Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have heard the call to open their mouths[i], teach all nations,[ii] proclaim the Gospel, and bear witness of Jesus Christ. In the words of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “With so many social media resources and a multitude of more or less useful gadgets at our disposal, sharing the good news of the Gospel is easier and the effects more far-reaching than ever before.”[iii]
Indeed, social media has made it easier to share our thoughts and beliefs with both our friends and strangers. Over 1.23 billion people use Facebook each month[iv], opening doors to reaching people in ways never before imagined. This new technology and social way of thinking has changed the world in many ways, including creating the ability to share the Gospel in countries never before accessible.
But with this blessing comes a new challenge to keep the message intact while learning to share it in a new way, and for some, the challenge of learning to use and embrace social media.
Communicating via social media is not the same as personal interaction, nor is it the same as a written epistle. We must learn to share the Gospel through social media in a way that appeals to and attracts the receiving audience, whilst staying true to and respectful of the message.
A well-meaning and well-crafted message, said at the wrong time and place, never served anyone well. Individuals wishing to engage in more missionary work with their friends, and even strangers, via their online social networks, can all benefit from some social media training and guidance to learn how and when to share their testimonies and missionary messages.
The advent and adoption of social media has occurred so rapidly that many have not yet had the chance to fully appreciate or understand it. This is an excerpt from the e-book, “Sharing the Gospel through Social Media,” which was designed to help both member missionaries, and those with callings such as ward mission leaders, stake public affairs directors, bishops, stake presidents, or ward communications leaders, to learn and understand how they can better use social media to spread the gospel.
The Three Golden Rules of Communication
1. Create Awareness – You want and need people to know you exist and what your beliefs are, and to do this you need to create awareness. You do this in any number of ways, including word of mouth, through a Facebook status, missionary pass-along cards, an email blast to friends and family, a blog post, etc. You want to create awareness of your purpose, which may include anything from ward activities, to introducing a new person to the Book of Mormon.
2. Educate Your Audience – After you create the awareness and have their attention it is time to educate. Teach your audience about your beliefs (or a ward activity, special event, etc.). Tell them what makes it interesting and different. What sets your belief apart from others, and why it is important. Teach them something that is important to them. Communicate and educate in a way that makes sense to the other person. Avoid “Mormon-speak.”
3. Call to Action – No message is complete without a call to action. Telling your friends that you believe in God is good, but doesnt educate them on the importance of the Plan of Salvation in their lives. Follow up your statement that creates awareness and the supporting information with a “call to action.” In marketing or sales, this would mean saying, “call now,” or “special early bird pricing this week only.” You can’t just tell your friends something important and then leave them hanging. For instance, “God has a plan for you,” is good information (educates the audience – rule #2), but doesnt tell them how they can learn more. A call to action, gives the receiving audience something to do. For instance, a Facebook post or Tweet that incorporates all three golden rules would be, “You can learn more about Gods plan for you by visiting Mormon.org.”
Know Your Audience
It is important to know the two types of audiences- your direct network and the indirect network. For an individual, the direct network includes friends and family that you are personally connected to online. On Facebook this would be called a users friends list, or a groups “likes.” These connections know you, your values, and what sort of activities you participate in. The information you share with them, including your missionary efforts, may be more personal and detailed.
The indirect network could also be called “the rest of the world.” It is a broad term to describe any Internet user who has found your online content on a blog, Tweet, Tumblr, etc., through a search term. How and what you share with the anonymous readers of the Internet may be worded differently, or customized differently, than what you would say to a personal friend.
Dont Preach to the Choir Use Hashtags
It is important to understand hashtags and how they are used. If you are new to social media, hashtags- the short links preceded by the hash mark [previously known as the pound sign (#)] – may seem confusing and unnecessary. But they have become integral to online communication, and as such, its important to know how to use them. Hashtags are the equivalent of bolded words, or subtitles for categorization purposes, when used online. Hashtags are the key to searches on social networks. Due to Facebook privacy settings, most users posts cannot be found in a search on Facebook. Posts are only seen by users personal direct networks. On all other social networks, posts can be found by indirect connections (via a search), so hashtags are very important.
The full-time missionaries now use Facebook and have public profiles. (They dont use privacy settings limiting their posts to friends only.) They frequently add members of their wards, and new investigators. Friend them and “like” their posts to help the content be seen by more investigators and non-members via hashtag searches.
On Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, a hashtag turns any word or group of words that directly follow it into a searchable link. This allows you to organize content and track discussion topics based on those keywords. Click on a hashtag to see all the posts that mention the subject in real time.
Pick the Right Social Media Tools for Your Audience.
Social media offers many solutions to reaching your audience in a more personal way.It is important to understand the various social media tools and networks available in order to communicate effectively. Each network or tool reaches a different audience with a different effect.
