RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

musical.ly is the hottest new social media app among kids, tweens and teens.  In less than 2 years, it has attracted 70 million users.

Anytime something resonates with kids like this, it's important to find out why and learn from it.  Let's look at five reasons why kids love musical.ly and think about how we can use these cues in our ministry.

#1 - musical.ly is driven by technology and social media.  Kids love technology and social media.  Using technology is as natural as breathing for them.  They've never known anything else.  Many kids now have their own smart phones or tablets.  And if they don't, mom or dad's is available.  Most kids know how to navigate through technology better than their parents.

A big part of technology is obviously social media.  And for many kids, musical.ly is becoming their entry point into social media.   Even though users are supposed to be at least 13 years old, there's no monitoring ages, which means any child can use an email address or social media account to access it without being censored. 

What cues can you take from this for your ministry?

#2 - musical.ly lets kids express their creativity.  A recent report says 15% of kids ages 6 to 12 make videos with a digital device at least once a week and 45% pretend or imagine with the same frequency.  musical.ly is a canvas for kids' creativity.  Kids have the opportunity to record themselves on video while a 15-second song or TV/movie clip plays in the background.  Kids also have the option to lip-sync and add filters to their videos. 

What cues can you take from this for your ministry? 

#3 - musical.ly lets kids share their talents.  Once kids finish making their videos, they can share them, get likes and comments and possibly even be featured.  We live in a day when fame can be reached through social media apps like YouTube, Vine and now musical.ly.

What cues can you take from this for your ministry?

 #4 - musical.ly builds kids' self-esteem and confidence.  The app encourages people to leave positive comments.  As kids get affirmation for their videos, it inspires them. 

What cues can you take from this for your ministry?

#5 - musical.ly gives kids to the opportunity to connect with other kids.  Kids can follow other kids in their area as well as search for friends by hashtags or leader-boards.

What cues can you take from this for your ministry?