Pope Benedict initiating Vatican’s use of Social Media:
Pope Benedict XVI was said to be the leading activist for the Catholic Church’s presence on social media. Prior to the Pope’s endorsement, the Church did not utilize (to a recognizable extent) social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. Pope Benedict, at the time 85 years old, saw the potential use value in the growing medium. Every year the Vatican holds a World Communications Day in which the Pope gives a speech about the importance of communication in the daily lives of Christians.
Religion aside, Pope Benedict had some profound thoughts on the potential usage for social media. At the 45th World Communications Day, he pointed out how social media and social networking is shaping the lives of millennials (people born after 1982). Essentially, social networking is a place where relationships are not dependent on physical space or conventional time. Ideas, philosophies, and passions can be shared and relationships are built in spite of physical distance. He acknowledges how young people seek entertainment, answers to questions, and intellectual stimulation through the Internet. Although the Pope is providing a reasonable analysis of social media, he also points out that “it is important always to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives”.
At the 47th World Communications Day, Pope Benedict delivered another speech with a similar message. A notable point to make in discussing his speeches is the idea of authenticity. In both speeches he discusses authenticity in terms of the presentation of the self and the messages received. He sees it as an important issue that everyone, the Church included, be authentic, true, and realize that social media is a tool for expanding communication as opposed to hiding behind a virtual wall. Both speeches are extremely interesting and profound in the analysis. The links for both are provided in works cited.
Since the Church is taking a new approach in reshaping its contemporary image through the use of social media, many people are talking about the Pope’s presence in social media as a good thing. According to a Huffington Post article, Claudio Celli, the lead communications officer for the Vatican, said “that the ‘millennial generation’… use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube far more than their parents as primary sources of information, entertainment and sharing political views and community issues”. Since this is the case, the article also cited a statement from Benedict’s World Communication Day address saying,
The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the young…Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the dynamics of communication which builds relationships: a considered understanding of this environment is therefore the prerequisite for a significant presence there.
This is part of the Pope’s rationality for directing the Church towards a more accessible presence. The Internet and social media are new public squares where people can express ideas, opinions and spiritual stories. The Pope’s advocacy and usage of social media made bigger news when Pope Francis became the new Pope.
Pope Francis and his controversial interview:
On September 20th, Pope Francis granted an interview with the Italian Jesuit magazine “La Civilta Cattolica”. The interview was also published in another 16 magazines around the world. The lengthy interview contained several unexpected quotes from Francis that lead to a flurry of social media activity. Headlines such as “Pope Says Church is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control,” (New York Times) “Blunt pontiff tells flock to quit yammering about gay marriage, abortion, and contraceptives” (New York Daily News), and “Pope Francis: Leave Gays Alone” (CNN), flooded the internet and fueled impassioned responses from both liberals and conservatives via twitter. Publications such as the Huffington Post credit the pope with being open and candid, unlike popes in the past.
In his interview with “La Civilta Cattolica”, the pope spoke of his own shortcomings and identified himself a “sinner”. He described the fear he had in his younger years of being seen as ultraconservative because of his tendency to make decisions quickly. When not speaking of himself, Pope Francis’ interview largely focused on the path he believes will be best for the modern day Catholic Church. He emphasized the importance of attending to the individual rather than solely focusing on the transmission of the church’s moral doctrines. Francis advocates “healing wounds and warming hearts” He believes that this is the way to best improve the Catholic community. However, by stating that he would rather focus on healing than on the traditional and controversial topics of homosexuality and contraception, many interpreted his interview as incredibly progressive and liberal. The Catholic Church immediately addressed these interpretations and assured the publics that Pope Francis’ quotes had been taken out of context. For a obviously biased yet telling recount of the Catholic Church’s damage control, check out this article: http://www.theonion.com/articles/vatican-quickly-performs-damage-control-on-popes-t,33292/
As demonstrated by the article in The Onion, the Pope’s nontraditional and seemingly liberal comments on the church’s views on homosexuals and contraception received a lot of attention via social media. Here are some examples of tweets:
From actress Jane Fonda; “Gotta love new Pope. He cares about poor, hates dogma. Unlike US Congress. Cutting $40bil from food stamps”.
