lds – Stay N Alive

Category: lds

"Relative Finder", Using FamilySearch.org, Shows the Future of Social Genealogy

Posted on by jessestay

Family History, or Genealogy as it is also known, is one of the most popular hobbies in the world. There’s something fascinating about learning whom your ancestors are and where you come from. In a way, we all want to figure out how we’re linked together as a world. Imagine if you could index the entire, living, human family tree. If a new app on Facebook gets its way, you may just see this some time in the near future. The Facebook App, “Relative Finder”, seeks to do just that by searching family tree data provided by a new beta of FamilySearch.org (owned by my employer), and find out which of your Facebook friends are related to you based on the family trees of those individuals.

The new FamilySearch.org beta is currently limited to congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some select test audiences, but allows for individuals to type in simple information of their immediate relatives, and if a tree exists for those individuals it automatically links your existing family tree with that of other people in the database. So in essence, much of the family history research for many of your friends, and yourself, is already done, and will be available to everyone on the site to use in due time, according to the what FamilySearch says on their site.

Relative Finder, written by a group of BYU Computer Science students working on a class project, takes advantage of this data, and uses your social graph on Facebook to scan your friend list and go into the family trees of each on FamilySearch.org, identifying the relatives found in the FamilySearch database. It then gives you a list of your friends that are related to you, and tells you how far you are related. For me, most of my friends were between 7th and 10th cousins, but I found out very quickly a couple of my Facebook friends that were actually 3rd and 4th cousins. The great thing is, unlike apps like Geni or FamilyLink or others that rely that you manually upload your data to match living relatives, all of this happens automatically because of the data provided by FamilySearch!

Right now Relative Finder requires each of your friends on Facebook to authorize Relative Finder through Facebook before it identifies them as relatives (as far as I can tell). I’m unsure though why they require this (maybe for load balancing purposes?). If they wanted, with Facebook API they could retrieve the same data about your friends by just authorizing you, and not requiring your friends to authorize. If they did it that way, then I could find out how many of all of my friends I am related to, instead of just those that authorize the app and have a FamilySearch.org beta account. Regardless, this is truly revolutionary, and shows the tremendous potential for indexing the entire family tree of every living individual on this earth. Can you imagine the world-changing potential to find out how we are all related?

At the moment only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the most part, will be able to use this app due to the limitations of the new FamilySearch. However, as soon as the new FamilySearch.org beta opens up to the public (it says “look for a future announcement” on the website), everyone should be able to use this feature. Once we do, can you imagine how fast an app like this will grow?

To me, the future of Genealogy is social. In many ways, the future of Social is genealogy. In the end this is all about finding out how we’re all related, what our common connections are, and how we can work together better as a society based on those common connections. My hope is that other sites, like Facebook and Google+ also realize this connection, and can find ways to integrate technologies like this into their own platforms so we can all learn more about each other, and share through common connections (I’m happy to make introductions if anyone at either company is interested).

Relative Finder has really exposed the tip of the iceberg in what social genealogy could look like. I really love this app, and can’t wait for everyone in the world to be able to start using it. I’ll include some screen shots below.

Disclosure: FamilySearch.org is owned by my employer, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While I don’t work directly with them I do occasionally talk to them. I have not talked to them or consulted with them specifically about this though, nor have I had any participation with Relative Finder, produced by a group of BYU students (BYU also owned by the Church). This is just really cool technology that, no matter where it came from, I thought needed to be shared!


Of Worldwide Religious Social Media Presence, the LDS Church Ranks Well

Posted on by jessestay

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.

