LDS Media Talk

I was reading some internal Church research recently regarding challenges most bishops face. One that caught my attention was that many bishops struggle to truly know their ward members. I don’t doubt this is true, but the statement did concern me in the context of some other research I did last August regarding a Church Web site feature that could help bishops better get to know their ward members.

Last summer, I did some analysis of the Stake and Ward Web sites statistics, and I found that 60% of wards have no member photos posted. A small percentage of units, 5%, mostly singles wards, are heavy users of this feature with over 100 photographs posted of the members of the ward.

I have never been a bishop, so perhaps there is something I am missing, but I would like to understand this better. Am I right that the photo feature of the Ward Web site would help bishops put names to faces? I know bishops want more than a name and a face, but isn’t that a good start?  Is there something impeding more bishops from utilizing this feature? If you are or have been a bishop, what could we do through the Church Web site to help you in your effort to get to know the members of you ward better?

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A group of researchers have devised a method which allows people to communicate over a 2G cell phone network using Sign Language. This is a pretty big step for deaf people, because text messaging is a poor substitute for the expressiveness of Sign Language, and for many who have been deaf since childhood, English is truly a foreign language.

Source: Aaron at NorthTemple.com

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A few months ago, I noticed there was a news story that headlined Book of Mormon Reaches 140 Million Milestone. 140 million printed copies of the Book of Mormon is an extraordinary achievement!

A number of years ago, President Ezra Taft Benson gave a general conference talk entitled Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon using “electronic media and the mass distribution of the printed word.” After rereading that talk , I began to wonder how we could more fully take advantage of the many opportunities to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon using “electronic media”.

Electronic Media to New Media

Electronic media was a foreshadowing of today’s digital or new media. Last year, Elder Russell M. Ballard counseled, “I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the New Media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple, clear terms the message of the Restoration” (see Using New Media to Support the Work of the Church).

A Vision and a Challenge

In President Benson’s talk, he mentioned he had a “vision” of how the earth could be flooded with the Book of Mormon and issued a series of challenges to all Church members. In part, he said:

I challenge the homes of Israel to display on their walls great quotations and scenes from the Book of Mormon… I have a vision of artists putting into film, drama, literature, music, and paintings great themes and great characters from the Book of Mormon… I have a vision of the whole Church getting nearer to God by abiding by the precepts of the Book of Mormon. Indeed, I have a vision of flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon.

What If?

I wonder what would happen if not only the homes, but also the thousands of blogs and web sites in use by Church members could help achieve this goal. In that context, here’s a series of “what ifs” just to get people thinking about what could be done to more fully flood the earth with the Book of Mormon using new media.

1. What if someone hosted an LDS Widgets/Gadgets site and enlisted the support of thousands of interested developers (LDS Tech?) in creating gospel-oriented widgets and gadgets? For example, see Yahoo! Widgets, Google Gadgets, Windows Sidebar and Gadgets, Apple Dashboard Widgets, and many others.
2. Following President Benson’s line of thinking, what if some of these widgets/gadgets contained images, videos, and podcasts of favorite scriptures, talks, pictures, lessons, and many other categories that could be posted on personal blogs and web sites?
3. What if someone managed the Widgets/Gadgets forum and promoted this week’s “popular” widgets, “up and coming widgets”, “all time popular widgets”, etc.
4. What if someone was chartered with managing and marketing the site to provide basic assistance and encourage development around specific categories?
5. What would happen if static and rich media content was made available to a large Christian-oriented audience?
6. What if these widgets/gadgets targeted specific content areas on Church and “friends of the Church” web sites and enlisted bloggers and web site owners to make them available?

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I just created a wordle of the text from all the blogs during 2008 on LDSMediaTalk. (Click on the image to see a larger version.) It’s interesting to look at these wordles to get a sense of how often certain topics are mentioned in a given text. See a wordle of the text from the last general conference.

Wordle of text from LDSMediaTalk.com 2008

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Web users, in general, want fresh content, therefore it is typically the new sites or new postings on  the site that get the most traffic. LDS.org is no different and, not surprisingly, traffic spikes around General Conference time as members are hungry to feast upon the latest words from our living prophets. In the weeks after conference, archived talks remain among the most popular items on LDS.org. Through the end of October, there were over 1.2 million downloads of October 2008 General Conference talks.

