The Catholic Church has an opportunity with social media that should not be ignored, and you should be a part of that opportunity.
In his message on the 44th World Communications Day (2010), Pope Benedict XVI, said, “Responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using new communications technologies. The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul’s exclamation: ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel’ (1 Cor 9:16). The increased availability of the new technologies demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the Word, but it also requires them to become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts.”
If used improperly, social media can be a huge waste of time. Anyone who uses Facebook can think of an instance or two where we started looking at people’s status’ and photos, commenting on posts, and suddenly two hours have past.
The same thing can happen when you get more into the advocacy side of social media. There are tons of blogs out there saying things that you agree with, and others saying things that you do not agree with. If all you do is encourage and refute these bloggers, you’ll never sleep.
Be Efficient
In addressing just one of the requirements we have regarding social media, it is important to keep in mind that one way to be “efficient” is to advocate for your own Diocese. You might be surprised how often Catholic bishops are attacked in local newspapers, newsletters, and on local TV with absolutely no response from local Catholics. It’s simply amazing.
What is equally amazing, yet depressing, is that bishops and their communications staff often receive emails and phone calls from people expressing support for the Diocese and their bishop despite what they believe to be unfair or biased reporting on the part of the news media. Being aware of what the public is saying in the commenting section of these articles and videos, I sometimes scratch my head wondering “where are all of those supporters?”
On a similar token, if a reporter does a good job reporting on the Church, was unbiased and objective, and gave credit where credit is due, publicly thank them for that. Comment your appreciation in the commenting section of the online version of the article, mention it on their Facebook page. Do something!
Your seemingly lone voice advocating for the Church in the the digital, social media world can bring other Catholics out of the woodwork, encourage others to think more deeply about their lives, and change the tone of a conversation started by a news story. Your voice can also enforce a sense of accountability amongst the news media in their reporting of the Catholic Church as well. While it’s clear that many Catholics have yet to support the Church in the digital world in the way that they do in the “real” world, you can begin to change that in your diocese.
Ways to be Efficient
As examples, writing letters to the editor, commenting on articles and blogs, sharing information on social networking sites, going to news media Facebook pages and seeing what is shared there about a story involving your bishop, and similar efforts are excellent ways to begin supporting the Church online. If starting your own blog or website is your calling, great. But the smaller forms of involvement are just as important and we all have a responsibility to get involved.
While I appreciate this post, I would urge you to be cautious with the word “efficient.” Certainly, we want to gauge our new media usage and make careful decisions about what ventures we begin (blogs, websites, podcasts, etc.). Anything worth doing, as the saying goes, is worth doing well. This applies all the more when anything is done for the Lord.
At the same time, I don’t know if I would call efficiency one of the top new media ‘virtues’ that we should embrace as Catholics. It seems that what you’re supporting is a sense of ‘prudent proactive-ness.’ The difference, as I see it: efficiency is trying to do more with less time / accomplishing more with the smaller amount of activity. This ‘prudent proactive-ness’ as I call it, is having a sense of asking, as you keenly note, “What am I called to do?” and “Given my vocation / talents / (etc), what is the best use of my time?”
Just some thoughts. I’d be glad to hear your comments on this. Thanks for your blog.
Please keep in mind that the word “efficient” is taken from the Pope’s quote. I’m only echoing what he said and adding some commentary. Do you think the Pope is wrong on this point? If so, how?
Also, I’m not sure that we disagree. When we are “effective” we need to be sure that we are using our limited resources to create a maximum amount of change in the world. Being proactive is one piece of it, but most of what I get into is how to be an advocate for the Church online.
If you want to change the perception of the Church, one way to do that effectively is to advocate for the particular Church (a diocese). By doing so, you are speaking as an involved member of the community, who understands the local dynamic, who knows the local bishop and what he has done (or hasn’t done), and might even have an understanding of the local media.
Forgive my lack of a reply. I’d like to answer with my own blog. Hope I can get it out this week. Peace! Short version: No, I don’t disagree with the Holy Father and not entirely with you.
Discussion and dialogue is what it’s all about!
Commenting is a good way to range widely. Be sure to keep them short and to the point. And remember civility.
Your point about the lack of commenting in the comment sections is well taken.
What strikes me is that perhaps what we really need as a Church is a more efficient approach to social media conversation monitoring and sentiment analysis.
Perhaps it would be wiser if not everyone felt their role was to comment. Perhaps some could see they role as listeners.
Large businesses are already doing exactly this to defend their brand’s reputation using such social media monitoring tools as Radian6 and ScoutLabs.
Some employees’ only responsibility with regard to social media conversations is that of a virtual dispatcher and sentiment tagger. If for example, a customer complains about a product, that complaint is routed to the customer service team. If there is an accusation that gains traction relating to the CEO, it gets routed to PR. And so on…
What strikes me as fascinating and exciting is the possibility and what I believe is the urgent need for Catholics who may not feel comfortable expressing their views in the comment section to serve in a similar capacity as virtual dispatchers and sentiment analysts.
Such monitoring results (which could include various metrics including sentiment, klout score, etc…) would need to be accessible to the right people at the right time.
We can’t comment if we don’t have a savvy approach to listening that notifies the people who want to be notified and provides them with publicly available intelligence about the conversations and those conversing that can be invaluable as the bishops, priests, Church leaders, youth ministers, Catholic apologists and others seek to proactively respond to the most “important” conversations.
- Hugh Macken
My favorite lines from here: “Perhaps it would be wiser if not everyone felt their role was to comment. Perhaps some could see they role as listeners.”
Yes. I mostly “listen”. I comment only if I can’t resist the need to.
Each person’s ‘voice’ brings something different to the table. I think discernment in what to say and balance in the time spent saying it brings balance and then the fruit is efficiency. That’s what normally guides me….
Each person’s ‘voice’ brings something different to the table. I think discernment in what to say and balance in the time spent saying it yields efficiency as it’s fruit. That’s what normally guides me….
http://catholicmediagirl.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/why-we-shouldnt-always-aim-for-efficiency/ = my blog response. It could have been longer, but I hope it’s just a springboard to more dialogue.