Facebook.com/LDS is a Facebook Page targeted towards members of the LDS Church

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!):

Disclosure: In my day job, I am currently working as the Manager over Social Strategy and Solutions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While they are currently my employer, this article by no means represents any official announcement, declaration, proclamation, or doctrine on behalf of the Church.  All claims or topics written are solely my own opinion and not the opinions or official word of the LDS Church.  To be clear, regardless of my day job, I am still a member of the Church and I still believe its teachings and will always have beliefs to share surrounding the Church and its teachings.  What I write here should be considered as such.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s "Hallelujah Chorus"

Posted on by jessestay

This video, featuring Handel’s Messiah by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was put together in partnership with BYU TV just for Youtube.  I think it’s a beautiful piece.  Many people, Christian and not, can’t imagine the holidays without this amazing Choir.  I think back to “Mr. Krueger’s Christmas” (with Jimmy Stewart), something close to my family, which my Grandfather (and namesake) produced – perhaps one of the most famous cameos by the Choir.  Their weekly broadcast, “Music and the Spoken Word”, recently won a Radio Hall of Fame entry for being the longest running Radio Show in America.  You’ve seen them singing around the world, in front of the Whitehouse, at the Olympics, and even comforting America after 9/11.  Ronald Reagan called them, “America’s Choir.”

It’s been an honor working with them recently, although I admit, working with them has been not anywhere near as effective as just letting their talent and beautiful voices speak for themselves.  Please enjoy this video and, if you like it, share it with someone else you think it might touch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4BWhvIlFVE

Related articles

Kids and Christmas

Posted on by jessestay

We recently produced this at the Church (I am in charge of Social Media Strategy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  It’s a culmination of an amazing team that I think did a great job on this.  This is one of the cuter videos I think we’ve produced, and it has a great message.  Enjoy, and please share!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM8XoT7qnxY

As Goes the Publisher, So Goes the Conference

Posted on by jessestay

Seth Godin is known as a leader in trends, particularly surrounding marketing and the new wave of media.  That’s why Godin deciding his 13th book, Linchpin, will be his last traditionally published book is a big deal.  I think it seals the deal – not just that publishers aren’t quite as needed as they used to (I have had a great relationship with the publishers of my 3 books – don’t worry, no plans on switching yet!), but that either the publishing industry is going to need to change in order for other authors not to follow suite, or they will die.  The big guy isn’t needed any more.  The modern publishing world is all about the individual, and there are so many ways to “go it alone” yet still cooperate with all the needed vendors that make moves like Godin’s make sense.

That’s why Brigham Young University (BYU) Football, a top 10 BCS team from last year, may actually be able to pull off leaving the MountainWest Conference and going solo, as they announced they were going to do today.

I’m actually somewhat (yet not) surprised that more “Social Media Analysts” aren’t evaluating this move by BYU right now.  This is the essence of Social Media.  Social Media is about the individual.  It’s about empowering people, or in this case “the little guy” to be able to make it against the bigger powers and gain the exposure they need without the need for any type of big entity to control their efforts in doing so.

Conference politics aside, this move by BYU makes sense.  Now they have no contractual obligations on who can display their games.  Now they can play their games online, on their own site.  Now they have no worries, whatsoever, about their school policy of not playing on Sundays.  Now they get to choose who they play year-to-year, and based on their history (numerous Bowl games, wins, and a National Championship), they’re good enough to find people that will play them!  Now they can put their brand online and not have to worry about the Conference approving.

Here’s the kicker though – I think if BYU plays their cards right, uses Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and especially their own website to truly promote their games and their content, they could just be able to completely have the flexibility they need to innovate in this space.  What happens if BYU is able to prove as a result of this that going it alone brings way more money and much more viewers than any lone Conference can give?  That may have sounded crazy years ago, but this year it might actually be possible.

I think we’re about to see the start of a trend here.  That trend’s not only in Football, but in almost any industry.  The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, for instance, also did this recently by becoming their own music label.  You see the same with artists like Nine Inch Nails, RadioHead, and many others that are now able to go without “the big guy” and survive completely solo without a problem.  It takes guts, but I admit I don’t think it takes nearly as much guts to do such a thing as it used to.  We’re in a social world now, interconnected, where everyone has a voice.  I expect many others to follow.

What BYU is doing is the essence of Social Media.

Disclosure: In my day job, I am currently working as the Social Media Architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While they are currently my employer, this article by no means represents any official announcement, declaration, proclamation, or doctrine on behalf of the Church.  All claims or topics written are solely my own opinion and not the opinions or official word of the LDS Church.  To be clear, regardless of my day job, I am still a member of the Church and I still believe its teachings and will always have beliefs to share surrounding the Church and its teachings.  What I write here should be considered as such.

