Monday, November 12, 2012

Tweeting Bishops; USCCB Fall General Assembly



The bishops are in Baltimore for the 2012 Fall General Assembly. Something unusual happened this year. The USCCB hosted a meeting between bishops and Catholic bloggers. Yesterday, during the meeting, there was live tweeting under the hashtag #bpsblog.  Follow that hashtag and you will find info and links.  I'll touch on this more later when there are blogposts.

Some were asking on Twitter if there was a list of bishops for subscribing.  It just so happens that I made several Catholic lists on Twitter for myself over a year ago, then learned others could subscribe to them.  Any time I found a bishop using Twitter, I added him to the list.  It includes US bishops and bishops from abroad, mostly those who put out English language tweets.


I really think the USCCB Twitter account should make a list of bishops on Twitter and people can subscribe through them.  As more bishops join, the list can be updated and anyone following would see, in a single click, what the bishops are tweeting on a given day.  It is often one of the first things I check each morning.  While the parish should be the first place people get their information, this doesn't happen at all parishes. It's improving, but it will take time.   Bishops using social media is one more way for people to get info.  It could be that parishioners on social media encourage their pastors to pass things along.


Just click a list in the link below, then hit Subscribe (I think it's in the left sidebar).  Here again, I think the USCCB should maintain some of these lists.  Primarily, they should own the list of Tweeting US bishops, list of US Dioceses on Twitter, and state bishop's conferences using the tool.


If anyone knows of other bishops, not in my list, please drop a link to their feed or drop their name into my combox.

Someone at the meeting please let Archbishop Vigneron know I'd love to add him to the list and that my offer to serve as a voluntary consultant here in the AoD on social media is open.

Tips to Bishops: On the diocesan site, on the home page, and on the bishop's page, make sure social media follow buttons are visible.  Subscribe to a list and see what other bishops are tweeting to get ideas.  Bishops can tweet in mere minutes per day and people following from around the world will amplify those things.  Some tweet Scripture or quotes from saints.  Others use it to pass along diocesan communications.  The easiest thing to do is to retweet other bishops, the Holy Father, Vatican communications, etc. 



There will probably be some people live tweeting from the open sessions, in addition to some of the bishops.  I won't be able to participate, because I will be at work, though I may look in at lunch time.




WATCH/LISTEN TO THE USCCB FALL MEETING LIVE

Each year I try to listen to the USCCB's public sessions. The first one is at 10:00 AM ET.  There are some interesting things and you can hear the bishops in some of their discussions on the agenda items, and interventions.  The USCCB has a page dedicated to this and there are options to follow live (click here).  That link also includes info on times of public sessions.

If anyone is aware of the hashtag being used for the USCCB meeting on Twitter, please drop it into my combox.  It's probably a good idea for the USCCB to choose a hashtag in advance, if it hasn't done so already, and it will eliminate multiple hashtags for the same event.

I have also listened live using EWTN.mobi where there are options for Apple and Android devices.


For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

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