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July/August 2011
Newsbrief → Announcements
New Facebook Groups
and Page
With many people posting
frequently about the Mission on
Facebook, it seemed time for the Mission
to take a more active role and see if our outreach
efforts on the site could be improved. Therefore, we now have
three Groups and an official Page which can serve as the
focal points for our work there.
Each of these groups, and the
page, was created for a specific purpose.
It is very important that everyone who spreads the
Mission on Facebook clearly understands what each one is
for, so they will know who to direct to which group,
what to post where, etc., and how to use these new
resources to the greatest effect.
So please carefully read the
following explanation of the purpose of each group and
the page (and the difference between Groups and Pages on Facebook):
Groups:
"Groups" on Facebook are what they
sound like; they are places
where people can gather around common interests and
share about them. Anyone can start a group about
any topic, and there can be an unlimited amount of
groups about a topic. Our three groups:
1. "Learn
more about the Mission of Maitreya!": This is
our main group to reach new people on Facebook.
If someone expresses interest in the Mission
and shows they are sincere about wanting to learn more,
they should be directed to this group. In the
group, Mission members will answer
questions, post excerpts from the teachings related to
ongoing questions and answers, focus discussion that
will lead to good questions, and provide an atmosphere
that is 100% focused on learning more about the
Mission and Maitreya's
Teachings.
What this group is NOT:
This group is not a place to invite anyone who is not
sincere about learning about the Mission
and wants to argue or push their own ideas, or is not
interested in the Mission and may
become angry or unhappy to suddenly find themselves
added to a group about it. Arguments or individual
opinions, posts unrelated to the Mission,
a member's confusion about why they have been invited,
etc. all disrupt the flow and bring the energy down.
So do not invite just anyone, but be sure they are ready
and open to being taught (their cup is empty).
Remember, we do not have to
convince or push this Mission on
anyone. We are looking for the Elects, who are
already Chosen and Ready, and should not need to be argued
with or strenuously convinced. If they are not
interested, leave them alone (to God) and move on
("...shake off the dust of your feet," Matthew 10:14).
2. "MOM
Outreach Discussion": This
group is meant to help us spread the Mission
better. It is closed (only members can see what is
being posted) and can be joined by invitation only, and is
for those who already Love the Mission
and are actively spreading it. It provides a space
for us to share ideas on improving our outreach, let
each other know about good new places and ways we have
found to spread the Mission, and
coordinate our efforts so we can work as a team instead
of many individuals. It can serve as a central
meeting place for online outreach and social networking,
which is why our
Social Networking project manager, Tahirah, is the
primary group admin (so
contact her if
you would like to be considered to join).
What this group is NOT:
This group is not a place to share from the teachings
(unless it relates to improving how we can spread the
Mission). Everyone in the group
is already dedicated to the Mission and
knows the teachings, and filling it with posts of
Satsangs and readings, while beautiful, will dilute the
group from its main purpose of facilitating and
coordinating outreach. This group is also not a
place to invite or direct anyone to join (unless they
are an exception to the rule, such as a long-term, dedicated Mission
member that has just joined Facebook). If you feel that someone should be in
this group, direct them to Tahirah or
let Tahirah know
about them to start the process.
3. "Mission
of Maitreya Discussion Group":
This group was created because some people in the
"Learn" group (#1 above) began arguing with us, pushing
their own ideas, and accusing us of not defending our
beliefs, censoring them, etc. So we created this
group and told these people that we would argue with
them and defend ourselves there. Therefore, a
large part of the function of this group is to help keep
the "Learn" group pure and 100% focused on the
teachings. If someone becomes disruptive, starts
arguing, etc., we remove them from "Learn" and ask them
to go to this group instead, where we do not mind as
much if the conversation becomes chaotic, argumentative,
or off-topic.
Of course, we also hope that
through the discussion and debate in this room, people
might see that the teachings can be defended logically
and make sense, and so become more open to our Truth.
If they eventually reach the
point where they want to learn more, then we would invite them to the "Learn" group. However, as we are looking for the Elects, who
should not
need to be argued with, this group is not our focus, and
is the least important of the three groups.
What this group is NOT:
This group should not be shared, emphasized, or linked
to. We almost want that most people do not know it
exists, and only know about and be directed to the
"Learn" group, as we are much more interested in people
who are open and want to ask questions and learn than
those who want to argue (not
quantity but quality). Only if someone is being
disruptive, or you feel that a certain individual could
benefit greatly from discussing the Mission
in this way, should they be notified that this room
exists. Also, if anyone simply has a question
about the teachings (not wanting to argue, etc.), we ask
that they please post it in "Learn" and not in this
group so that the focus does not become divided between
the two groups and remains primarily on the "Learn"
group.
Page:
A "Page" on Facebook is to an organization
what a "Profile" is to an individual. An
organization's page is its official, public presence on
Facebook, which it uses to post and share, interact with
other Facebook users, advertise, announce news, etc.
Facebook users cannot "Join" or "Friend" a page, but
only "Like" it. Each organization is supposed to
have only one page about it, started officially by that
organization. Our page is "Mission
of Maitreya, Eternal Divine Path." It will be
used to share news, announcements, and other official
Mission business on Facebook, and also
provides resources for people to
join the Mission mailing list,
donate to the Mission, and more.
While in general it is much more
important to direct those interested in the
Mission to the "Learn" group than to this page,
it is also helpful if people "Like" the page so it can
grow and develop a greater presence on Facebook.
While the above explanation may
seem lengthy and possibly confusing, we ask that those
who spread the Mission on Facebook
read, re-read, and study it as much as is necessary to
be sure they completely understand it. We feel
that if these
groups and page are used correctly, we will have a
powerful and effective team and system, and our
outreach on Facebook will prosper. However, if
they are misused, confused together, and underutilized,
then we will have missed out on a great opportunity to
improve our ability to reach out to the more than 750 million people that use this
social network.
Here is the system in a nutshell:
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We (individual Mission
members) spread and share the teachings in various
ways to find those who are interested and open to
the teachings.
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Those sincerely interested in
the Mission are sent to "Learn
more about the Mission of Maitreya."
-
Those who are disruptive are
moved to "Mission
of Maitreya Discussion Group."
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"MOM
Outreach Discussion" is used to coordinate the
process.
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The "Mission
of Maitreya, Eternal Divine Path" page serves as the
public face of the Mission
organization and provides some useful additional
resources for us to use.
For further information on this
system and on Facebook in general, attend our upcoming
webinar on Facebook!
You can also always
contact us.
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