On the LDS Church Newsroom blog today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons) (and my employer) released some interesting stats about its social media presence online. According to the post (and AllFacebook.com’s Page Statistics), the Church has 5 of the top 90 Facebook Pages under Facebook’s “Church/Religious Organization” category (the top is ranked #10), is ranked #2 on Youtube for number of views in the “Non-profits and Activism” category, and trends at least twice a year during its biannual General Conference in Twitter’s worldwide and US top trending terms.
It’s no secret the Church takes its online presence seriously. I’ve shared before that the Church’s online presence ranks high on Alexa, and has some of the top blogs listed on Technorati and elsewhere. We have Youtube videos in the millions of views, Twitter accounts in the tens of thousands, and Facebook Pages in the hundreds of thousands of likes.
You may be wondering, “why”, though. I’ve shared previously the natural desire of Mormons to share their beliefs, and, in a way that we’re natural marketers by just wanting to share something we really believe in and which is doing great things for the world. As Mormons, our entire beliefs are centered around relationships with each other, and with our God – social media lends a natural way for us to focus on those relationships and to extend those worldwide.
As the LDS Newsroom article states, Mormons are counseled, “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” (President Uchtdorf) (see the like buttons on that page?) As Mormons, we realize the incredible opportunity online tools such as Facebook provide to spread a message, and we can now do so in a manner that is interesting to those that are truly looking for it.
As a charitable organization, we also have the opportunity to help the world in a greater way, and as Mormons we take that responsibility seriously. Our efforts in Africa, for instance, are showcased on the LDS Newsroom blog in a shareable infographic that is perhaps more educational about the good the Church does there than an hour with Matt Stone and Trey Parker will ever teach you. We have incredible efforts in the damaged earthquake areas of Japan, and Christchurch, New Zealand. You can follow those efforts on the individual areas’ Facebook Pages set up for those causes here and here.
With social media members of the Church are able to share their own beliefs, from their own perspective. You might notice this with the member focus of Mormon.org. Search for any demographic, any type of person, and you’ll likely find a member similar to yourself that believes in what we do, and you can learn straight from them. You don’t have to take the Church’s word for it.
Social media is about personalized messaging, and allowing others to opt-in to the messages they receive, and receive the messages in the most personalized manner possible that is interesting to them. The Church’s social media presence is making this more and more possible, so that those truly interested in its message are able to receive it.
So ask around if you’re interested. There’s a good chance one of your friends is a Mormon and can likely answer your questions. And if not, you can find us and subscribe to us just about anywhere on the web, in the environments you find are most comfortable.
In the meantime, here’s a great video that just released today on the Church’s Youtube channel. I think it has a great message for any God-believing individual (Christian or not), and I think it gives a good sense of why the LDS Church is interested in Social Media – it’s about relationships! (and please share it if it inspires you!):
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