Twitter Engagement During #LDSconf

Tweeting during any live event naturally means more engagement than you may be used to on twitter. You might gain followers and one of your tweets might get seen by thousands more people than usual. Rather than try to favorite or retweet every tweet that I see, I try to focus on a select few. It is very unlikely that anyone could even read fast enough to see every single tweet with the #ldsconf hashtag because there are so many. Here are some of my strategies about how to engage with others on twitter during conference.

Prioritizing During #LDSConf

Tweeting during general conference can be a fun way to interact and feel involved during the conference proceedings. But when it comes down to it, some things are more important than tweeting general conference. Before live-tweeting conference, I like to make sure I have my priorities straight. Here are some of the things that I've come to find that are important guidelines for me to follow.

When to Tweet About #LDSconf

When is it appropriate to use the #ldsconf hashtag? The simple answer is that there is never a time that you shouldn't tweet about #ldsconf. A less general answer is that you should tweet before and after conference, and during conference if you'd like. Here are some of my ideas about why you should tweet about conference all the time.

What to Tweet About During #LDSconf

Tweeting during general conference allows gospel messages to touch the lives of millions of people around the world. When people see the #ldsconf hashtag they want to know what it's about. So when you tweet, consider that someone might be experiencing the gospel for the first time. Be bold, but not overbearing. Here are some things I like seeing when I follow the #ldsconf stream.

My Guide to Tweeting for #LDSconf

It's that time of year again. I'm getting excited to hear living prophets and apostles share messages of peace, hope, and counsel and testify of Jesus Christ at the general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many people, me included, like to come together via social media to participate in the conference using the hashtag #ldsconf. Just over a year ago Elder Bednar shared a message about appropriate use of social media and other technologies to advance the work of salvation in all of the world. Regarding using the #ldsconf hashtag Elder Bednar shared the following remarks. 

The first use of the #LDSconf hashtag dates back to October 2008, when it was created by a faithful member looking for an opportunity to follow and share conference-related tweets—long before the Church started using it... Thousands of members join together twice a year to participate in the #LDSconf hashtag conversation about the things they learn and feel as they receive counsel from living prophets and apostles. Through this channel, millions of people around the world are edified by general conference messages.

I have live-tweeted general conference for the last few years, and I have found that depending on my choices, some sessions have ended up being more edifying than others.

Strengthening Your Testemoji

I like to think of creative ways to share the gospel. One of my more creative ideas was to use emojis. Here are some tweets I composed that all have a spiritual message behind them. I hope you enjoy them!
We all have that one friend who can't live without emojis.  Make sure you share this article with them.

A Marvelous Work and a Smartphone

If you are reading this sentence, then you were foreordained to come to the Earth in the last days.  Don't just take my word for it; prophets and apostles have said so!

Are There Computers in Heaven?

I think there could be from following this reasoning.

1. If God knows everything, then God knows everything about computers.

"O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it." (2 Nephi 9:20)

What is #MonsonMay?

Thomas Spencer Monson is the current president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  As president of the church, we recognize him as a prophet.  We believe that he has authority to reveal God's will in our day, just as Moses or Abraham revealed God's will in their days.  Click here to learn more about his life.

This month I set a goal to read discourses that President Monson has given during his ministry.  I decided to read one a day, and I figured I'd invite everyone to join me.

Articles of Digital Faith

Here is a a fun spin on the original Articles of Faith.  This post is intended to be both entertaining and thought provoking. I am not suggesting that we should change the Articles of Faith. Each article, as composed by Joseph Smith, accurately reflects my beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

1. We like, follow, and subscribe to God, the Eternal Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own tweets, and not for retweeting Adam
3. We believe that through the World Wide Web, all mankind may be taught the gospel, by our sharing the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

Digital Missionary Scavenger Hunt

Gift of Thumbs is working on a list of creative ideas to share the gospel online. Most of these things are one and done! Trying to keep the Sabbath day holy? These are great ways to spend time online on a Sunday. Share this with someone who is preparing to serve a mission!

Do you have other ideas that could be included on this list?  Let us know in the comments!  We might add some!

1. Visit Mormon.org and create a profile. 
You can only create it once but you can always go back and update it.

2. On Amazon.com write a customer review for the Book of Mormon.
Give it a 5 star rating, and share your testimony.  If you have more time, the church has plenty of other materials on amazon that you can rate as well. 

3. Find your local church meetinghouse on Google maps, and write a review. 

Give the building a 5 stars rating!  If you're writing about the building you currently attend, extend an invitation for visitors.  The following are links to the building I attended when I was in young moens.  First find it on Google Maps.  The review will show up on Google+.  You can write reviews for any of the church buildings.  After you do your current building, if you want to do more, start with buildings you attended for a while, then do buildings you've visited.

We Believe in the Gift of Thumbs

Those who work in social media are concerned with best practices.  They want to do the best things they can so that their posts on social media get as much engagement as possible.  Engagement are the various ways that people interact with a post on social media.  This means that YOU have an impact on their success!

Types of engagement vary by social platform.  Click on a platform's name to learn more about each platform and how the church uses it.

Types of Engagement:

Facebook: Likes, Comments, Shares

Twitter: Favorites, Replies, Retweets

Google+: +1s, Comments, Shares 

Instagram: Likes, Comments

Pinterest: Likes, Comments, Pins

YouTube: Likes, Comments, Views

Tumblr: Likes, Comments, Reblog

Many of us are on the consumer side of this; we're not creating the content, we're just enjoying it!  So best practices for a social media consumer are simple: engage the content that you enjoy the most! The power is in your hands, or as we like to say here, in your thumbs!  There are lots of good consequences that come from putting your stamp of approval on a social media post by engaging with it.

One More Reason to Do Your Family History

This last Sunday at church I had an interesting impression during Sunday School. Currently my wife and I are enrolled in a Family History and Temple Work class. As we talked about why it is important for us to do family history work, I began to imagine what doing family history work might be like a hundred years from now.

I imagined my great-grandson attending a family history class like the one I was attending. Feeling inspired after church, he goes home and begins filling out a four generation pedigree chart. He does this by looking at old Facebook profiles. He can see pictures of me and read about my life. He can see that I was happily married. He can see who my parents are and see pictures of them. He can even see pictures of my grandfather, but the pictures of my grandfather do not link to another profile. He stares longingly at the photo of his great-great-great-grandfather wishing he could know more about him.