The Internet has given religion what no other medium has: a globalized dimension to the world. It is truly the universal source of information. We now live in a world of cyberspace: online breaking news, podcasts and RSS feeds, blogs and wikis, hand-helds and text messaging, video sharing sites such as YouTube and social networks like Facebook; all such tools and devices have been coined as ‘New Media.’ Terry Flew, Associate Professor of Media and Communication at the Queensland University of Technology, has done extensive research in this area and describes ‘New Media’ as capturing “both the development of unique forms of digital media, and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and adapt to the new media technologies” (Flew, 11). Combined with ‘New Media’ or more likely, because of it, the internet has grown at unbelievable rates, multiplying in size of over 265% since 2000. In December 2007, it was estimated that 1.3 billion people use the internet. That is 20% of the human population (internetworldstats.com).
The internet and media alike has always been a two-edged sword for the LDS Church; there is much that cultivates understanding and is very informative, but there is just as much, if not more negativity. This has always stood as a barrier for Mormonism in cyberspace: misinformation. With ever increasing amounts of people accessing the internet, what is the LDS Church doing to counter this literal attack on its values, doctrines, beliefs, and standards?
In a recent discourse given by a member of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second highest governing body of the LDS Church, Elder M. Russell Ballard, at the BYU-Hawaii Graduation Ceremony, urged all his fellow saints to use “New Media” as a means of supporting the work of the LDS Church. He said that God has influenced people to invent tools that assist in spreading the gospel. He also said that “the [LDS] Church has adopted and embraced those tools, including print, broadcast media, and now the Internet.” They have their course and goals well defined. “The emergence of New Media is facilitating a world-wide conversation on almost every subject including religion, and nearly everyone can participate,” Ballard said. He also pushed for participation in this worldwide conversation:
"That word ‘conversation’ is important. There are conversations going on about the [LDS] Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the [LDS] Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the [LDS] Church are established one conversation at a time.”
This comes in response to the many negative and disrespectful ‘conversations’ ensuing on the internet about the LDS Church. It couldn’t have come at a better time in its history, receiving more attention from the news media and on the Internet than it ever has before. These once unnoticed ‘conversations’ have started to define the LDS Church without much input from the Mormons themselves. Ballard’s discourse proves that the worldwide conversation of the LDS Church has reached the point where the LDS Leadership has asked its members to intervene. Or rather, they have been asked to contribute because it will continue on with or without them. Misinformation and misunderstanding are two key hindrances to any organization and the LDS Church is no exception. Ballard went on to tell them to not be afraid of sharing your experiences as Mormons and Christians and that sharing them can help “demystify the church.” This is why this discourse was intended to be more than just a simple encouragement to stick up for themselves and their beliefs; it is a groundbreaking initiative, on part of the LDS Church to bring itself out of obscurity and cultivate understanding of an often misunderstood religion. The only way of effectively achieving that is through reaching the masses. As stated, the use of New Media is the means by which the masses can be reached.
This two-edged sword called New Media is increasingly being used by the LDS Church to turn the tides. Because of their newfound interest in New Media, most especially YouTube, they are paving the way for increased acceptance and understanding. The video sharing website YouTube.com, just celebrated its third birthday in February and continues to grow at phenomenal rates. YouTube allows anyone to upload their own personal videos. The audience is the world and most importantly: it’s free. In fact, YouTube does not make any profits (Yen). This is what drives much of the New Media. In an article by PCWorld in March 2008, Brian Cusack, a YouTube sales team manager said that every day, hundreds of thousands of clips are uploaded and hundreds of millions are viewed. Every month, the site has about 68.5 million unique visitors and 3.7 billion page views. Users spend an average of 54 minutes on the site monthly. And for those that think just college students use YouTube: Cusack said that visitors are spread out fairly evenly among all age groups (PCWorld). The LDS Church is just starting to get its reigns on this media.
Directly before Ballard’s discourse, the LDS Church’s Public Affairs Department, posted eight short dissertations by Ballard, each about one minute long. They focus on simple doctrines. They are much in response to worldwide conversations that have been taking place. Each video’s subject matter is posed in the form of a question as the video title. They have the raw YouTube feel but with much more elegance than usual. The first of which, called “Are Mormons Christians?” shows Ballard sitting in a brown leather chair with a black background speaking shortly of the simple fact that Jesus Christ is the focal point of the LDS Church and that Mormons truly are Christians. This video received an amazing 33,000 views and rising. Others include, “Why Do People Say Mormonism is a Cult?”, “How Do Mormons Differ From Other Christians?”, “How Are Mormon Beliefs Simliar to Other Christians?”, “Does the Church Support Political Candidates?”, “Is There Scientific Proof Authenticating The Book of Mormon?”, “Do Mormons Worship Jesus?”, and “Are Prophets Necessary Today?”. In addition to the eight Ballard videos, six one-minute commercial segments, entitled “Truth Restored” were posted not too long after. Shot in black and white, they have a raw yet elegant feel to them as well, They are regular Mormons converts who are talk shortly about their beliefs in certain topics such as: Conversion, Family, Marriage, and Heaven. Since Ballard’s discourse, more than twenty videos were uploaded by the Public Affairs Department. In terms of length, they range from 18 seconds to 10 minutes. The longest of which, entitled “Mormon Myths and Reality” has received almost 16,000 views. The most recent video, post three days ago, called “Mormon Leader Appeals to Media, to Make Polygamy Distiction”. This has already received almost 3,000 views. There It isn’t just the Mormon Church posting informative material about itself, the members themselves have been posting videos as well. The YouTube username lds9999 has almost 200 Mormon Videos posted, one of which has almost 100,000 views. All of lds9999’s videos have received almost a half-million views. As important as that is, the more interesting thing about these videos is not the content or view count, it is the dates in which they were posted. Username lds9999 joined YouTube 3 months ago, directly after Ballard’s speech. It seems, Ballard’s message really is catching on and affecting hundreds of thousands.
The LDS Church is on track in bringing itself out of obscurity. Whether they be Mormon Parodies or discourses on its doctrines, the Mormons have proven themselves as nothing other than good human beings. So what’s next for the LDS Church and new media? That answer may best be found at MormonWebTV.com.
Ballard, M. Russell. “Using New Media to Support the Work of the Church”. Brigham Young University-Hawaii’s graduation ceremony, 15 December 2007.
Flew, Terry (2002) New Media: an Introduction, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, pg.11
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143074-c,onlineentertainment/article.html
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Yen, Yi-Wyn. “YouTube looks for the money clip.” CNN Money.com. March 25, 2008.