From Slate columnist Matthew Yglesias, “liked a lot of this new Pope’s ideas, but still have serious doubts about the part where Jesus dies for my sins and rises again”.
The National Catholic Review complied a series of reactions to the pope’s interview here if you would like to read more: http://americamagazine.org/issue/articles/francis-%E2%80%98america%E2%80%99
Despite all of the debate and ongoing analysis, something that both the liberals and conservatives agree on is that Pope Francis is in position to significantly alter the Catholic Church.
Discussion Questions:
1. How does the recent presence of the Catholic Church in Social Media affect its “brand”?
2. Is their current position effective in gaining new followers and in regenerating the faithful?
3. What PR model would you apply in handling Pope Francis’s statements?
Works Cited:
Allen, Charlotte. “Misreading Pope Francis.” Los Angeles Times. 29 Sept. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.
America: The National Catholic Review. “Francis in ‘America’.” 12 Oct. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.
Hitchen, Philippa. “Pope Francis gives personal interview to Jesuit magazines.” Vatican Radio. 19 Sept. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.
Huffington Post. “Pope Francis: Gays, Abortion Too Much of Catholic Church’s Obsession.” 19 Sept. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.
The Onion. “Vatican Quickly Performs Damage Control On Pope’s Tolerant Remarks.” 29 Jul. 2013. Web 20 Oct 2013.
Vatican Information Service. “Interview with Pope Francis in Jesuit Magazines.” 20 Sept. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.
Huffington Post. “Pope Benedict On Social Networking: The Virtual is Real.” 24 Jan. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/pope-on-social-networking_n_2540887.html
Time Magazine. “Social Media Okayed by Pope.” 25 Jan. 2012. Web 20 Oct. 2013
Catholic Culture. “Pope Benedict Calls for Strong Christian presence in Social Media.” 24 Jan. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013
(Question 1&2):
ReplyDeleteWell, any Pope with Jane Fonda's endorsement is a Pope I can get behind. Love her! But seriously, the Catholic church has been a church in both transition and serious danger. Prior to Pope Francis, it felt as if church leadership and the general Catholic public may as well been of different religious affiliations entirely. Benedict XVI was said to have "radically" suggested that condom use was okay in certain circumstances where the risk of HIV infection was high. Still, his statement was laced with moral judgement, he opposed the use of birth control, and took hardliner stances on reproductive rights. Meanwhile, members of his church had moved on. Support for not just birth control but also abortion was steadily on the rise among Catholics. In fact, as of this year, polls have found that over half of all Catholic-identified people in the United States support a woman's right to choose (Dasteel, "Fifty Percent of Catholics Support Abortion").* Homosexuality and marriage equality had also begun to cause rifts in the Catholic community, especially among the younger Catholics. While Benedict XVI was opposed to same-sex marriage, as many as 72% of Catholics voiced their support in recognizing LGBTQ families (Manson, "Why Do So Many Catholics Support Marriage Equality?").
Pope Francis may just be the church's saving grace. In a time when such divides hold so strongly and controversy has reigned supreme, the church has lost a significant amount of members- with most of those members being under the age of 24- the young people on whom the church so relies for a future. In fact, four out of five Catholics who leave the church do so before the age of 24, according to the Pew Forum. Many do so because of the church's antiquated stances on social issues, and with the new Pope taking less conservative positions on such issues, and doing so quite vocally using the younger generation's own means of communication- social media, we could just see a shift in these numbers.
(Question 3:)
The model the Pope and his social media cohorts are using does increase dialogue, but remains pretty "Two-Way Asymmetrical," as the goal is still advocacy of the church above all else. That's not to say the Pope isn't engaging fully in communication with his publics. Still, maybe the Pope could do some studying of Excellence Theory, and embrace a little bit more symmetry in his outreach.
