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I’m looking for a vibrant group discussion today. I hope you’ll contribute your thoughts.

Lately I’ve been ruminating on and talking to my friends and family about Elder Bednar’s message to “sweep the earth with messages filled with righteousness and truth.” His message is full of excellent guidelines, but putting his words into actions seems to be creating a lot of confusion. I’ve interviewed some very savvy young people to initiate our discussion.

Let’s start with my 22 year old son Ben, a student and Italian 101 teacher at BYU:

“I had to go to a training for my stake’s digital mission today. The idea is to improve the church’s presence on social media in size and quality. Some of it seems pretty cool, like creating blogs, but other actions seems pointless: liking church stuff and trolling for comments that mention missionaries. I’m still kind of at odds with social media. I’m totally fine with other people using it and I’m actually kind of interested in what some people post, but a lot of the time it seems superficial and fake and even damaging. Think about the way it’s changing our definition of social? How is working for “likes” changing the way we express ourselves? I’m still trying to understand how the church is so on board with all this stuff. Being encouraged, at a church meeting, to “live your life openly on social media” (that’s a real quote) just seems kind of funny. Live your life on social media? How about live your life in the real world? I’m still processing it all.

Social media can easily be such a waste of time. Just as small and simple things can bring great things to pass, very little and perhaps badness also is brought to pass by small and trivial things. So many people are wasting so much time on social media. I’m guilty of this too.

I don’t criticize the church at all for trying to take advantage of new technology, especially as it does have so much power to reach so many people. What I worry about though is that just as much as social media has power to do good it has equal power to do bad. And from where I’m sitting I see a lot of bad.”

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At my house, we’re sorting out living a gospel centered life and while embracing modern media. Thanks to the internet, we’ve made friends across the globe and had numerous missionary opportunities, but we’re also constantly working to protect our time together as a family, our virtue and our ability to hear the spirit.

Recently, my third son was asked to get a Twitter account because of his role in student government. As parents of teenagers know, Twitter has become THE way to disseminate information. He doesn’t have a smart phone, so he used both my phone and our family laptop to access the site, posting reminders about football games and other school activities. More than once he expressed disgust at the messages in his feed but one day he called me over to the computer, showed me the page filled with profanity, salacious photos and links to what Miley Cyrus did on stage and said, “Don’t ever let me get on twitter again.”

My son was only following classmates and apostles. He can let his light so shine, but I think he’ll have to do it elsewhere– at least until he’s out of high school.

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Anna Sam, 23, Editor of the University of Utah Chronicle shared her thoughts,

“Right now I’m at the U studying languages and literature. I’ve been thinking (and praying) about this a lot lately- as the Editor of the Chrony I’m constantly encouraged to spend more time on social media – both the paper’s accounts, and my own. But I noticed that in doing so, I’m less sensitive to the Spirit, and generally feel less happy – you never know what you’re going to run across. A week ago, I felt the impression and made a goal to only check social media sites with the express goal of sharing something uplifting, or anxiously seeking something uplifting. Eleanor Porter, author of Pollyanna, pointed out that “people radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts.” What if we approached “sharing” this way? If we both honestly share the joy, gratitude and faith in our hearts, when appropriate, and seek things that will gladden our hearts and enrich our spirits? I think we can and should share that, share of ourselves, but only to the degree that it feels authentic to us, because letting OUR light shine is the key here, and if it’s forced, I don’t think it has the same power. For some, this might mean writing a (very) public, monetized blog, while others will share their light best through personal interaction. However we do it, make sure, first and foremost, that we protect and nurture the goodness within us (and our children, friends, and family.)”

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and from David, 23, student at Columbia University:

“1) A lot of the “goodness” that’s being shared completely misses the point. The point is that the “goodness” to be shared is YOU – the gospel is about you, so share yourself. “Goodness” is struggling through bad days, seeing silver lining in tough situations, sharing happiness, consoling sadness, being cheered up, and being consoled. Maybe this is an invitation to be more transparent and less presentational? “You don’t have to pretend to have it all together: you’re good. Share that.”

2) I agree that this counsel is for people who are already active (in a healthy, well-rounded way) on social media. If I follow you on Twitter, I want to follow YOU … I can follow any number of official and unofficial church Twitter accounts if I want a never-ending flood of Mormon memes/messages. I feel like a lot of people have reacted to this message by joining social medias and posting exclusively religious material. As far as missionary work goes, I think that leaves a negative impression.

3) I also think that Matthew 6 is relevant: when we are publicly religious (praying on street corners/#SharingGoodness), are we acting “to be seen of men”? Jesus was pretty clear about that being a bad thing, right?

4) Several of my friends have interpreted this message to mean that “delicate” church issues (Ordain Women, gay marriage, etc) should not be discussed in a public settings. I disagree – I believe that the church has nothing to hide or any reason to be apologetic.”

Many members are going to post appropriately and genuinely, but the way Pres. Bednar’s challenge is being disseminated can be troubling. If people get the message-“It’s your gospel prerogative to spend time on social media” they are in real danger of justifying a dangerous waste of time and a loss of the spirit. I’m also searching for the balance myself. Do I have a responsibility to try to reach more people? Can I remain my authentic self when looking for “likes”?

I keep thinking of Christ walking the dusty roads, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and exhorting his disciples, “tell no man.” He never sought the glory of men. Yet, the stories of Christ needed to be recorded, shared and spread throughout the earth. But only a few. As John said, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books which should be written.” John 21:25


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