Related articles by Zemanta

"Be a Mormon!" – Making Things Go Viral

Posted on by jessestay

I’m sharing this partly because I’m excited Mormons were mentioned (I am in charge of much of the social technology integration and strategy for the LDS Church as one of the many things I do), but also because there’s some truth to it.  As Mormons, we get Marketing and Social Media, but I argue it’s not because of process – it’s natural.  That’s why it was exciting, but no surprise to see Jonah Peretti, founder of BuzzFeed and co-founder of Huffington Post, talk with Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch, sharing his “Five Rules for How to Make Things Go Viral“, listing the fifth as “Be a Mormon, Not a Jew”.  Of course, as he said, his statement was a little tongue-in-cheek, and as any good Mormon will tell you they admire and respect the Jewish people and faith (and perhaps more than many Christian religions, we take the Old Testament almost as seriously as any Jew – we love and respect their law, as it sets much of the foundations for what we as Mormons believe). Peretti’s statement was that “Mormons are better at evangelism”.  Mormons are, quite simply, whether better or not I’m not here to debate, but they’re naturally great marketers and it shows by the exponential growth shown since the 50s in the graph Peretti shared.

As a Mormon, I served a mission in Thailand when I was 19 (yes, I speak, read, and write fluent Thai, which I was taught in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah for 2 months before I left to Thailand).  When I was a missionary I was taught to teach a message, follow up on that message, and “build relationships of trust”.  As members of the Church we follow Jesus Christ’s direction to “come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men” (Mark 1:16-18 in the New Testament).  We love the message we’ve learned, and we feel compelled to share that message.  Building relationships is also something we love doing, again, not out of process, but because relationships, to us, are a core of what we believe in.  We are taught about the origins of God’s family before this earth, and we believe we are all literal brothers and sisters in God’s plan for us.  We enjoy the relationships we have with those around us, and more importantly, we believe most strongly in building a true relationship with God.  It is these “relationships” that, in my opinion, make Social Media, and modern-day marketing a natural fit for every Mormon, whether they realize they are doing it or not.

It’s because of this that the Church tries to enable members to share this message in ways they are capable of doing.  Just to feature some of the highlights of what the Mormon Church does, from my perspective:

  • Mormons send over 50,000 missionaries worldwide to help evangelize the Gospel.  Most of these are under the age of 25.  And when you think, “oh, these are those white-shirted young men (featured in the picture in Piretti’s presentation) going from door-to-door”, we’re not quite even that any more.  While we still have many going door-to-door, you’ll see missionaries sitting in call-centers, answering questions and chatting with you on Mormon.org.  You’ll see missionaries volunteering on service missions, helping out the poor and needy in places like Haiti (which efforts you can donate to over there on the right).  We’re even taking some more modern approaches like in New York, where Missionaries are even using Facebook and Twitter to reach out to people.  Imagine the potential of those 50,000 people, rather than going door-to-door, using technology instead to share the Gospel in a more modern, less-intrusive, more targeted fashion and reaching those that are truly interested in the message.

  • The Church just launched a brand new Mormon.org, featuring members as the main focus.  The Church wants its members to speak for themselves.  In Social Media this is crucial and necessary for the focus to be on the individual and not the organization.  Now, you can go to Mormon.org, find people of similar race, gender, ethnicity, or even locale and learn what they believe.  You can even follow them on Twitter or Facebook or read their blog.  We’re allowing you to see what a real Mormon is, and not just from a big organization standpoint.  You can peruse articles and share them on Facebook and Twitter via like and share buttons.

  • The Church has Youtube Channels, the most popular being “MormonMessages“, which, no matter what your faith, you can get some pretty inspirational messages encouraging you to do better and grow.  Each of those is embeddable on blogs and shareable on Facebook and Twitter and elsewhere.  Mormons are encouraged by leaders to share what they believe, and are provided with the tools to do it.

