Consider Your Blog's Audiences

Missionaries who are blogging probably have these three audiences in mind when they write posts:

1. Family Members
2. Potential Investigators
3. Current Investigators 

I'll review each of these, then propose several more audiences that missionary bloggers should consider. Keeping these other groups of readers in mind should help missionaries create posts that are better targeted, more appropriate, and more effective.



Family Members
Let's face it, one's family is a built in audience, and an audience that's very likely to applaud anything a missionary posts. Hey, it's great to have cheerleaders on the home front, but if a blog is just a delivery mechanism for letters home (as so many unofficial LDS missionary blogs are), then the blog isn't really a tool for proselyting. Blogs can certainly be just for family and close friends, but missionary blogs shouldn't be. These men and women are set apart to reach out beyond their close acquaintances. Avoid writing posts as though you were writing letters home. This can exclude other important audiences. That means not referring to people or shared history that the rest of the world knows nothing about. It's great to talk about one's family, but it's less useful to talk directly to them within a missionary blog.

Potential Investigators
On the other hand, if a missionary blogger writes only in terms of reaching potential investigators, he or she can fall into the trap of writing an overly general and impersonal post, or posts that simply sound like they are parroting official LDS media outlets. This goes against the power of the personal from blogging. It is better not to write as though you are composing advertisements for a media campaign or a lesson for a church manual. In writing posts, avoid the general message for some vague potential audience. Instead, try to target more specific audiences, such as those listed below. 

Current Investigators
People who are already meeting with missionaries (and who are comfortable going online) may become more receptive if they follow the blogs of the missionaries who are teaching them. In-person meetings can be very formal; the New Media leverage the power of informality. People can feel acquainted or connected without any in-your-face pressure. The informal content that you create on your blog can humanize and personalize you, giving you points of connection and interest for current investigators. It will give you more to talk about when you next meet with them personally, and it may open up a new way for them to ask questions. Current investigators may ask questions or post comments on your blog about things they have been thinking about between your in-person meetings.

Another benefit for considering current investigators while blogging is that missionaries can prayerfully choose post topics that they believe might be of benefit to those investigators. They need not identify those investigators in the post, but could say something like "Recently we met with someone who asked us questions regarding Brigham Young. That got me thinking about how much I appreciate the second prophet of this dispensation and some of his unique contributions..." Such blogging might help the missionaries prepare themselves spiritually for their next in-person meetings with investigators, whether or not those investigators ever visit the blog. 

Other Audiences

Blogging missionaries should think about a few other audiences, too:

1. Other missionaries
   As missionaries read one another's blogs, they can get ideas for how to be better at what they do (online or in the field). Blogs are a great way to spread great ideas and enthusiasm among fellow missionaries (both within and outside of one's own mission).  So, write some posts with your proselyting brothers and sisters in mind -- like a post about how to conduct a great open house, how using family history has been a way of increasing interest in the Church, or how a certain missionary you witnessed used a great approach in teaching or testifying. It's even worthwhile to write posts about what didn't work.
   
2. Priesthood leaders
   Blogs can be a great way to document what you are doing so that one's mission president, zone leader, or district leader can have a running report of what you and your companion have been doing. (This is not the same as a personal letter to the mission president, however). Bishops and stake presidents from home might appreciate being able to follow more closely what the missionaries serving from their church units are doing. Blog posts can give them a concrete sense of how you are and the kinds of support you might need. So, think about that ward mission leader or High Priest Group Leader from home who might print out one of your blog posts and read it at a church meeting.
   
3. Church members
   Church members take real interest in what missionaries do, including members from your home church unit, as well as those from past or current units that you have been involved with in the field. Your posts can buoy their testimonies and increase their interest in and desire for missionary work. Consider writing blog posts in which you talk, appropriately, about good experiences you've had with members, particularly experiences where members have been constructively involved in missionary work.
   
4. Recent Converts
   People who have recently joined the Church are usually very enthusiastic and grateful to the missionaries who have helped them in their spiritual progress. Consider writing a blog post in which you feature a recent convert (be sure to get their permission before using their name or photo, however). But also, write posts that will strengthen newer members and give them courage as they learn a new lifestyle. Maybe write that "How to be a new member of the Church" post. You can also write posts giving new converts ideas about how they can spread the gospel, online or off.
   
