I’ve been asked by many at church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) to share and talk about all the resources the LDS Church has made available to aid members in their efforts to share the gospel online.
Most recently, I led a discussion in a Sunday joint priesthood and Relief Society meeting where we visited websites, watched videos and talked about how we can share our testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively online.
This is an outline of the resources I shared and reviewed with the group. It could be used as a three lesson Sunday school class. It’s intended for an audience with only a little familiarity with social media.
Section 1
Review principles from LDS.org > Sharing the Gospel Online.
Share:
- Your relationship with Jesus Christ
- Use any favorite social media or network tool
- Create a profile on Mormon.org and link to it from your social networks
Review Elder Ballard’s talk about sharing the gospel online.
Review official LDS Church social media channels and the types of content shared (platforms include: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube).
Additional social media channels are listed here (Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr).
Check out the Mormon Newsroom YouTube channel, and the featured channels (note: you can’t view YouTube content from the Wi-Fi at church).
Review profiles and content on Mormon.org and discuss the different ways people present their faith.
Section 2
Review blogging, what it is, how to set-up a free blog (see Blogger and WordPress). By the way, you’re reading a blog.
A personal example: My high council talks on this blog.
Watch the video about LDS Church member, Stephanie Nielson, survivor of a near-fatal plane crash. (She has shared her experience through blogging, and talks about her faith.)
Become familiar with the free multimedia resources available in the LDS Media Library.
Use Mormon.org to refer friends to missionaries.
What’s a hashtag (#)? Also watch this video from Boot Camp Digital: What is a hashtag? Here’s a list of LDS Church hashtags (scroll to bottom > General Hashtags, etc.).
Think about ways you can use hashtags to categorize posts about your faith.
Section 3
LDS mobile apps (there are a lot of them).
Explore LDS.org > Hastening the Work of Salvation, and how the content there can be shared or used to inspire sharing.
Explore #ShareGoodness — Social media gives us a way to share simple messages of goodness and truth.
- Pick a simple truth.
- Tell it in your own words.
- Explain why it makes you happy.
Review and discuss the common questions on #ShareGoodness:
- How do I start a conversation?
- How often should I post?
- How is communicating on social media different?
- How can I use social media to share goodness?
- What if I don’t know how to use social media?
- How can social media help me serve in my calling?
- Where can I find the rest of Elder Bednar’s talk?
- What should I do if someone criticizes my post?
- Where can I find the social media examples that Elder Bednar used in his talk?
- Where can I find more ideas for using social media?
- Where can I find shareable Church content?
In our stake, we maintain an events and news website with links to social media channels.
Here’s the stake’s handout: Sharing the Gospel Online.