Transcript The Peril and Promise of the Internet Within Mormonism

The Peril and Promise of the
Internet Within Mormonism
John Dehlin
10 Things I Learned This Year on the
Mormon Internet
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Explosion of digital, online LDS content
Identity matters
Privacy is dead. Get over it.
Moderation wins over “open dialogue”
The challenge of blogging: The desperate need for
ratings
6. More “bad” vs. More “good”
7. The old paradigm: Apologists vs. Anti’s
The new paradigm?: Rainmakers vs. Rained Upon
8. Audio/podcasts: Knocking on the door of the “new
generation”
9. Video/mashups: Kicking the door down
10. Social software
11. The silent suffering
Explosion of Digital, Online
LDS content
Did you know that you can get the following
stuff TODAY online for FREE?
• Official Church-sponsored content
– All the hymns and primary songs both in MP3 format,
and printable (sheet music)?
– Complete PDF and HTML versions of all tlhe
scriptures, manuals, and church magazines from
1972 forward?
• All of the above in mp3 format for listening?
• Much of the above in Spanish and French, and soon to be in
12 more lanugages?
• Tons of stuff for Palm or PocketPC devices
– A redesign of lds.org, which includes a “special
topics” section
– Past and current Conferences in video and audio
format (lds.org and BYU Broadcasting)
Did you know that you can get the following
stuff TODAY online for FREE?
• Unofficial LDS-related content
– Past issues of Dialogue and Sunstone online
– Past Sunstone symposium presentations in MP3
format
– MHA and BYU Studies journals online, MHA in MP3
– Past Utah newspapers online (dating back to the19th
century)
– Updated Mormon Studies and Mormon History
databases from BYU
– The entire Journal of Discourses
– The entire LDS temple ceremony (past and present)
in both text and audio formats
And most importantly…..
Episodes from the
Classic Tom Trails
Seminary filmstrip!!!!!!
Identity Matters
Why does identity matter?
• Allows reputation to be a potential asset
for increasing quality of contribution
• Lets readers quickly decide who to pay
attention to, and who to ignore
• Personalizes the conversation
• Provides the building blocks of
relationships and community
Identity Matters
• True in both forums and blogs
– Some use real names: Dan Peterson, Lou
Midgley, Nate Oman, Kaimi Wenger, Tal
Bachman, Bob McCue, Mike Norton
– Some use “aliases”: RoastedTomatoes,
SerenityValley, WattMahoun, Polygamy
Porter, Hyrum, Mental Gymnast
• Increasingly, many seem to be “coming
out” and revealing their real name
“Bannergate”: A case study in
the down side of aliases
• “Under the Banner of Heaven” blog formed, led
by a set of “real people” as permabloggers
• A healthy readership developed
• In-depth conversations and strong relationships
blossomed
• Very personal stories were shared that included
things like sexual struggles and miscarriages.
• It turned out that all of the main participants and
the shared stories were fake (in at least one
case a male assuming a female identity)
Privacy is Dead…Get Over It
Marie Osmond
Frappr Maps
Web Logs
Who knows me in Sioux City
Iowa?
Moderation wins over open
dialogue
FAIR
Times and Seasons
Ex-Mormon censoring
Mormon Stories
Blog aggregators
The Idealistic Values I Started With…
• Free expression
• Open and respectful dialogue
• Diverse points of view
• Honest, objective analysis of the facts
• Everyone’s comments are of equal value
• Tolerance
• Acceptance
• Marketplace of ideas
Correlation = Bad
My bursting onto the scene
• I wrote “John Dehlin’s Thoughtful Faith Mormon
Manifesto”
• Created my own blog and Podcast (Mormon
Stories)
• Started commenting on LDS Blogs
• Came in more with an agenda than to engage
on topic, and become part of the community
– Wanted to promote my manifesto
– Wanted to promote my blog and podcast
– Wanted to exhibit “leadership” on the Mormon internet
The Result?
• “Who the heck is John Dehlin, and who
does he think he is?”
• A bit of a tentative, if not cool reception
from LDS blogging notables
• Some of my comments held in the
moderation que (IP blocking?)
• A few isolated supporters among the
establishment
• Overall…..a resounding thud
So I go on an “Openness Jihad”
• Slam some of the big LDS blogs for
“censorship”
• Slam FAIR folks for not moderating their
site better
The Desperate Need for
Ratings
Life of a blog post
Threadjacking
Polar attacks
Digg & Slashdot
Angry at the Church: 3
Happy with the Church: 1
Podcasts
Web Site
Video
moregood
Stupidity of the Chasm
between “Apologist” and “Anti”
FAIRWiki
How do we build a bridge?