Facebook is the worlds largest online community, with over 1 billion registered users. It began as a social networking site for university students, but has expanded into an international communications tool capable of reaching nearly everyone on Earth in less than ten years.
Facebook is essentially a giant encyclopedia that documents every activity a registered user has ever completed on Facebook and its related applications. For instance, every word ever typed into a status update, every song or post ever “liked,” every book ever mentioned, is all remembered and cataloged by Facebook.
Because of the prolific popularity of Facebook, we will assume that the average person already knows how to create a Facebook profile, and how to post a status update. We will skip over these basics. Instead we will focus on the tools within Facebook and the difference between a personal profile and a Facebook Page and why one serves a different purpose for communicating with direct and indirect networks, as well as the significance of different types of posts.
Facebook Pages
A Facebook “Page” is not the same as a personal Facebook profile. A personal profile is what any individual or user has on Facebook. This is what most people mean when they refer to Facebook. A Page is the “profile” option offered to businesses, brands, or celebrities that is designed to help grow a business, build a brand, and interact with indirect networks. Facebook Pages are free, and only take a few minutes to set up and get started. It is important to keep your Facebook personal user profile separate from a Facebook Page. According to the Facebook’s terms of service, “Profiles represent individuals and must be held under an individual name, while Pages allow an organization, business, celebrity, or band to maintain a professional presence on Facebook.”
Facebook Pages offer many more services and opportunities to organizations (such as wards, stakes, or other auxiliaries) that are not available to regular users. Throughout the following pages we will explain how to set up a Page and the different options available to expand your online Facebook presence that will help your missionary efforts succeed.
A Facebook Page is recommended for organizations (again, wards, stakes, or other auxiliaries) that wish to share the gospel with indirect networks. A Page can be “liked” by any Facebook user, whether in your direct or indirect audience. A Page is administered or moderated by specific persons assigned by the creator of the Page using Facebooks built in tools.
If your objective is to share missionary-themed messages with indirect networks (aka “the rest of the world”) a Facebook Page is one of the best tools at your disposal. Pages offer very little privacy, and are probably not optimal for sharing specific event information, unless that information is intended for the general public to see. Photos, videos, and links can be shared on Pages.
The four types of Facebook posts:
1.Links to external sites
2.Text status updates
3.Photos
4.Videos
Successful Facebook posts are short, visual, and optimized. Posts that are between 100 and 250 characters get about 60% more likes, comments, and shares. Photos, photo albums, and videos get 120%, 180%, and 100% more responses (engagement) respectively.
Ideas for Missionary-Themed Status Updates
There is no shortage of excellent shareable content available on both LDS.org and Mormon.org. Remember that LDS.org is intended for the use of Church members. Mormon.org is the more outward facing site, created with missionary work in mind. Mormon.org has more non-member friendly information and ideas.
There has been a proliferation of catchy themes and memes recently in missionary work. For instance, many missionaries and members have been posting a picture of themselves holding a copy of the Book of Mormon in front of his or her face. They share a short testimony of how “discovering the book” has changed their lives. The hashtag #discoverthebook accompanies the status update. Its memorable, noticeable, and includes two of the three golden rules of communication. It creates awareness (the post itself, the picture of the Book of Mormon), it educates (the testimony share what it means), but it doesnt have a call to action. These posts are cute and interesting, but without that last important step, are ineffective. Include a link to Mormon.org, or the local missionaries phone number, at the end of the post, and it becomes a far more effective way to share the gospel through social media.
The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles all have official Facebook Pages.
First Presidency on Facebook:
3.President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Facebook:
1.Elder Boyd K. Packer – https://www.facebook.com/lds.boyd.k.packer
2.Elder L. Tom Perry – https://www.facebook.com/lds.l.tom.perry
3.Elder Russell M. Nelson – https://www.facebook.com/lds.russell.m.nelson
4.Elder Dallin H. Oaks – https://www.facebook.com/lds.dallin.h.oaks
5.Elder M. Russell Ballard – https://www.facebook.com/lds.m.russell.ballard
6.Elder Richard G. Scott – https://www.facebook.com/lds.richard.g.scott
7.Elder Robert D. Hales – https://www.facebook.com/lds.robert.d.hales
8.Elder Jeffrey R. Holland – https://www.facebook.com/lds.jeffrey.r.holland
9.Elder David A. Bednar – https://www.facebook.com/lds.david.a.bednar
10.
Elder Quentin L. Cook – https://www.facebook.com/lds.quentin.l.cook
11.Elder D. Todd Christofferson – https://www.facebook.com/lds.d.todd.christofferson
12.Elder Neil L. Anderson – https://www.facebook.com/lds.neil.l.andersen
Don’t understand what Twitter is yet and why it has such a silly name? Don’t worry, you are just like most Americans. It is not unlike a never-ending stream of Facebook status updates, limited to 140 characters. Whereas on Facebook most people have met their friends list, on Twitter it is not expected that you know the people you follow.Most people are following people they have never met, and that is expected and okay.
