Reflection on Social Media Case 9: Ponderize

I am a member of the LDS church, and this study came as a surprise to me. I remember listening to this talk during General Conference and I loved it. I remember seeing a much different reaction. My social media accounts were blowing up with people Ponderizing scriptures and sharing the scriptures on their accounts. I didn't even know a site had been made selling merchandise. I think it's sad that there was a negative side to the story. I can see why people would get upset by this. It comes back to what we've discussed in class about transparency. If the site had made it very clear why it was created and put the relationship between Devin and Ryan out in the open I think the result my have been very different. I one hundred percent do not believe Elder Durrant chose to give that talk as a marketing strategy or to make more. I saw the good that came from that talk. It helped so many people come closer to their heavenly Father and learn more from the scriptures, myself included. I think it's sad how things can so easily sway from their true purpose! I think it was a mistake to make the site without proper transparency, they should have known the backlash that it would ensue. Elder Durrant states in this article "I should have stopped the process, I did not. That was poor judgement on my part." I think it's clear Elder Durrant understand a mistake was made, I just hope people could look past that mistake and see the talk for what it really was. I think the church learned a lot from this experience, they are going to be held to a higher standard and they need to be careful and think about how their actions will reflect on the church! I did a google search though and there are still so many people using this term to come closer to and learn more from the scriptures, which really is such a blessing!