References:
Dasteel, Johanna. "50 Percent of All Catholics Support Abortion in ‘all or Most Cases’." LifeSiteNews. N.p., 25 July 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. .
Manson, Jamie. "Why Do so Many Catholics Support Marriage Equality? Blame the Catholic Imagination." National Catholic Reporter. N.p., 08 Oct. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. .
Morrow, Eric, and Angela Wong. "As Pope Retires, Catholic Church Struggles to Retain Young People." College Park Patch. N.p., 01 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. .
Thompson, Damian. "Pope Benedict's Extraordinary Comments about Condoms and HIV Reflect His Charity and Common Sense." The Telegraph. N.p., 20 Nov. 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. .
*Citation does not constitute an endorsement of the website used and the information and opinions therein.
1. I believe that the Catholic Church’s new presence on social media will have a positive effect on the brand. As Pope Benedict stated at the 45th World Communications Day, if you want to stay relevant with the young people of the world, you need to know how to communicate with them and effectively get your message across. Using Twitter and other social media outlets allows the church to reach this new audience who, otherwise, would probably not give much of their attention to the subject. Having a presence on social media shows that they are changing with the times and not just some religion from the dark ages that is no longer relevant.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is important to point out that it isn’t just social media that is helping the brand. Pope Francis is helping the brand. A business (and let’s be honest, the Catholic Church is a business) can have a social presence and not see any benefits from it. What matters in social media is the ability to engage and influence the public. Pope Benedict may have initiated the Vatican’s use of social media, but Pop Francis is taking it to a whole new level. His Twitter account has risen to over five million followers and his tweets are “re-tweeted” an average of 22,000 times. He has put news.va on Facebook and has even run a promotion on the site offering “indulgences” for followers on their social media sites. (I had to look this up, since I was not raised religious. Basically, you get time off in purgatory for “liking” and following the Catholic Church on social media. Score!).
2. I absolutely agree that their current position will help the Catholic Church gain new followers and renew the faith of those who may have left in the past. On average, there are 22,000 re-tweets for every short message the Pope sends out and they tend to gain the attention of social marketers and cause campaigners. This kind of engagement, reaching a wide audience of influencers, is what leads to change.
3. The Catholic Church is using a two-way, asymmetrical PR model because, while they are getting feedback from their publics, they are serving the interests of the Catholic Church. They can use social media to understand who is active on their sites, what draws the most attention and break down what is working and what is not, but the ultimate goal is to get more devotees to the Catholic religion. They are actively listening to their audience, but prefer to change the publics’ attitudes rather than change themselves.
I forgot to list my reference!
Deletehttp://www.forbes.com/sites/tomwatson/2013/09/16/pope-francis-the-social-media-star-peace-love-and-a-new-understanding/
Hi Marlo,
DeleteThank you for your insightful response! I agree with you that the Pope on social media is working to strengthen the Church's "brand". I also concur that it is Pope Francis himself that is changing the image of the Catholic Church. This isn't the most reliable source, but it is a great example of the Pope on SM. http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/boy-wanders-onto-stage-to-hang-out-with-pope-francis
As you can see in this short BuzzFeed article, SM is serving the Pope in more outlets than just Twitter. The immediacy and transparency of social media allows the pope to seem more relate-able and human.
The “brand” of the church has definitely changed and is now more focused on inclusivity. The church is trying to portray itself as being open to new and changing ideals, and showing that it’s breaking from its past tendencies to judge and ostracize people who don’t conform to a specific image. This does allow for the church to grow and maintain its prominence within the world religious order.
ReplyDeleteThe upsurge of Social Media usage by the Catholic Church, and most notably by the Pope, does allow for greater communication between the church and its followers, but does it necessarily mean that the publics he is trying to reach are getting the right message? In a recent Daily Beast article it was mentioned that ahead of Pope Francis’ trip to Brazil to celebrate Catholic World Youth Day, the Vatican announced that people who followed the Pope’s Twitter account would receive “indulgences.” Indulgences “reduce the amount of time they have to spend in purgatory after death and before heading off to heaven.” This doesn’t seem like a good campaign for the Catholic Church. I doubt hardliners, and especially the older members of the church, would find it appropriate to make light of doctrines of the church.
