Facebook Ward website

[ldsmember]

I was just wondering if is ok to create a ward website on facebook

[Wingnut]

According to the letter of the law, no.

Official Church Internet Resources

The Church provides a number of official Web sites and other Internet resources for general use. These sites and resources are clearly identified as official either by the use of the Church logo or in some other way. They also comply with legal requirements and the Church’s intellectual property and privacy policies.

Stake and ward Web sites may be created only by using the official Church Internet resources. Stakes and wards are not authorized to create other Web sites or blogs or otherwise have a Church-sponsored presence on the Internet.

(CHI 21.1.22)

I'm the YW president in my ward. This week, I created a page for the YW in my ward. We still use the official ward calendar for scheduling and official notifications. We still hand the girls a hard copy of a newsletter/calendar each month. But for youth, email or a phone call (or expecting them to remember what's coming next) is a less effective means of communication. Facebook and texting are much more effective.

But technically, we are not allowed to.

[ldsmember]

I also work with the youth. But with the YM. and they all have facebook. I do not have an account of my own. But I was thinking of creating on to post pictures of their activities and other announcements. Also, I feel that they will be more open to communication if they see one of their leaders interacting with them thru facebook.

[Jenamarie]

Someone (I'm not sure who yet) created one for my ward. I was okay with it until the group started "liking" Glenn Beck, Mitt Romney, and other political and social organizations who's "ties" with the church are only through their membership (and some with NO church ties, like Fox News). They're all right-wing as well. Harry Reid and other LDS Democrats haven't been "liked" yet. It makes me uncomfortable that the group is being used in such a way. The Relief Society emblem is the group's profile picture as well, which gives it a sort of "church sponsered" feel.

[Wingnut]

I also work with the youth. But with the YM. and they all have facebook. I do not have an account of my own. But I was thinking of creating on to post pictures of their activities and other announcements. Also, I feel that they will be more open to communication if they see one of their leaders interacting with them thru facebook.

So here are some of the youth protection measures we've put in place. I scan the printout of the newsletter each month so that it's a .jpg and can be uploaded as a photo. However, we print a YW spotlight below the calendar, so I cut that off of the scan. We upload flyers each week for activities, and tag the youth in them, which sends each person a notification. That way we know that they see it. But if there's a real photo, we don't actually tag them, for safety reasons. If they want to tag themselves, that's up to them. We also have invited parents of the youth to participate in the page as well, so that they remain in the loop. The stake YW president was one of the first people to like the page, as a matter of fact. Myself, my two counselors, and my secretary are all admins of the page, so we all have access to post to it and moderate it.

On top of all of this, as I said before, this will in no way supplant the ward calendar, BYC, or face-to-face weekly communication with the young women. It is meant only to enhance it.

[ldsmember]

Thanks.

[MarginOfError]

I also work with the youth. But with the YM. and they all have facebook. I do not have an account of my own.

I initially began using Facebook regularly in order to be able to have that avenue of communication with my boy scout troop. For some of our boys, it's the only way to get a message to them.

But I was thinking of creating on to post pictures of their activities and other announcements.

Be careful with pictures, especially with the younger boys. You want to maintain a certain level of privacy for them, so as was mentioned above, any pictures should not be tagged. As a general rule, we don't post many pictures from our scout trips on facebook. We post them to Picasa instead.

Also, I feel that they will be more open to communication if they see one of their leaders interacting with them thru facebook.

This hasn't been my experience, but I have had some of my boys use it to reach me when they have a message for me. Most recently, a boy requested to begin Family Life merit badge. My only caution would be that any and all communications be public. As much as possible, communicate over things that go on the news feed. If you must send a private message, copy another leader on it, or the boy's parents.

Some ideas given earlier are really good suggestions. Particularly about including parents in groups, or directing them to the page. And above all, it cannot replace the entries on the official ward calendar. That is where the other ward members should be able to see what activities and events are planned so that things across the ward can be planned.

If you haven't already done it, I recommend you take the Youth Protection training at myscouting.org. Even if you're not a scout leader, it has a lot of principles about things you can do to make sure that your youth and your reputation are safe.