I Cry Language Revolution!

Have you ever goggled yourself? It can be a little scary. I did the other day, and evidently there is someone else named Ray Deck who is doing more online than I am. I feel a distinct need to change that, so I started working to consolidate my online presence.

Why is that so important? The internet is THE source of information for the younger generation. Think about it: when you want an answer right now, where do you go? Google. No question. So, what if there is someone out there trying to find you. Not to be egotistical and think that the whole world knows my name, but still… I want to be easy to find on the internet. Controlling the google pagerank for your name is key to that happening. Depending on what your name is that might be really hard. For example: John Smith is gonna have lots of competition. Here’s how I went about consolidating my online presence.

First of all, I started blogging. Search Engines see text. They see other things, bust mostly they see text. So, I started creating lots of meaningful text that had my name attached to it. This blog, is just one example of my work in that area.

Secondly I made a list of all the places that I could be found online. Social Networks, Bookmarking sites, media sharing sites and blogs.

Finally, I got a Wink account. Wink is a social network like the dozens of other social networks out there, but it is just a little bit different. WInk is all about consolidating your online presence. It has you list all of the places that you can be found online with a brief description. They claim that an account on Wink will help to influence your Google Pagerank. We shall see.

Just because it’s interesting, here’s the list of all the places that I can be found online:

Facebook is a social networking website. (if you’re reading this on facebook, you already know about this one)  It allows users to share pictures, videos and music. Presently, it is THE premiere social network. I’m at Ray Deck III, and I’ll be your friend.

Twitter is a micro-blogging website. If you’ve never heard of Twitter, you really need to check it out. It is a newer idea, and is still very much up and coming. The concept is very simple: 140 characters to answer the question, “What are you doing?” There are plenty of ministry applications for Twitter. You should check it out. I am at RayDeck3

I have a channel on YouTube. There are a few examples of great communicators and some promotional videos for Word of Life. There are also a few illustration videos. If you find something on my YouTube Channel that you would be interested in having for your ministry, shoot me an email at raydeck@wol.org, I’d be happy to send you the full-sized file. On YouTube, I’m at RayDeck3

StumbleUpon is a social bookmarking site. Basically, as I cruise the Internet, and find cool stuff, I bookmark them using a toolbar on my browser. Those bookmarks are all stored in one place: my StumbleUpon page. Other people can see what I’m reading and what I liked. It’s a neat idea that makes it easier to find things that you are interested in.

I can be found on Wink. Another social network, that helps you coordinate your whole online presence. It’s a neat idea, and very helpful for people like me who are trying to control their online persona. Just search for my name.

I write for a website called MinistryLIVE. On that blog, we work to make practically effective ministry tools available for the people who are going to use them. I write about Ministry Communication.

I also write on The Preaching Thespian. That is a blog about Dramatic Arts Ministry. Lots of good information there, and the niche is quite a bit narrower than those that I cover on MinistryLIVE or Language Revolution. If you do Drama Ministry of any kind, you should check it out.