In this instance “downloads” has a specific meaning, which I will explain, but you will see that the 1.2 million figure is actually a conservation estimate. By download, I don’t necessarily mean that the talk was saved to the user’s hard-drive, merely that the talk was read, watched or listened to. I have de-duplicated the figures, meaning that if the same person downloaded the same content multiple times, I only count it once. I also wanted to include the numbers from people watching archived content on the Move player, the new interactive video player the Church is using. Since the Move player is tracked differently, I had to do some additional finagling, but again, I erred on the conservative side and simply took unique visitors to the page. Bottom line, the actual number of archived talks read/listened to/watched is probably much higher than my 1.2 million, conservative estimate.

In the charts below, you will see various breakouts of the 1.2 million downloads of October 2008 General Conference archived content. The numbers are through the end of October.

Summary By Format: Read/Watch/Listen

Summary By Technology

Summary By Session

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eMarketer estimates that 82% of US teens (ages 12-17) and 43.5% of children (ages 3-11) will use the Internet on a monthly basis in 2009.

About 19% of active Internet users in July 2008 were under age 18. (Source: Nielsen Online)

71% of US teens have a mobile phone. (Source: The Pew Internet & American Life Project)

59% own a desktop or laptop computer. (Source: The Pew Internet & American Life Project)

The following chart shows how they communicate.

Teens expect to be able to navigate between social networks, text messaging, instant messaging and virtual worlds seamlessly. They want messages sent by one means to be accessible in another. In fact, the distinctions between online, offline, and mobile communications are meaningless to many teens. They want simple means of communicating that are engaging.

The trick for most parents is to even understand what this fast-moving audience is doing.

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In late 2007, Reuters reported that “worldwide mobile telephone subscriptions reached 3.3 billion.”  This fact has generated a lot of discussion here at the Church on its implications about how cell phones could be used to keep members and church leaders connected and otherwise further the work of the Lord.  Particularly intriguing to the Church is that in many developing countries with little landline telephone infrastructure, mobile phone usage has grown rapidly.  The scene like that in the picture below are common: folks that may not even have electricity in the home, often have cell phone service. 

Photo used by permission from Craig C. Christensen

On the surface, it certainly appears like a golden opportunity to use cell phone technology to reach audiences the Church otherwise could not.  As an analyst, though, my nature is to approach the subject more cautiously and do a little more digging before I jump to such a conclusion. Here’s what my investigation has revealed:

You can’t say that half the world has a cell phone. There are about 6 billion people on the earth, so you might think 3 billion cell phones means 50% of people have cell phones, but this is not the case. The 3.3 billion figure does not take into account people with multiple mobile phones, so the actual number of mobile phone users is less than that. Hong Kong and much of Europe has mobile penetration of around 150%, meaning 1.5 mobile phones per person, on average across those populations. The Reuters report above further states that “59 countries have mobile penetration of over 100 percent.”

Mobile phone access does not equal mobile Internet access. The US has one of the highest rates of mobile Internet access, yet even here the Pew Research center says that only about three fourths of mobile phone users have mobile internet access.  Worldwide the percentage of cell phone users with Internet access is much lower.  Some estimates put it around 800 million, or 25%, of cell phones worldwide have Internet access. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone)

Not all mobile Internet access is a broadband mobile connection. Earlier this year, the GSM Association reported estimates of only 32 million broadband mobile connections worldwide, though it’s increasing at a very fast pace. This means that only a very small fraction, about 10%, of mobile users worldwide have broadband Internet on their phone. This does not prohibit slow-connection mobile Internet users from accessing content on their phones, but studies show much higher usage with broadband mobile connections.

What all this means for the Church’s use of mobile networks to further the Lord’s work is yet to be determined. On the surface, an aggressive mobile strategy seems like a no-brainer, but digging into the analysis reveals a very different story. What do you think the Church’s mobile strategy should be? What direction is your company headed with regard to mobile?

