Tweet @ Pope Benedict's Official Twitter

Vatican City, 29 November 2012 (VIS) – Benedict XVI is now present on Twitter. All related information will be reported on Monday December 3rd  at a press conference to be held in the Holy See Press Office, with the participation of Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the same dicastery, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, Professor Gian Maria Vian, editor of “L'Osservatore Romano”, and Greg Burke, Media Advisor to the Secretariat of State. The Pope has already used the 140 character “tweet” format when, in June 2011, he launched the Vatican information portal www.news.va., with the words: “Dear friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI”.

" His Holiness is not expected to compose every 140-character soundbite himself but he will be approving everything sent out." by By ADAM SHERGOLD http://www.dailymail.co.uk

"The Pope is to start sharing his thoughts Urbi et Orbi - to the city and to the world - through Twitter by the end of the year, Vatican officials have confirmed. But followers shouldn't expect full-length Papal encyclicals condensed into 140 characters on his new account, just a few words from his weekly teachings or an occasional update on what he's up to. Pope Benedict XVI, 85, sent his first tweet last year through the official Vatican account, while launching a new website. He wrote on an iPad: 'Praised be out Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2230364/Pope-Benedict-XVI-set-Twitter-account.html

Catholics and New Media Opportunities

Washington (Agenzia Fides) - 62 percent of adult U.S. Catholics, representing an estimated 36.2 million people, have a profile on Facebook; 58 percent of Catholics age of 30 and under share content such as pictures, articles and comments at least once a week, and nearly a third of all surveyed said they would like their pastors and bishops to blogs: these are some results of a study released by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, CARA at Georgetown University.
"Catholic New Media Use in the United States, 2012," surveyed 1,047 self-identified Catholics. The study was released on November 11, at an Encounter With Social Media, sponsored by the Department of Communications of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in conjunction with the U.S. bishops annual Fall General Assembly in Baltimore.
The report, sent to Fides Agency by the USCCB, "suggests many opportunities for the Church to engage with those who live on the Digital continent, as Pope Benedict XVI describes this new culture of communication," said the Bishop of Salt Lake City, His Excellency Mons. John Wester, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications. "We can approach this as missionaries, eager to find God already present among the inhabitants of this world and to engage them, especially young people, in meaningful dialogue about morals and values in this new public square."
The adult Catholic population is nearly evenly divided by those aware of the Church's presence online and those who are not aware of this. About a quarter (24 percent) indicated said that the Church is "somewhat" or "very" visible, while another quarter said it is "only a little '" or "not very" visible (23 percent) . More than half (53 per cent) were unaware of any significant presence. The Catholic website most often visited regularly by self-identified adults Catholics is their parish website: about one in 10 say they visit once a month or more often. This is equivalent to 5.3 million individuals. About 80 percent of respondents took the survey in English; 16 percent took it Spanish. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 13/11/2012)

Social Media: Whats the Point?

Congratulations! Your parish or organization has a Facebook page and Twitter feed. Your pins on Pinterest have been repinned already. Why do you need to bother with a technicality like social media guidelines when you are already actively engaged with social media? Actually, social media guidelines have three primary functions:  http://blog.ecatholicwebsites.com/social-media-guidelines/