© 2016 International Urantia Association (IUA)
| President’s Message March 2016 | Tidings — March 2016 — Index | German-speaking Urantia Book Readers’ Meeting |
The Social Media Committee of Urantia Association International is pleased to announce the launching of the Association’s first Public Facebook Group. This differs from the existing Facebook Page of the Association in that it provides a platform for discussions and online study between Urantia Book students and anyone interested from the public at large. Posts can be viewed by the public, but if anyone wishes to join the discussions they will need to click on the “Join” tab and their request is vetted before they are accepted as a member of the group.
The Mission Statement for this Public Group states: As Urantia Association International’s mission is to foster the study of The Urantia Book and to disseminate its teachings, our purpose as faith sons of our Heavenly Father is to keep The Urantia Book on the top shelf of human thought by engaging in discussion on the uplifting truths contained in the book. The aim of this site is for participants to be exposed to the truths contained in The Urantia Book by providing an arena for the free expression of philosophic ideas concerning the Fifth Epochal Revelation to our planet. Discussions here are to be true to the spirit of Jesus as we share our highest truths in an effort to uplift and encourage one another in our study of the book.
This Group may be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/groups/UrantiaAssociationInternational.
In addition, the Social Media Committee has been revising the Association’s Facebook and Twitter sites. See our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/urantia.association and Twitter at https://twitter.com/UrantiaAssoc. (Follow us on Twitter!)
The creation of the internet’s social media opened a vast arena of networking capability for Urantia Book students and teachers. It expanded the reach and potential of the local Urantia Book study group. Many Urantia oriented social media sites are now available to the new and seasoned reader. From the Association’s Forum to our Facebook Page and Public Group, from Twitter to Instagram, from YouTube to Vimeo, from LinkedIn to ‘Blogtalkradio,’ you will find many, many items of interest related to study and dissemination of _The Urantia B_ook. This was not so a mere ten years ago. What will it be in 2026? The potentials are virtually endless for study and dissemination.
Social media can be especially helpful to the lone reader. Many an isolated reader, with no one to discuss this life-altering book, has found a wellspring of friendship and a library of information on social media’s Urantia oriented pages. This new and rapidly growing opportunity for study and friendly connection unites students and simultaneously reveals their private studies and reflections to a much larger audience than the study group would without social media. Even more, social media offers topical studies and an almost limitless array of images and artwork inspired by the teachings.
The various social media have already, in their relatively short existence, become a deep reservoir of Urantia related presentations, using text, graphics, photos, audio, documents, and videos that are easily created and widely broadcast. Social media is also a magnificent bulletin board for announcing conferences and links to teaching tools; it offers a place to teach and learn outside the reader realm. The ability to ‘SHARE’ on Facebook brings with it the potential for spreading the teachings limitlessly across time and distance – the “viral factor” applies. When Urantia Book students and teachers embed links in quotes and images, they lead revelatory pearl-seekers back to the book, and some will find their way to Urantia Association’s and Urantia Foundation’s webpages.
A note of caution: Social media is not yet perfected. Participants are well advised to protect privacy and use discretion when creating an identity, ‘friending’, private messaging, and giving out personal information. With proper precautions (which the Association and Facebook provide the tools for) students and teachers can usually navigate Urantia social media safely, profitably, and with a minimum of distraction and discomfort.
Urantia Association International’s Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urantia.association/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UrantiaAssoc
Forum: http://urantia-association.org/forums
¶ References
| President’s Message March 2016 | Tidings — March 2016 — Index | German-speaking Urantia Book Readers’ Meeting |