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In today’s Internet world, an increasing number of Latter-day Saints are encountering anti-Mormon information. Since most members don’t have all the answers at their fingertips, LDS-critical claims can be unsettling or create doubt. Some arguments have caused a few members—even active members with strong testimonies—to lose their faith.

One good source for answering questions about the Church is the Gospel Topics section of the Gospel Library on LDS.org. (You can also get there using the shortcut topics.lds.org.)

You may also be interested in Shaken Faith Syndrome, a new book published by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR). Backed by extensive research and decades of experience dealing with anti-Mormon allegations, Michael Ash explores how we can be both critical thinkers and devout believers. The first half of the book offers suggestions on strengthening our intellectual foundations against challenging issues, including a greater understanding of the inherent limitations of science, history, and even the scriptures. The second half of the book exposes common anti-LDS tactics and engages some of the most frequent criticisms.

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In case you missed it, a couple weeks ago Microsoft and Google announced support for OpenID. If you have a card, a spreadsheet, or password manager that contains your login information for all the web sites you regularly visit, then you might want to check out OpenID.

What is OpenID?

According to the OpenID web site:

OpenID eliminates the need for multiple usernames across different websites, simplifying your online experience.

You get to choose the OpenID Provider that best meets your needs and most importantly that you trust. At the same time, your OpenID can stay with you, no matter which Provider you move to. And best of all, the OpenID technology is not proprietary and is completely free.

For businesses, this means a lower cost of password and account management, while drawing new web traffic. OpenID lowers user frustration by letting users have control of their login. (What is OpenID?)

PC World reports:

OpenID is a free framework that eliminates the need for multiple usernames across different websites. If you have a Microsoft Live Mail account, a Yahoo account, or a Google account, you can log in with those same credentials on other websites like AOL, MySpace, Plaxo, Zoho or Buxfer, without having to create a new account on any of these sites. (Google Moves to OpenID.)

I recently signed up with Verisign’s PIP, but you can get an account with any number of OpenID providers. Or use one of your existing accounts as mentioned above.

Although there are still hurdles to overcome, and some potential downsides, OpenID offers great utility towards a federated login. (See Google Joins OpenID Providers in Race Toward Federated Login and Google Revises its OpenID Implementation to Accept All Relying Parties.)

Here is the recent announcement on theSocialWeb.tv. Be prepared though – the video is 24 minutes!

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Check out Your LDS Radio, a new, free online LDS Radio station that just launched this past week.

In addition to a 24-hour stream of music, you can also hear on-demand audio segments updated every week with interviews, sacred music, comedy, and more.

The station strives to  play music that resonates most deeply with Latter-Day Saint values, while at the same time introducing Latter-Day Saints to the artists who will shape tomorrow’s LDS music. The site also includes a discussion board where you can comment on the music or request songs you’d like to hear.

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Digg is a place for people to discover and share the best content from anywhere on the Web. You can submit articles and other Digg users vote them up or down. That way, the articles on the main page are those that the community finds to be the most interesting or unique. You’ll find articles about the most outrageous construction projects in Dubai and why seven hours of sleep may not be enough for you.

Digg also promotes a conversation about the topic by allowing readers to comment on the article, see who voted on it, blog about it, or e-mail it to a friend.

Digg Alerter can help you keep track of your submissions. It sits in your system tray and alerts you whenever your stories are dugg or promoted to Digg’s front page.

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About a month ago, I blogged about Proposition 8 and same-sex marriage. In that, and subsequent blogs, I discussed the use of blogs, Web sites, and video to communicate the issues and inform. This has been interesting to watch in a debate that has been so emotionally-charged. As you likely know by now, voters in California, Arizona, and Florida amended their state constitutions to establish that marriage will continue to be between a man and a woman.

You may be interested to read an article in the Newsroom today, where the Church explains its involvement with moral and ethical issues. It also reminds us to be civil in our interractions. “We hope that now and in the future all parties involved in this issue will be well informed and act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different position. No one on any side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information.”

Today’s technology allows us to interact in ways never before possible and somtimes with a level of anonimity. Nevertheless, we need to remember to keep our conversations respectful, polite, and accurate. You may wish to refer to the helpful guidelines provided in the Newsroom about engaging in dialogue about the Church and also the guidelines on how to talk about doctrine.

