In what is quickly becoming one of the most blogged documents of the US Bishops - as it should be - the social media world is filled with references to the brand new Social Media Guidelines publiushed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Filled with practical advice on how to effectively minister through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc., it even quotes from Wikipedia and has inbedded links to websites from the Vatican to the Federal Trade Commission. And it seems to complement the piece published in last week's Criterion, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, in which other priests, seminarians, and I shared how we use social media in our ministry. Says the new guidelines:
"Social media can be powerful tools for strengthening community, although social media interaction should not be viewed as a substitute for face-to-face gatherings. Social media can support communities in a myriad of ways: connecting people with similar interests, sharing information about in-person events, providing ways for people to engage in dialogue, etc. A well-considered use of social media has the ultimate goal of encouraging true friendship” (43rd World Communications Day message [2009]) and of addressing the human longing for meaningful community."
It's good to hear confirmation of what so many of us are trying to do with using social media in our ministry! One news report of the new guidelines says that someone called the USCCB asking for a hard-copy of the guidelines - and that they were denied, since it is an organic document that may be adjusted on the web as technologies change. How far we have come since the days of monks spending their lifetimes copying a single manuscript in a dimly-lit monastic scriptorium!
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