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SALT LAKE CITY — General conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a time for members to come together and learn about their faith. It is also seen as a time to connect with other members and share messages from the conference, often over social media.
For members who are looking to connect or share lessons they learned during or after the conference, there are many avenues to do so on social media.
Official accounts
If you’re looking for related resources or an official source to share, the LDS Church has accounts on all major social media platforms.
Follow the church’s Instagram account for those Ensign Magazine-worthy photographs of conference. During Saturday’s women’s session of general conference, the church even shared some behind-the-scenes photos of the conference center.
For real-time updates, quotes and graphics from the conference, follow the church’s Twitter account. Those interested in reviewing their favorite talks can find direct links to that text on the feed.
The church posts more in-depth photo galleries, graphics of quotes, videos and other such multimedia resources on its Facebook page.
Join the event
If you want to see who else is going to general conference, share your thoughts about it or have an easy-to-access link to the live stream, the church has set up Facebook and Google+ events people can join and invite others to (like your teenage kids who may need a reminder).
Social conversation
Hashtags on social media allow members to connect and discuss the conference with other members across the world. Several hashtags currently dominate the social conversation, and members who use those in their posts or searches can join and follow along.
#LDSConf is the main hashtag for general conference, and the stream moves quickly during the broadcast. Quotes, questions and jokes about ties are some of the highlights members can expect to accompany the hashtag.
While #TwitterStake is used year-round, posts about general conference naturally saturate it twice a year.
In addition to the hashtags that developed organically, the LDS Church has recently pushed two, in a campaign effort to “add a raindrop of goodness” to the social conversation.
#ShareGoodness is a hashtag to use posts about things that inspire. Some are LDS-centric, but other posts are people expressing gratitude or love.
“Try to communicate in real, simple and short ways,” the LDS Church wrote on its website. “A picture with a word or two or a #(hashtag) can be enough. Think before you post. Part of this idea is to change the existing conversation out there into a more positive conversation. Show your goodness as you share your goodness, while being respectful of those you know well and those you don’t. The Golden Rule works well with social media, too.”
The church started the #BecauseOfHim hashtag during Easter this year, and it continues to be a popular hashtag. The label refers to blessings people receive that they believe are because of Jesus Christ.
For more specific hashtags, Mormon Newsroom has compiled a comprehensive list.
