Religious orders in the United States are successfully using social media to attract vocations, says the current issue of the National Catholic Register.
In its May 27 – June 9 issue, the article “Digital Discernment” explains how communities throughout the US are using both paid advertising and organic social media (posts on blogs, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube).
“It’s an opportunity for people to to have a conversation with us, to get to know us better,” says the article, quoting Sr. Cynthia, of the Sisters of Mercy, who entered the order in 1966.
The National Catholic Register’s update on digital discernment
“If figures for new entrants into religious orders are any measure, the social-media efforts of religious orders are succeeding,” says the article.
The article talks about the social media efforts of the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart, in California, the Franciscan friars in the East and the Midwest, and the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in the East.
Social media also allows the communities to learn more about their prospects, says Fr. Benedict Croell, of the Dominicans. “The first thing I tell guys, ‘Friend me on Facebook,'” he said. When someone friends a community’s page, their public profile and posts can be looked at.
Read the complete story in the National Catholic Register.
The social media trend is right in line with the growing use of our own Vocation Lead Generation Program, and our more complete Come & See Vocation Promotion Program.
