Should Missionaries Blog?

Should missionaries blog?

This is a question that will seem very silly both before and after missionaries really take to the blogosphere. Of course missionaries don't blog! (in general, as of mid-2010). Those that do are breaking rules. Give it a little time, however, and we'll find it odd to have questioned such an effective missionary tool.

But I do question it now, precisely so we can have our eyes open to the true challenges and possibilities of missionary bloggers. This blog is all about helping missionaries use New Media effectively. But I'd like to begin by questioning the very assumption that any sort of blogging is appropriate or effective for those who are set apart to proselyte.


Elder Dallin H. Oaks has taught that "just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it." ("Good, Better Best" Ensign November 2007). And Elder David A. Bednar has said we ought to ask ourselves, "Does the time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve in meaningful ways?" So that is the question. If missionaries blog (or use other kinds of New Media) will they be enlarging or restricting their abilities to accomplish the objectives of their missionary service? Is it truly the best use of their precious time?

It is very easy to get distracted or even lost online. If missionaries do not use proper checks and balances, they could waste their consecrated time or cloud their spirits with secular or inappropriate online material. They could use blogging as a way of communicating with friends and family in all the ways missionaries have been asked not to do so in order to stay focused on their primary, proselyting purpose.

But let's say that missionaries would behave themselves online (which is asking a lot, but not impossible). Even at that, what purposes can be served by missionaries blogging?

Public Relations?
"Perhaps now, more than ever," said Elder M. Russell Ballard,

we have a major responsibility as Latter-day Saints to define ourselves, instead of letting others define us.  Far too many people have a poor understanding of the Church because most of the information they hear about us is from news media reports that are often driven by controversies. Too much attention to controversy has a negative impact on peoples’ perceptions of what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is. [source]

It sounds as though this apostle is inviting all members to assist in public relations, in improving the perception of the Church worldwide by representing the Mormon story online. We are enlisted in clearing up misinformation and misconceptions through positive content and constructive conversations.

Now, public relations has never been the primary role for missionaries. Their purpose has always been to find, teach, and baptize -- not post, tweet, and advertise! But on the other hand, as missionaries have spent countless hours doing community service all over the world, they have been representing the Church positively by doing good, charitable works not directly related to missionary labors. Could blogging be seen as a kind of community service? What work would missionaries be doing, and for whom? What's the online equivalent to working at a hospital or cleaning up after a natural disaster? Blogging doesn't seem to fit the community service category, not yet.

The other great problem with missionaries doing public relations through blogging is that PR isn't what blogs are all about. This has been the problem that large corporations have faced as they've tried to update themselves for the emerging media. A blog is not simply an inexpensive outlet for press releases. It isn't a billboard. No, the star attraction on blogs is not companies or products, but people.

Now that does fit the new emphasis from the Church beginning with their July, 2010 revamping of Mormon.org. Rather than just providing impersonal information (however important the doctrine may be...), it is better to bring outsiders face to face with our members and their lives and to see and hear how the gospel has been vital in their day-to-day experiences. In Elder Ballard's words:

Do not be afraid to share with others your story, your experiences as a follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We all have interesting stories that have influenced our identity.  Sharing those stories is a non-threatening way to talk to others. Telling those stories can help demystify the Church. 

Okay, so just as any other Latter-day Saint, a missionary can share his or her story as a follower of the Lord, and this will reflect positively on the Church, especially as blogs and posts accumulate and show how broadly God has influenced us Mormons.

Finding?
But wait a minute. Does this mean that missionaries will be planting seeds that they do not harvest? That's great to contribute to the Church's better image, but missionaries are taught to seek out the elect, the repentant who have been prepared to enter into the covenant of baptism and follow Christ. I can imagine a mission president frustrated that his Elders or Sisters are dressing up their blog or narrating their lives, but not actually bringing people into the Church. And couldn't all of that public journaling be a bit self-indulgent? Isn't missionary work supposed to be about others? Isn't that part of the point of missionaries having a uniform appearance and not spending too much time in any one area? After all, a mission is all about representing Christ, not drawing attention to oneself. That seems to go against the spirit of blogging, which seems to be all about calling attention to oneself.

Another problem here is that missionaries may type away at a blog, thinking that all of this positive spiritual content will somehow magically lead non-members to find their site, find it interesting, and engage them in a conversation that leads to their joining the church. "If I blog it, they will come," seems to be the assumption. Well, one's friends, family, and fellow missionaries may come, and I suppose there could be a positive spiritual benefit there, especially if not all one's friends and family were members or active in the faith. But if all missionaries do on their blog is conduct an online journal, or post their weekly letters home, or craft spiritual messages, it is doubtful this will lead to a very large or a very interested audience all by itself.

That problem may not be so much a fault with blogging as it is with those who conceive of blogging as being merely a one-way conversation. I actually do think that blogs can be great finding tools, but more as missionaries use blogs to network socially, creating conversations that are not always hosted on their home blog. However, if missionaries cannot create community and engage people outside of their blog, it's not likely that many people will visit their blog or make all of that posting worthwhile. I guess my point here is that missionaries shouldn't be blogging if they are only posting. That's not really blogging. That's just journaling or putting up a tiny billboard in a very huge place.

Teaching?
Many profound things can be done with blogs, but the religious information they convey will function more to inform and to inspire than they will to teach. Teaching requires real-time interaction, and blogs are not set up to do that. Chat rooms are, and it is possible for blogs to funnel people into live chat or telephone teaching, or in-person teaching situations. But blogs in and of themselves are not the place or medium to do the kinds of teaching that lead to commitments and covenants.

Connecting
As a complement to their traditional finding and teaching, a blog can be a way to maintaing contact with investigators and provide another avenue by which investigators can learn about the gospel and gain faith. This assumes that investigators have access to the Internet and will respond well to invitations by missionaries to read their blog, but it does hold possibilities. However, connecting is not a one-way street with New Media. It's dialogue; not monologue. I'll come to your house if you come to mine. In other words, investigators will not think the invitation to connect with Elders or Sisters on their blogs is authentic if the missionaries turn down friend invitations from Facebook or other social networks, or refuse to look at or comment on the media or blog posts of those investigators. If a blog doesn't build relationships through two-way communication, it's not going to lead people to baptism. That's just how this medium works.

I plan to defend blogging and to spell out ways in which it can successfully complement conventional missionary work. But there is no way that blogging will be meaningful or successful if its true powers and limits are not understood. To succeed with the medium, you have to know it. And if there is any principle that stands out above others in this regard, it is that the gift economy of online communication requires that one read and comment on others' blogs in order to draw interest to one's own material. But more on that later.

Image: adapted from Iconspedia and freeLDSart.com