Tools for Finding, Editing, & Sharing Images in Social Media

In the #ChSocM (Church Social Media) tweetchat on May 6, 2014, we talked about the power of using images in social media. 

The #ChSocM community shared some of their favorite resources for finding, editing, creating, and sharing images. Those resources are posted below.

If I missed one that you'd like to endorse, please add it in the comment section. And you can find the tweetchat conversation in its visually pleasing entirety on Storify here.

Happy imaging!

Free Stock Photos and Images

123rf - www.123rf.com Royalty-free stock photos from as low as .21 per image

Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/ - images with a variety of licenses

freedigitalphotos.net - Small versions of images are free, larger versions obtained for a fee

freeimages.com - “leading source of free stock photos”

freerangestock.com - “High quality, high resolution, free stock photos and free textures.”

Google Images - http://images.google.com/

New Old Stock - nos.twnsnd.co - “Vintage photos from the public archives, free of known copyright restrictions.”

stockvault.net - “Free stock photos, textures, and graphics.”

:unsplash.com  10 free high-resolution photos every 10 days. “Do whatever you want.”

Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page - “A database of over 21,000,000 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.”

From Buffer: 53+ Free Image Sources for Your Blog and Social Media Posts

Faith-based Images

CreationSwap - www.creationswap.com  “Free church media shared or sold by thousands of Christian artists. Search videos, photos, logos, church bulletins, sermon graphics and more”

Lightstock - www.lightstock.com “Say goodbye to clipart. Faith-focused, cheesy-free, stock photos and footage”

Live Intentionally Photos - https://www.facebook.com/LiveIntentionally/photos_stream A collection of inspirational quotes set on photos.

Sermon Quotes - https://www.facebook.com/SermonQuotes  Inspirational sayings, ideas, videos and scripture.

Typographic Verses - http://typographicverses.com/ Bible verses set graphically.

Create Designs, Edit Photos

 Aviary - https://www.aviary.com/ “Make photos magic.”

canva.com - Create designs with graphics, images, and text.

Flipagram - http://flipagram.com/ - “Create beautiful short video stories using your photos, set to music you love!”

Gimp - www.gimp.org - “a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.” 

Google Nik Collection http://www.google.com/nikcollection/-   “Advanced editing, simplified.”

IFTTT - https://ifttt.com/ “Put the internet to work for you.”

PickCrew - https://pickcrew.com/ - Hire high-quality, hand-picked, vetted design professionals to do creative work.

PicMonkey.com - “Photo editing made of win.” Edit, touch up, design, collage.

Pixlr - http://pixlr.com/  - “Welcome to the most popular online photo editor in the world.”

PrintStudio - http://printstud.io/  - “No hassle printing from your desktop or mobile.”

ribbet.com - “Online photo editing made fun and easy.”

shareasimage.com  - “Create micro content anywhere on the web. Turn images or text into viral, eye-catching micro-content that you can share in seconds.”

Studio - http://www.madewithstudio.com/ - “Create and share amazing designs with your friends.”

WordSwag - http://wordswag.co/ - “Add awesome text to your photos in seconds.”

www.bonanza.com/background_burner - Removes the background from photos, saves them with white or transparent background.

Make Memes

Quickmeme - http://www.quickmeme.com/ Create memes to share.

Meme Generator - http://memegenerator.net/ Create memes to share.

Apps

Instaquote - add text captions to photos and pictures for IG “Create beautiful text pictures for instagram.”

Over - http://madewithover.com/  “The app for adding text and artwork to photos.”

PicLab - http://piclabapp.com/ “Add beautiful typography, artwork & effects to your photos.”

PicStitch - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pic-stitch/id454768104?mt=8 - Make photo collages, add effects.

Popagraph - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/popagraph/id587595362?mt=8 Popgraph: a photo editing app.

Snapseed - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snapseed/id439438619?mt=8 Photo editing app.

Host a Social Media Helpdesk at your church

Offering a Social Media Helpdesk on a Sunday morning at your church is a great way to get more eyes on the content you are already creating and curating, and helps turn fans in the pews into brand ambassadors for your church online. 

Here are a some things to consider as you plan your event.

Equipment

You’ll want to have some basic equipment on hand: 

• wifi (make sure you have the password!), or a wifi hotspot
• multiple devices for demonstrating; at a minimum, have a smart phone and a laptop
• a working electrical outlet nearby, preferably with a surge-protector strip
• paper and pens so people can take notes
• your own passwords to platforms or apps you might be demonstrating
• a table and chairs

Get Ready

You should let people know in advance about your upcoming Social Media Helpdesk so they’ll come prepared with their questions and devices. 

Use your usual publicity tools: bulletin, announcements, newsletter, word of mouth, etc. Obviously you’ll also want to use social media to invite people to come. 

Go!

On Helpdesk day, post signs so people know where to find you.

Invite some social media or tech-savvy volunteers to join you at the Helpdesk to answer questions. Don't have any? Hold a Helpdesk anyway, and do what you can. You can always use Google to find answers you don't know. 

Invite the youth group to share their social media expertise and watch the intergenerational ministry unfold.

Repeat “No question is too stupid.” Repeat it again (even if you think there are some questions that are too stupid). 

What to Expect

Count on getting questions about how to use devices, including managing privacy and apps. While you have a captive and interested audience, offer to help them like or follow your church on social media. 

Teach them how to like, comment, and share content from your church’s accounts, and stress the importance of doing that in reaching out to their friends and the community. 

(Remember that whole Great Commission thing?) 

Invite them to connect with you on social media, too.

After the Helpdesk

After the event is over, use social media to personally thank all those who stopped by. Be sure to tag your church. 

Host additional Helpdesks, as people in your church will be discovering social media for the first time next month, and six months from now, and next year...  Ask those who attended to come back with more questions or to help someone else. 

Invite them to participate in or follow the weekly Church Social Media tweet chat on Twitter on Tuesdays at 9pmET, using the hashtag #ChSocM.

Be sure to acknowledge their social media ministry as you notice them sharing, inviting, and ministering to others using social media. 

Don't forget to check in and post some pictures from the event.

Finally? Check your analytics in a week to see if your Social Media Helpdesk created a bump in engagement.

Have anything to add?  Please post it in the comments below! Also, I'd be pleased to know if you’re planning your own Social Media Helpdesk. 

Find me @singingcarolyn with any questions or thoughts.