Our Church leadership is on the right track in its emphasis and effort to fully embrace new media. It’s an exciting time. But in some ways it still needs a significant nudge in that right direction. And that nudge is this:
Even though the Vatican, some bishops and many priests have started using new media technologies, most all of them are still using them in a “Web 1.0” world. They need to upgrade to Web 2.0. The difference between these two vague, technical sounding terms is significant.
To sum it up, Web 1.0 is simply the traditional use of the internet. It was largely a one-way mass communication tool. Web 2.0 is about interaction. The web became social. It became personal. It became as much about listening as it did about speaking. Less lectures, more conversation.
Web 1.0 was the 10 Commandments. Web 2.0 is the meal with the sinners. Both are important.
Even the Pope’s new media site Pope2You.net reflects this point. It’s got the “Pope-2-you” working (very, very important and they did an impressive job!). But what about “you-2-Pope”? The pope has personal audiences with regular people in real life all the time. How cool would it be for them to work out a way to do that very same thing using new media technology? How many more people could have that same opportunity. And how many more people could the pope get to listen and relate to?
As much of a challenge that may seem to be for the pope, it’s inevitably coming. And how much more practical would it be for your bishop, or your priest, to do right now? More and more business leaders are using new media to interact and build relationships with their employees. Why can’t Church leadership do the same?
For example, how neat would it be if your bishop (or the pope) had an online chat session with some of the laity once a week? Or if your bishop used his Facebook profile to leave a comment on your status one day?
Let’s face it, any good relationship involves two sides. And any effective leader does a lot more listening and responding than they do commanding and instructing. In a Web 2.0 world, the days of only participating in one side of the conversation online are dwindling fast. Our leaders must continue to adapt to that. I have great confidence that they will…and it’s gonna be really, really cool when they do.
And who knows, maybe one day the pope will surf on by my blog and leave a comment.
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Agreed! I know from my priest friends that Facebook has been a good way to interact with their parishioners and friends (minus receiving the annoying invites to join Farmville). Perhaps the Pope, priests and bishops should join TweetCatholic, I know I would follow them!
God = I believe in Miracles so that anything in today’s Internet world could happen, even the Pope visiting your site.
Hi Mathew,
This all sounds well and good except that I feel that you are asking for more then the Pope would ever be able to accomplish being he has his hands pretty full already, being the guide and guardian of the Universal Catholic Church (a lot of time consumming responsibility, to say the least). But God, in his wisdom has given him many eyes, hands and voice through the very structure and hierarchy of His Church. Programs like EWTN, et al are a wonderful part of his plan to help give sound bites of His wisdom (interactive and otherwise). We need to be thankful for what God has given us and not demanding more then He has decided is right. Doesn’t it seem that if the Pope and bishops get so caught up in the interactive movement, it could cause them to be spread so incredibly thin that it could cause a weakening of the very structure and guardianship of The very Church he is there to protect? Let’s not forget to let go and let God.
God bless your Lent!!!
Carol - I didn’t mean to demand anything. Just encouraging. You make some good points in terms of how practical this may or may not be. But you are really making my point for me.
First, the Pope has audiences with small groups of Catholics all the time. Individuals even. He has mass with them. He chats with them. He talks with them. He listens to them. Every good leader does this because they need to truly know who they are leading.
With new technologies, he can do this MORE effectively and with LESS time perhaps. It is precisely because the Pope is so busy that these new technologies have that much more potential for him and the Church. Used correctly they could save him time while influencing more people.
It’s not a matter of spending more time on something new. It’s a matter of doing what he is already doing more efficiently and effectively.
And while the Pope “commenting on my blog” is mostly in jest and to make a point, it’s not a crazy idea at all. And even if these ideas were a bit impractical for the Pope for some reason, they certainly seem very realistic for our bishops and pastors.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Matthew, I agree with your point about 1-way communication. I recently was emailed by a man whose Catholic lay group is doing very important things that I totally agree with. He asked why I dropped out of his group. Basically I told him I want 2-way communications! The same applies to a famous priest blogger, I don’t follow him any more because he never responds to questions from people who read his blog posts.
I love these ideas I’m reading from Matthew. How about the Pope hearing confessions and giving absolution to sinners (especially some of his bishops) via Facebook? Of course, with all the safeguards in place to prevent Pope Benedict’s “confessional” from being turned into an open forum for all the penitent’s friends, LOL LOL.
That gives me an idea for a comedy skit for HBO!!! LOL
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