I agree that the PR model that is being used here is asymmetrical, but I want to add that they are making use of the cognitive dissonance theory. The Pope’s comments and statements are making it very hard for people to maintain the stance that the church is no longer relevant or doesn’t represent the current public opinions, and therefore people have to look at what their criticisms of the Catholic Church are, or were, and if they can still be upheld to scrutiny.
Krauss, Lawrence M. “A Tweeting Pope Raises Questions About Social Media’s Effect on Church.” The Daily Beast. N.p., 11 Sep. 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
I have to agree with you regarding the "indulgences" piece of the campaign. I get the feeling that the audience the Church is trying to reach will back away from any communication with the Church, as now the are religious implications for doing so. If a Catholic "follower" says something bad about the Church, are they damned to hell? Do zealots take to social media in the hopes that they will be allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven? By adding the "indulgences" factor as a reason to follow the Pope, doesn't it seem slightly threatening? People should follow the Pope in order to bring themselves closer to the message he is trying to spread, not because there is a chance they can spend less time in purgatory.TO me, this sounds like a ditch-effort to gain followers and increase the internet worth of the Church.
DeleteI believe that the Church being on social media is a good thing, but do not try to garner followers by adding "prizes" for doing so.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/07/17/catholic-church-promises-time-off-purgatory-to-twitter-followers/
In a recent trip to a Brazilian slum, Pope Francis drew out nearly three million people, a large percentage of whom were from younger generations. And despite so many of the Catholic populace, as Kristen pointed out earlier, disagree with the Churches over-all stances on modern issues such as birth control and abortion, Francis' presence has been attracting what some call "Cafeteria Catholics" as well as some non-believers (Thompson).
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think if the church had started launching as great of a calculated Social Media campaign under previous Popes, I don't think they would be getting as much of a following as they have been recently. I think Pope Francis and his progressive ideals are what is attracting attention and driving the influx of Social Media as he "decontaminates the Catholic brand" (Thompson). I think social media has been a huge tool for him to reach younger audiences, but I think the brand of the Catholic Church would be getting serious attention without it's use just based on the television and print interviews and coverage he's been having. So as helpful as Social Media is, I think the "brand" is more affected by the Pope himself.
And yes, I think this overall is what the church needs in regards to attracting new followers and rebuilding relationships with those that had drifted away. The largest demographic of potential successful converts are reaching out to those that grew up in the church but stopped coming, most of whom departed because they had more progressive and modern ideals that didn't align with the stuffy, outdated notions. I think the church would find it beneficial and successful to embrace Francis' tactics and stances as it not only regains support from their lost faith community, but has also shown to increase its credibility among non-believers who are more eager to follow and listen to what the Pope and Church have to say on different social issues.
I could see the Elaboration Likelihood Model being an effective strategy in regards to regaining the churches lost faith community. They already know the demographics and many polls show the statistics of many of these constituencies, so they know the behavior and attitudes they would need to appeal to. Although this is a model for behavior and attitude change, they would need to show that the church has changed its behaviors and attitudes to achieve the ultimate behavior-changing goal in regaining members and building the faith community.
Source cited:
Thompson, Damian. "Has Pope Francis Decontaminated the Catholic Brand?" July 29, 2013. The Telegraph. Web. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100228472/has-pope-francis-decontaminated-the-catholic-brand/ October 24, 2013.