5. People Browsing Common Interests
   A blog draws traffic based upon many factors, and missionaries should anticipate (and plan for) site visitors who have not come because their first interest is Mormonism. They may land on your blog because you mention a movie or singing group in your personal profile (as likely to be Michael Jackson as Michael McLean). Search engines like Google or Bing, or blog search engines like Technorati or Blog Pulse, perform a general index of all content, but their search algorithms also prioritize the titles of posts, links, and any tags or labels (since this is valuable metadata). What does this mean? It means that you might draw interest to your blog by connecting your missionary activities or religious beliefs to more general interests that people have. This is one reason it is important to fill out one's online profile and not to restrict one's list of interests only to church-related things. A post about "How Country Music Taught Me Family Values" is going to be more interesting than "Why Family Values Are Important." Missionaries must be careful not to get distracted by popular culture or secular things, of course. However, common interests can be bridges into the missionaries' lives and ultimately their spiritual messages. Consider writing that post about how little league is a metaphor for life, or why making Thai food makes you appreciate God's creation, or how your diabetes has made you respect and protect your body. People searching the web about little league, Thai food, or diabetes may not realize they are interested in Mormonism until your blog posts give them those connections.
   
6. People Searching Current Events
   It is especially likely that a missionary's blog will be found if they are related to current events. These can be local events in one's area or mission, but also national or international events. Of course, missionaries may want to avoid turning into commentators on politics or national events (that can prove divisive or distracting). But that doesn't mean they cannot find meaningful religious themes within events gathering lots of attention. In Summer, 2010, for example, Sister Stephanie Smoot wrote a great post called "Bad Calls!" in which she talked about a couple of World Cup games (that half the planet watched) in which referees lacked the perspective they needed to make a good call. Lots of folks were upset by that and might have been surfing the web about it. Sister Smoot turned this into a great spiritual analogy. That's good writing. While being careful not to disobey mission rules or to become distracted, consider writing posts that refer to current events (local or global). But avoid blogging about politics or other subjects where hot buttons could prove inflammatory. You don't want to bring the wrong attention to your blog, but if carefully approached (like Sister Smoot's post), a current event can make one's missionary message seem more current and interesting.
   
7. People Interested in Media
   One reason why missionaries should consider developing various kind of online content is that the very media they are using can draw interest to the message in that content. For example, Elder Colton Baird (an full-time online missionary at the MTC) created a Prezi presentation about the Plan of Salvation. Now, a Prezi presentation is currently a new and popular presentation tool that goes beyond PowerPoint because it can zoom, change orientation, use embedded media, etc. It's a cool tool (try it here). Well, He posted this presentation on the Prezi site (which has its own indexing, sharing, and ranking features). He might have placed a link in the Prezi presentation to his own blog or embedded the presentation there as I have done here (if he had a blog).
   
   Plan of Happiness on Prezi
   
   
   Elder Baird certainly could introduce his work in terms of its content, but he also might talk about the process of discovering and learning to use this interesting new tool. Since there is so much that is new on the web all of the time, people are constantly looking for reviews, how-to's, and guides for using good media tools. Consider writing posts aimed at those who value reviews of or practical demonstrations of media and online tools. There is some risk here -- missionaries could become distracted by the tools and forget their primary purpose of bringing souls to Christ, and this sort of post might seem inappropriate because it means letting the vital religious content be secondary for some audiences. But think about how our Visitor Centers and pageants work: they attract visitors who have come as casual tourists or simply to be entertained. The important religious content is there for them to respond to if they are ready; if not, they have enjoyed themselves and we wish them well.
   
8. People of Diverse Ages, Languages, and Locations
   They call it a WORLD-wide-web, and blogs are available to the whole range of people who are online. Sometimes full-time missionaries (generally in their early twenties) write as though it is only other twentysomethings who are reading their blogs, or only English speakers, or only people from the United States. You can't be all things to all people, but you can avoid making mistakes like assuming every blog visitor is an American, or has conservative values or politics. Because many people surfing the web have English as a second language, it is a good idea to write simply and concisely (especially if some people are using automated translators, which don't deal with complex expressions very well). Expecting a diversity of visitors can help to create variety that will make the overall blog more interesting. Consider targeting a post to children, to people of advanced age, to people with families, to people who are single, to people who are less educated, etc. Avoid writing to just those with whom you are most familiar and comfortable. This might mean curbing one's tendency to use local or colloquial expressions that others might not understand or might take offense to. It also might mean it is a good idea to spell check one's post (or have one's companion read it through before it gets posted). Your companion might catch that stupid spelling error or keep you from using that bit of mission slang.

An overall principle in thinking about multiple audiences is this: the people who might profit most from your blog content may be the ones visiting your blog for reasons that are secondary to your proselyting purpose. Therefore, give lots of people various reasons to be interested in you as a person with a meaningful life, unique perspectives, an upbeat tone, and with things to offer them besides just your religious message. If they are ready to receive your spiritual message, it is there for them to respond to.