  • The Church has mobile apps where you can read the Old and New Testaments, as well as The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price (3 books that Mormons believe are also Testaments of Jesus Christ and are provided through modern, prophetic, revelation).

  • The Church has Facebook Pages and Twitter Accounts that members, as well as non-members can subscribe and learn more about the Mormon Church, gain inspiration, and discuss that content with other members and non-members.  I love reading the comments of these Pages because you hear such great messages of peoples’ lives being changed from this message and the best part is these stories are just coming from every day members (and non-members)!  They are unedited, spoken from the heart and the soul.  That’s what Social Media is about and the core of who we are.  It’s all about technology that allows us as humans to bare our souls.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  Technology has enabled Mormons to take the “marketing” Peretti mentions to an even greater level.  I think we’re pretty good people.  We’re genuine.  Social Media and modern marketing have enabled Mormons to share who they are to the world, and they’ll continue to do so.

Mormons are considered a peculiar people.  Maybe it’s because of our history of polygamy (discontinued way back in the 1800s).  Maybe it’s TV shows like Big Love that give that perception.  Maybe it’s the fact we don’t drink Coffee or Tea or Alcohol, or that we don’t smoke and live a generally pretty healthy life.  Maybe it’s because we’re taught not to have sex before marriage, and, at least for active Mormons, we have long and fruitful marriages and we love having children.  I don’t think that’s much different than any other good religion out there.  I’m totally excited and stoked that technology is enabling us, as Mormons, to finally share with the world who we are, on a global and massive scale and we can finally be completely transparent about who we are.

What I do know is that Peretti’s statement is true, but it’s not at all because we teach “marketing” by process – it’s because as Mormons we’ve got a great message to share.  We’re great people to be around, and we’ve got nothing to hide.  I’m stoked that technology is enabling us to show that to the world.

See Peretti’s great video below.  Also be sure to check out his presentation:

http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?width=630&height=354&embedCode=xlaDluMToim9U0Mmz7xDG-kQdX34Rp9s&deepLinkEmbedCode=xlaDluMToim9U0Mmz7xDG-kQdX34Rp9s

Be sure to read more about this on NewYorkMag.com and AllThingsD.

Disclosure: In my day job, I am currently working as the Social Media Architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While they are currently my employer, this article by no means represents any official announcement, declaration, proclamation, or doctrine on behalf of the Church.  All claims or topics written are solely my own opinion and not the opinions or official word of the LDS Church.  To be clear, regardless of my day job, I am still a member of the Church and I still believe its teachings and will always have beliefs to share surrounding the Church and its teachings.  What I write here should be considered as such.

LDS Church Launches New, "Social" Mormon.org for Learning About Mormons

Posted on by jessestay

mormon.orgJust last night, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched a newly redesigned Mormon.org to help those that are not members of the LDS Faith to know who their Mormon neighbors are.  The site, which takes a more “Social” approach to learn about the Faith, attempts to show you who your Mormon friends are, by letting them tell you about the Church.  The effort is perhaps one of the most social efforts from a technology standpoint in Church history.

Browsing the site, visitors can immediately search for people with like interests, locations, and ethnicities, showing that no matter where you are or what type of life you live, there is probably a Mormon who has been in, or is currently in similar circumstances.  In addition to being able to search around you, prominent Mormons are also featured, and you can learn about such influential Mormons such as Jane Clayson (Johnson), former morning show anchor and Journalist, or Chris Carlson, Creative Director at the Library of Congress.

The site features testimonies of members, answers to questions, videos, and information all about the Church, mostly by members of the Church themselves.  It includes very interesting and entertaining videos about featured members, which are scattered throughout the site and you can embed on your own website or blog.  The profiles are all written 100% by members, and include links to Twitter, Facebook, and even blogs that the members may write.  For each article about the Church (such as this one on Jesus Christ, or this one on The Book of Mormon), visitors can share and like the articles on Facebook and Twitter or e-mail.

So if you get a chance, head on over and check out the site – look for people like yourself.  Look for people that live around you.  There’s a good chance one of them is a Mormon.