“Conversations” on Twitter happen in real-time, as compared to the often delayed replies and remarks left on Facebook statuses. As a result, most users check Twitter multiple times a day, so as to keep up on the conversation.
As a missionary tool, Twitter is better for individual users than it is for organizations who wish to share the Gospel. This is primarily because the LDS Church already operates an effective Twitter account. For another Church related organization to do so, is just reinventing the wheel. So rather than create an account for your organization, encourage Twitter users (such as investigators or ward members) to follow the official LDS Church accounts instead.
Individuals, however, can share the Gospel quite effectively via Twitter. The following information is provided to help users better use their 140 characters for missionary work. No one should feel compelled to join Twitter just for the specific purpose of sharing the Gospel. Given the conversational, shareable nature of Twitter, this would be highly ineffective, and would be unlikely to reach the proper audience.
Join in the conversation. Find interesting people, experts in your field, friends, etc., and follow them (do this by using the search bar, and entering a keyword). Respond to comments people make to you.
On Twitter it is common and expected that if you follow someone, they will follow you back. Many users make the mistake of only following people too similar to themselves. (Or in other words, Mormons follow Mormons.) For your own personal interest, you may want to follow and interact with other Mormons. However, when thinking with a missionary mindset, make sure to engage and interact with non-Mormons as well.
Generously share photos via the Twitter pic function, yfrog, or Instagram.
Content Ideas for Twitter (Follow the Prophets)
When looking for Gospel themed messages to share on Twitter, or to find other interesting Latter-day Saints, consider the official Twitter accounts provided by the Church and its affiliates. Not all of these accounts are active, but each of the following handles has been verified and set up.
Instagram provides the user with a way to share a message visually, with minimal text. A short description can be added to the photo or short video. By posting pictures of inspiring or uplifting moments, with applicable hashtags, a feeling or idea can be conveyed to others. For instance, a picture of a temple, with a short text description like, “I often go to this temple to pray and feel my Saviors love. For more information on temples visit temples.mormon.org” with hashtags #God, #Jesus, #Prayer, #God, will be found by others searching for uplifting images. This post includes all three rules of effective communication. Unfortunately, due to the way Instagram is set up links are not live. This may change in the future. Either way, the call to action is still important, even if less effective.
Ideas for Sharing the Gospel through Social Media
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Use local city hashtags when posting pictures of the temple to Instagram. Many people search Instagram (with hashtags) for sight-seeing ideas. Using a local hashtag, such as #washingtondc, #SLC, #Chicago, etc,. with an image of the temple will cause the temple to come up in these searches.
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Create a family, ward, or stake campaign that embraces Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Choose a picture of a local Church landmark, such as a temple, chapel, or historical marker, or maybe of something more iconic, such as the Book of Mormon, the First Presidency, etc.
, and share it among all members of your group. Encourage everyone to post it to all social networks on the same day, and share their personal testimony and thoughts of the picture, with the same hashtags. Because we know that most ward or family members are friends with each other across these networks, encourage everyone to then like each others posts, and/or leave a supportive comments. With the expectation that each of these individual posts will receive dozens of likes or comments, this should cause the Facebook algorithm to continue to support the post and show it to more users. The picture chosen will literally reach tens of thousands of people around the world, and could trend on Facebook, or even create a viral trend, as others in more wards and stakes around the world copy the trend.Be sure to include Instagram and Twitter in this campaign as well to reach full maximum potential. -
Take a picture of yourself with the local missionaries and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (or all three). Introduce them to your online friends, and offer to host your friends if they would like to meet the missionaries. Be sure to add a link to Mormon.org, or include the missionaries phone number.
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Search Instagram or Twitter for people using hashtags such as #God, #JesusChrist, #love, #family, #Christian, etc., and leave positive comments, and thank people for their efforts in sharing the Gospel (even if not LDS).
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Find your local missionaries on Facebook, “like” their most recent updates, and leave a supportive comment, such as your testimony, or backing up what they said. Consider sharing their update with your friends list.
“Sharing the Gospel through Social Media” is available on Amazon for free June 30-July 3.
Erin Ann McBride is a writer, dreamer, and single woman. By day she works in social media marketing, and by night she hunts unicorns and writes romantic novels, “You Heard It Here First,” and the sequel “This Just In!” And you can always find her at the Story of a Nice Mormon Girl, or on Twitter as @erinannie and Instagram as @erinannie17.
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[i] Doctrine and Covenants 60:2
[ii] Matthew 28:1819
[iii] “Waiting on the Road to Damascus,” General Conference, April 2011.