1. How does the recent presence of the Catholic Church in Social Media affect its “brand”?
ReplyDeleteThe Catholic Church's presence on social media does wonders for its attempts to reach millennials and appear more "friendly." The church's use of social media allows them to reach an audience that is arguably not as engaged in church-going as their parents and grandparents were. With benefits also come possible drawbacks, however. The Church is still writing through the sexual abuse scandal that continues to rock the Church. In recent times, we have seen corporations become embroiled in scandal on social media following controversial actions taken by its employees. Chick-fil-a is a prime example of a successful company losing the PR battle on the internet. On the flip-side however, social media allows for the Church to get ahead of scandals by addressing them before traditional media does.
2. Is their current position effective in gaining new followers and in regenerating the faithful?
I do not believe that social media efforts are regenerating the faithful. While gaining new followers might look good on a computer screen and increase the online brand value of the Church, Catholic leadership needs to do more thank just appear "hip" to regenerate the younger audience. Pope Francis' progressive attitudes toward same-sex marriage and abortion are good starts, but since the Church's traditions and laws run deep, the Pope's words are merely just that. To regain its audience, the Church needs to act on what their audience wants. The Church has enormous power to enact social and political change. Social Media would be a helpful vehicle in promoting it.
3. What PR model would you apply in handling Pope Francis’s statements?
The two-way, asymmetrical model would be suited best here. The Catholic religion encompasses the largest membership of any other religion. With that, Catholics have a resounding voice in the religious community. As I mentioned before, the Church is deeply entrenched in its history and tradition. It would, however, heed the words from its followers. While the Church is acting in its own interest, it also must cater and listen to its followers. Listening on social media via Facebook, blogs and Twitter will help the Church better understand what the masses want.
Source:
Rodriguez, Gabriel. "Pope Francis Twitter: Can Social Media Help the Catholic Church With Its Millennial Problem?" PolicyMic. N.p., 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
1. How does the recent presence of the Catholic Church in Social Media affect its “brand”?
ReplyDeleteI think that the presence of the Catholic Church in Social Media elevates its brand. For the past couple decades, the Church has not evolved with the times, and while I recognize that importance of that in many aspects, I think it was being left behind in some ways.
If there was ever a group that could benefit from a little more transparency, especially in recent history, it’s the Catholic Church. Being available and engaged with the conversation in social media gives the Church a much more relatable, approachable image, which I think people are more willing to connect with and accept perspectives from now.
2. Is their current position effective in gaining new followers and in regenerating the faithful?
Like any highly polarized topic, religion will always have its die hard followers and those individuals who don’t believe in any of it. That said, I think the current social media strategy being utilized by the Church is extremely effective in engaging, gaining and regenerating enthusiasm of followers. Those ultra-conservatives in the faith no doubt are not a fan of the progressive Pope and the new ways he is embracing modern times, but I believe most people appreciate this fresh perspective. The proof is in the pudding. Just today, it was announced that the Pope has acquired over 10 million followers on Twitter. (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/27/pope-francis-twitter-followers-vatican-10m)
3. What PR model would you apply in handling Pope Francis’s statements?
I agree with Jennifer about the utilization of the cognitive dissonance theory here. Religion is a topic riddled with dissonance for so many people. The communication approach is effectively showing that the old perspective of the Catholic Church is under transformation, winning over many people who have been on the fence, wondering if religions like Catholicism would ever evolve with modern times.
I also agree with all the sentiments of this being a two-way asymmetrical model of communication, since they are using a medium that allows their publics to give feedback. Still, they are more so involved with and interested in pushing out information and shaping attitudes, dominating the conversation.
Reference: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/27/pope-francis-twitter-followers-vatican-10m
Hi Ashley,
DeleteI agree with you and Jennifer about the use of Cognitive Dissonance theory in this situation. I think that having the Pope on Social Media is definitely an effective way of confronting the current stereotypes of the Catholic Church. Along with Cognitive Dissonance, I also think that the Elaboration Likelihood Model could be of use to the Catholic Church. The Pope's followers on Twitter are most likely already invested in the church in some way, and information that he posts on his news feed could stimulate those with a high need for cognition. By providing the pope's followers with tweets that allow them to elaborate, the Catholic Church is fostering a more interactive community.