You can read my profile here: http://mormon.org/me/1H2Y-eng/

My name is Jesse Stay and yes, I’m a Mormon. 🙂

Disclosure: In my day job, I am currently working as the Social Media Architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While they are currently my employer, this article by no means represents any official announcement, declaration, proclamation, or doctrine on behalf of the Church.  All claims or topics written are solely my own opinion and not the opinions or official word of the LDS Church.  To be clear, regardless of my day job, I am still a member of the Church and I still believe its teachings and will always have beliefs to share surrounding the Church and its teachings.  What I write here should be considered as such.

LDS (Mormon) Church Facebook Page Surpasses 300,000 Likes on Facebook

Posted on by jessestay

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no stranger to technology.  With several of the web’s most traffic’d websites, a very popular Youtube Channel (MormonMessages), one of the top Facebook Pages, and a great host of mobile applications enabling members to read scriptures and listen to talks from leaders wherever they are, there’s no doubt the Church knows what it’s doing.  One of the big efforts the Church has built is its Facebook presence on its official Pages.   Today, the Church’s official Page surpassed 300,000 likes and growing on Facebook.

Currently the Church has Pages for its Mormon Messages (53,000 likes), the Church’s Family History Library (3,300 likes),  and even the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (46,000 likes).  The Church’s main, official account, http://facebook.com/LDS, serves to be an outlet for the highlights of each of the Pages and other announcements for the Church to its members.  The Church keeps its Page regularly updated with interesting items for its members.

The LDS Church has a worldwide membership of over 13 million members.  Those members speak over 90 languages, and the Church broadcasts its message out to each of those twice a year in its Semi-annual General Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah every year.  With such a broad audience, it’s important for the Church to have an outlet to enable members to access that content, and find useful messages they can then bring back to their local areas and congregations.  In addition, Facebook enables a great way for members to share information and inspiring messages from the Church with their friends.

It’s rare you see much word on the use of Facebook in a religious setting, but it makes complete sense in regards to virally spreading a message around the world.  I’m very excited to see these messages spread, and if anything, this can be an interesting thing to watch if you’re a faith-based organization looking to get word out to your members in creative ways.

Mormon or not, if you want a refresher to your day and enjoy inspiring messages to lift up your day, be sure to like the page at http://facebook.com/LDS. (oh, and don’t forget to click “like” on this article)

Disclosure: In my day job, I am currently working as the Social Media Architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While they are currently my employer, this article by no means represents any official announcement, declaration, proclamation, or doctrine on behalf of the Church.  All claims or topics written are solely my own opinion and not the opinions or official word of the LDS Church.  To be clear, regardless of my day job, I am still a member of the Church and I still believe its teachings and will always have beliefs to share surrounding the Church and its teachings.  What I write here should be considered as such.

Who are the Mormons?

Posted on by jessestay

MormonFor those of you unaware, I am Mormon.  I try not to preach the religion topic too much on this site unless it has to do with Technology, but I did realize there wasn’t much on this blog talking about who I am and what I believe in.  I’m hoping to correct that and while I certainly don’t want to impose, I want you to be able to find out about it if you choose to learn.  For that reason, I’ve created a dedicated Page on this blog to this topic, and I hope you don’t hesitate to ask questions.

I may also at some point share my personal thoughts about the subject – it is a very personal topic that I think is worth sharing at some point.  My faith expands to my very root and core, and goes way beyond my belief (which I feel strongly about). It is something I was born into.  It is something my Ancestors practiced as they were persecuted for their beliefs in the early days of US History.  It is something I have challenged and tried and gained my own testimony of as I have grown up and learned of my own freedoms and choices.  It is something that “just makes sense” to me, and having travelled the world I have yet to find anything (while there are many good things out there) that matches what we believe.  This is something that is very much a part of me, just as much as my passion for technology and new media.

I hope you spend some time checking out the section I added on the right, “Learn About the Mormon Church“.  In addition, be sure to check out the official Mormon topic Page on LDS.org that was just released, talking about who a Mormon is, what the term means, and why we are who we are.  This is something very important to me, and while I respect we all have varying opinions and beliefs, I hope you can at least learn something from it.

