will begin to unravel this mysterious 'new' technology and its use for communicating your message.

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