Facebook ban: good HR or bad PR
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
By Megan Sweas
Comments (4)
Not long after launching a Facebook application that allows users to send papal messages, the Vatican has banned the use of FaceBook at work.
The Vatican says the move is in line with corporate policies, Catholic News Service reports (via The Catholic Key Blog). But the restriction may be just more evidence that the Holy See is out of touch.
As the Catholic Key notes, Facebook has come to replace e-mail and traditional news feeds for many young adults. The CNS story quotes an anonymous employee who said he saw the video of Bishop Richard Williamson denying the Holocaust on Facebook a few days before the Vatican lifted Richardson's excommunication.
The Vatican is in the business of relationship, so instead of banning Facebook, maybe they should be mandating that their employees be on it.
Posted in: In preview mode
As with most things,
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, June 23, 2009As with most things, Facebook has its benefits and drawbacks. What concerns me about your comments is the suggestion that BECAUSE Facebook has become the go-to way for communication and news, it is therefore a good thing. We do a poor job of challenging the societal cultural assumptions, in part because we are so totally enmeshed in them. It might be worth putting up the gospel of technology against the gospel of Jesus to see the points at which there is both congruence and divergence.
Good and bad
By Megan Sweas on Tuesday, June 23, 2009I mostly agree with you, and I don't think Facebook is a good thing. It's merely a means of communication to be used for good or bad.
Sorry I didn't include the links to previous posts, but this is apart of a larger conversation about the Vatican's efforts, first launched in January with the release of Pope Benedict's message for the World Communications Day message and continuing with Pope2You, launched in May 24.
The pope's message is for young people to use new media and social networking for good, while being wary of it as well. I don't know the full details of the ban, but this message is why I think the Vatican would be encouraging rather than discouraging the use of social networking sites.
Why?
By Jason Roebuck (not verified) on Tuesday, June 23, 2009Please stop allowing stories that do not tell the whole story. Who is the Vatican prohibiting from being on Facebook during working hours? Maybe a link to the story about healthy use of social networking sites actually increasing production at work should be sent to the person who made the decision to ban Facebook's use at work. We should spend our time online being productive members of the body of Christ and not dissenters who have an axe to grind...God Bless...Jason
U.S. Catholic insists on a civil and respectful dialogue on our website, following our Comment policy. Comments should be charitable, on topic, and brief. U.S. Catholic reserves the right to delete comments deemed inappropriate. Links are not allowed and comments with them will be moderated or deleted. We encourage you to choose your words wisely.