Here are some useful links:

What Mormons Believe

Learn About the Mormons

What is “A Mormon”?

Read the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price Online

Read the Gospel Library on your Mobile Phone

Please, if this inspires you or you feel inclined, don’t hesitate to click “like” above or share it with your friends! (Retweet, post on Facebook, etc.)

Changing the World Quite Literally Through Social Media

Posted on by jessestay

The rumor is out – I thought I’d make it official.  This week I have started as the new Social Media Architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  In summary, I am in charge of the architecture and integration of Social Technologies for the Church.  I will be in charge of finding ways that make sense to integrate technologies such as Facebook Connect, the Twitter API, @Anywhere, OpenSocial, Google Buzz, Google Wave, FOAF, Google’s Social Graph APIs, OpenID, and just about any other Social technology you can think of in to the Church’s web properties.  This is quite a task!

The LDS Church (also called “the Mormons” by others) has some of the most visited websites on the internet.  I’ve talked about it before. As of now, LDS.org, the Church’s site for members of the Church, ranks at number 2,460 in Alexa rankings.  The Church has the largest database of genealogical information in the world.  The Church has one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world, contributing significantly to the efforts in Haiti, Chile, and many other causes (you can donate over on the right).  The Church’s Relief Society is the largest non-profit womens organizations in the world, contributing to the welfare, support, and moral guidance and relief of women throughout the world.  The Church has a global audience, speaking just about every language you can think of, and the Church’s technology has to support that audience.

That’s why this is such an incredible opportunity.  Never in my life have I had the chance to support such a large, global audience in a way that could impact so many.  I see the use of Social Media enabling the Church to reach into areas and touch people in ways it was never able to do before.  I see Social Media enabling the Church to help more people, strengthen, and make the world a better place without boundary.  I will get to not only use Facebook and Twitter to help others benefit society, but on a global scale I’ll get to use Orkut, Hi5, Bebo, and other global networks, and find ways to deeply integrate these technologies into the work the Church is doing, on a global scale and to a mass audience.

Will this affect my business, SocialToo?  I anticipate not.  I am taking a leap of faith here for something I feel has an even greater effect to change the world, but my intention is to continue running SocialToo part-time (at least).  As it needs more attention we will see where things go at that point.  I don’t anticipate anything changing on SocialToo, and I also expect some really amazing new features, new partnerships, and more to appear, even while I am fulfilling my position at the LDS Church.

“I don’t like X about the LDS Church” — I don’t intend to respond to many of these comments, and if they’re persistent I may remove or block them – IMO they are irrelevant to the position I hold.  I am responsible solely for the Social Media-related technologies of the Church, nothing else.  Any post here I make in representation of that position will be technology focused, not Church Policy focused.  I’ve made it clear my intentions are to make the world a better place with this position.  It doesn’t matter what your personal beliefs or motivations are – I think we’re all in this purpose together, and IMO, that’s what matters most.  I hope you can support me in this.  I hope to work for better standards in the realm of Genealogy.  I hope to work for better, more friendly International standards, and better ways people can communicate globally in different languages.  I hope what I do can change the poverty levels, and the welfare of the world through technology.  That is my purpose.

There is no better job where I can “do no evil” better than in what I’m doing now.  This is something where I feel I can truly make a change for the better.  Will it help my faith, my religion? You bet!  What I’m most excited though is the effect this position will have on the world.  My faith and my religion are entirely centered around that, and my hope is that I have an effect on this more than anything else.

Have any questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments and elsewhere.  I’m very happy, as always, to answer questions and discuss these matters and my beliefs in the Church especially.  You can definitely expect much more from me on some of the related technologies we’re working on as I am able.  I’m excited to where this leads!  There is something very powerful about Social Media technologies and the potential they have to change the world.

As always, the content of this post and any other post on this blog are my own opinions, not the reflections of my employer, nor an official statement on my faith or religion.  Any comment or post outside official LDS Channels are my own opinion and views.