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4 Ways for the Pope to Expand Beyond Twitter – and Reach More People with the Gospel

4 Ways for the Pope to Expand Beyond Twitter – and Reach More People with the Gospel

The Open Dept

Brantly Millegan - published on 10/09/13

Pope Francis is doing great on Twitter, but Twitter is just one of several major social networks and is not even the biggest. Here’s four other ways the Pope could reach more souls for Christ.

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A few weeks ago I was bold enough to offer four tips to improve the Twitter account of the most influential world leader on Twitter. But Twitter is just one part of the ever expanding social media world. Here are four ways Pope Francis – or any bishop – could greatly expand his influence on the new cyber continent and bring the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ to more people in the process.

1) Facebook Page

It’s great that the Pope is engaging with Twitter’s 200 million users…but there are over 1.1 billion active users on Facebook. So why isn’t the Pope on Facebook? Yes, there are several Facebook pages for various Vatican departments, but there’s no Facebook page for the Pope specifically. As was done with the Pope’s Twitter account, the Facebook page should be for the papacy in general, not for Pope Francis specifically, so the page can live on through the next papacy. This should be a no brainer, and one could be created by the Vatican tomorrow.

2) Instagram

It looks like News.va has an Instagram account now, but where’s the Pontifex account? There are over 100 million people on Instagram – the Pope can be there, too. As I’ve said before, the more candid the pictures/video are or the more of the “backstage” of the Vatican they can show, the better. How could this be accomplished? One way is that Pope Francis could simply hire someone whose job it would be to just follow him around with an iPhone, going most of the places he goes, and make updates on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.

3) Reddit “AMA”

Lots of celebrities, from US President Barack Obama to Madonna to David Copperfield have done reddit AMAs, which stands for “Ask Me Anything”. The idea is simple: someone of interest opens a thread on reddit, reddit users ask questions, and the person answers their questions. It’s a great way for a celebrity to connect with average people. For Pope Francis’ social media helpers, here’s an explanation of how to do one.

4) Google+ Hangouts on Air

Would Pope Francis ever consider hosting a Live Google Hangout? People from all around the world would be able to see him up close, ask him questions, and make a more personal connection. Seeing him in news reports or reading his homilies after the fact is great, but it can also be powerful to see him as a real person just having a conversation.

What did I miss? Let me know in the comments.

Tags:
Pope FrancisSocial Media
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