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The October 25, 2008 edition of the Church News contained a great article that warns parents of the risks of allowing children to navigate the Internet alone.

Online games today have real-life imagery, sound, and graphics, and allow youth to play with unknown people half way around the world. Parents should be aware of their children’s gaming practices to ensure they are healthy and not harmful.

Jill Manning, author of the book What’s the Big Deal about Pornography: A Guide for the Internet Generation, warns that Internet pornography is readily accessible and is much different from a photograph on the page of a magazine. With the click of the mouse, children can freely access a “seemingly infinite array of sexually explicit images that often incorporate sound, movement and are more explicit than pornography from past eras.”

Sister Manning warns that children and teens should not be left to have private interactions in the virtual world alone. Chat rooms often “lead participants into topics and discussions that they would not have with people in real life. Sex talk, racist slurs, homophobic statements and sexist and hateful language are commonly found in chat rooms.” In a chat room, you can’t tell the sexual predators, criminals, and disrespectful people from the wholesome, clean-cut people. Remember that people can represent themselves any way they choose online, making it impossible to really know who someone is. Never share personal information online. It is better to meet people in person, then use technology to nurture those friendships.

Parents should help young people understand the consequences of online choices. Although youth often feel anonymous online, they need to know that everything they do online gets saved somewhere.

It is critical to teach our children how to use technology in safe and beneficial ways. In the beginning, you may need to use monitoring software so you can see the sites your children visited and get copies of the e-mails they send. Children need a chance to practice using technology and get feedback from their parents.

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The Church Newsroom was recently interviewed by Times and Seasons and it was published in two parts.

Part one covers questions about the origin and scope of the LDS Church Newsroom. Part two addresses questions about where the Newsroom is headed.

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I’d like to expand on a blog post from earlier this year by Larry Richman called What is a Wiki? As Larry explains, the nature of a wiki is to enable just about anyone to contribute an article or modify content. If you didn’t realize this and want to see how it works, try this fun game I saw demonstrated by Joel Dehlin. Sign up for a Wikipedia account, then go to the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith. Change his birth year from 1805 to 1905, then watch and wait. Within 10 or 15 minutes, someone will change it back to the correct year.

This community contribution nature of Wikipedia comes as a surprise to many people who think of Wikipedia as a completely accurate, unbiased, online encyclopedia.  The fact is, though, that like most history books and newspapers, biases, political slants, and inaccuracies tend to creep in to Wikipedia articles.  I’m not trying to be critical of Wikipedia; just putting out a warning to take what you read with a grain of salt and perhaps consider contributing to Wikipedia articles yourself.  I echo Larry Richman’s comments in his post Keeping Wikipedia Entries Accurate, and encourage individuals to review Wikipedia entries about the Church for accuracy and edit and update them as you are able.

To Wikipedia’s credit, a Nature magazine investigation found that Wikipedia comes close to the Encyclopedia Britannica in terms of the accuracy of its science entries. Nature says that science entries in the online encyclopedia are “not markedly less accurate” than those found in the Encyclopedia Britannica.  But unlike the Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia is completely free to use and was written by an army of volunteer contributors and not paid professionals.  Clay Shirky, an NYU professor with expertise in social networks, refers to the time people have to contribute to the likes of Wikipedia as our “cognitive surplus.”

Mr. Shirky tells of a conversation he had with a television executive.  He mentioned to her of the back and forth battle on Wikipedia about whether or not Pluto is a “planet.”  To which she responded asking where people find the time to contribute to editing articles on Wikipedia.  That’s when Mr. Shirky snapped and went into a very informative tirade in which he explained that the entire Wikipedia Web site represents about 100 million hours of human thought/work, while humans watch over 200 billion hours of TV a year.  Put another way, you could create 2,000 Wikipedia projects in just one year with the time people spend watching TV.  Here’s the video of Clay Shirky’s talk where he tells this story:

This cognitive surplus has really got me thinking and I hope it has for you as well.  If I would turn off the TV, what more good could I accomplish?  Could I spend more time with my family?  Could I better magnify my Church calling?  Could I share my time, talents, and values and strengthen my community?  D&C 58:27 “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.”

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