Pope Francis, like any modern leader, is everywhere he needs to be in the virtual world. Because that's where the future of his church is going to get their news, meet their friends, record the important events of their lives - and maybe even re-establish their connection with religion.
This isn't cynical, it's merely practical. The Catholic Church has lost adherents through its remoteness, the unendling litany of sordid scandals - and because in a 24-7 economy, everyone - including the Holy Father - has to fight for attention. The news is not that it's working - any executive worthy of the name should know that by now - but that it's taken so long for institutions like the church to figure out that you have to go where your parishioners are, however secular or religious they may be - and whatever it is they worship. JL
Marina Koren reports in The Atlantic:
Pope Francis joined Instagram today as @Franciscus, which is Latin for Francis. His debut post asked followers to “pray for me” in nine different languages. Hours after its launch, the account has more than 980,000 followers and counting.
The 79-year-old leader of the Catholic Church is basically a Millennial now.
Pope Francis joined Instagram today as @Franciscus, which is Latin for Francis. His debut post asked followers to “pray for me” in nine different languages. Hours after its launch, the account has more than 980,000 followers and counting. The pope already has a solid presence on Twitter, where he has 8.9 million followers. As Emma has written:
If Francis seems radical, it’s because he has a remarkable PR-savvy, winning the obsessive attention of bloggers and journalists, earning the retweets of the masses, and charming economists and his flock in one fell tweet.The Holy See press office says “Instagram will help recount the Papacy through images,” but did not say whether Francis prefers crema over mayfair.
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