Audio is Great
Podcast review
Success of Mormon Stories
Video is Greater
Youtube, Google video
Digg experience w/ Godmakers
Video overview
Remix (Mormon Park, Joseph
Smith Superman)
Social software
Myspace and facebook
Warnings against it
ELGG
10 Interesting Dynamics
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Google Search
Blogging
Podcasting
Video
The growth
MySpace & Facebook
Podcast Reach
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•
•
•
•
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•
Mormons and Masons w/ Greg Kearney
New Order Mormons Pt. 1 (Ann)
Polygamy with Todd Compton Pt. 1
Kiddie Baps – My Mission Story in Guat.
Grant Palmer Pt. 4
Stages of Faith Pt. 3
Interview with FAIR
3,512
2,983
2,729
2,683
2,486
2,435
2,247
~2,500 downloads per episode on average
Unique Visitors
(35K in '06 from 109 Countries)
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Aug-05
Sep-05
Oct-05
Nov-05
Dec-05
Jan-06
Feb-06
Mar-06
Apr-06
May-06
Jun-06
Jul-06
Visits (700/day)
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Aug-05
Sep-05
Oct-05
Nov-05
Dec-05
Jan-06
Feb-06
Mar-06
Apr-06
May-06
Jun-06
Jul-06
Top 25 Web Sites Within Mormonism*
• Church Sponsored
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(1) lds.org
(2) byu.edu
(3) familysearch.org
(4) deseretbook
(5) mormon.org
(25) josephsmith.net
• Anti-Mormon
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–
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(6) exmormon.org
(9) lds-mormon.com
(13) irr.org
(14) 2think.org
(21) i4m.com
(22) utlm.org
(23) saintsalive.com
(24) richard packham
*Not counting dating sites
• Apologetic
– (10) jefflindsay.com
– (18) fairlds.org
• Blogs
– (7) timesandseasons.org
– (11) bycommonconsent.com
– (15) millennialstar.org
– (17) femmormonhousewvs.org
– (19) mormonstories.org
• Other
– (16) ldstoday.com
– (20) affirmation.org
– (8) Meridianmagazine.com
– (12) ldschurchtemples.com
The Long Tail
Google Video “Mormon”
Anti-Stuff
Google Video “Mormon”
Pro-Stuff
Google Video “Mormon”
Pro-Stuff
Youtube Video “Mormon”
Youtube Video “Mormon”
Youtube Video “Mormon”
Youtube Video “Mormon”
Youtube Video “Mormon”
Youtube Video “Mormon”
Youtube Video “Mormon”
Top Podcasts Within Mormonism*
• TBM
• Borderlands
– Mormon Stories
– Sunstone
– Sunstone Classic
– An Atheists’ Prayer
• Anti-Mormon
• Reproductions of GA
Talks
– LDS Voices
– BYU Classic
Speeches
– April 05 General
Conference
– This Mormon Life
– Mormon Mom-Cast
– MormonCast
– Mormon
Archipelago
– Mormon Truth!
– Thechurchisnottrue
– Catholicmormon
– Living Truth
– Mormon Musings
– Sons of perdition
• Apologetic?
Podcasts
Podcasts
Podcasts
Podcasts
Podcasts
Podcasts
Podcasts
Wiki Wars
• FAIR Wiki
• MormonWiki
• ZCLM Wiki
Backup
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http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fjmh
http://www.mhahome.org/pubs/journals_on_dvd.php
http://www.lib.byu.edu/spc/byustudies/
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I would also add the UU’s Newspaper digitization effort:
http://www.lib.utah.edu/digital/unews/
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The updating of the Mormonstudies data base:
http://mormonhistory.byu.edu/
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and Michael Hunter’s Mormon Studies page:
http://mormonstudies.byu.edu/
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I’ll try to pull together real numbers for the size of the community
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tomtrails
• – all the hymns and children’s songs in MP3, as well as in a format
where you can transpose and rearrange as you like, and then print
things out.
• – an online catalog where regular members can order things
• – .pdf and .html (or at least one of the two) full versions of all the
scriptures, all the scripture stories, all the current manuals, and the
Church magazines from 1972 forward. And .mp3 versions of all of
them. And all of the CES materials. And most of it’s in Spanish, a lot
of it’s in French, and more will be brought in for something like a
dozen languages within the next year.
• – the various special topics sites (the one for investigators, the one
for temples, the one for Joseph Smith…)
• Plus all the semi-official stuff from BYU and BYU Broadcasting.