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Pope on social networks: Ignore the noise, be authentic, promote dialogue
en.romereports.com Benedict XVI, who is also the first Pope on Twitter, says it #39;s frustrating that being popular on social networking sites, often depends on being famous, instead of value and content. In a letter, the Pope says "At times, the gentle voice of reason can be overwhelmed by the din of excessive information."

By: romereports

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Pope on social networks: Ignore the noise, be authentic, promote dialogue - Video

By Matt Smith, CNN

updated 3:06 PM EST, Wed January 23, 2013 |

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Indiana can't kick all registered sex offenders off instant messaging services, chat rooms or social networking sites like Facebook, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The state passed a law in 2008 that was aimed at keeping predators from trolling the Internet for new victims. But that law "broadly prohibits substantial protected speech rather than specifically targeting the evil of improper communications to minors," a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded.

State courts can impose limits on social media as a condition of a sex offender's probation or parole, but a "blanket ban" on Internet use violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free expression, the judges found.

A district judge in Indianapolis had upheld the law in June, but federal courts in at least two other states -- Nebraska and Louisiana -- struck down similar state laws in 2012.

The Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the statute on behalf of an offender identified only as "John Doe," who had served 21 months in prison for child exploitation. "Doe" was released in 2003 and isn't on parole or probation, but was covered by the state ban.

Ken Falk, the group's legal director, said Indiana already has laws on the books barring the solicitiation of children, with enhanced penalties for inappropriate communications online. The law overturned Wednesday barred the "completely innocent" use of social media, he said.

"If you wanted to participate in a chat room to work around a candidate, you can't do that," he said. "If you want to follow the pope on Twitter, you can't do that."

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Indiana can't kick sex offenders off social media, court says

By Matt Smith, CNN

updated 3:06 PM EST, Wed January 23, 2013 |

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Indiana can't kick all registered sex offenders off instant messaging services, chat rooms or social networking sites like Facebook, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The state passed a law in 2008 that was aimed at keeping predators from trolling the Internet for new victims. But that law "broadly prohibits substantial protected speech rather than specifically targeting the evil of improper communications to minors," a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded.

State courts can impose limits on social media as a condition of a sex offender's probation or parole, but a "blanket ban" on Internet use violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free expression, the judges found.

A district judge in Indianapolis had upheld the law in June, but federal courts in at least two other states -- Nebraska and Louisiana -- struck down similar state laws in 2012.

The Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the statute on behalf of an offender identified only as "John Doe," who had served 21 months in prison for child exploitation. "Doe" was released in 2003 and isn't on parole or probation, but was covered by the state ban.

Ken Falk, the group's legal director, said Indiana already has laws on the books barring the solicitiation of children, with enhanced penalties for inappropriate communications online. The law overturned Wednesday barred the "completely innocent" use of social media, he said.

"If you wanted to participate in a chat room to work around a candidate, you can't do that," he said. "If you want to follow the pope on Twitter, you can't do that."

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Indiana can't ban sex offenders from social media, court says

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI put church leaders on notice Thursday, saying social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter aren't a virtual world they can ignore, but rather a very real world they must engage if they want to spread the faith to the next generation.

The 85-year-old Benedict, who tweets in nine languages, used his annual message on social communications to stress the potential of social media for the church as it struggles to keep followers and attract new ones amid religious apathy, competition from other churches and scandals that have driven the faithful away.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the Vatican's communications office, cited a 2012 study commissioned by U.S. bishops that found that 53 percent of Americans were unaware of any significant presence of the Catholic Church online.

Other studies, Celli said, made clear that the "millennial generation" of people born after 1982 use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube far more than their parents as primary sources of information, entertainment and sharing political views and community issues.

"The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the young," Benedict said in his message. "Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the dynamics of communication which builds relationships: a considered understanding of this environment is therefore the prerequisite for a significant presence there."

Benedict himself still writes longhand, but he is a superstar online, with 2.5 million Twitter followers, nearly 11,000 of them following his Latin tweets alone. And under his pontificate, the Holy See has greatly increased its presence online, with YouTube channels, papal apps and an online news portal http://www.news.va that gathers all Vatican information in one place.

But the digital exposure hasn't come without risk or criticism: In the days after the Vatican announced that Benedict would respond to questions about faith on his first tweets from his (at)Pontifex handle last month, the Vatican was bombarded with threats of "Twitter bombs" from critics trying to scare the pope away from the online social forum.

"Leaving would've been a mistake," said Monsignor Paul Tighe, the No. 2 in the Vatican's social communications office. "It wouldn't have been fair to abandon all the people who joyfully welcomed the pope's message."

Celli acknowledged that much of the pope's message this year repeated exhortations from previous years about the need for respectful dialogue online, for users to present themselves authentically and to listen, not just preach.

"At first look it could look like reheated soup," Celli conceded. But he said that sometimes messages need repeating, particularly in the 2,000-year-old Catholic Church. "I don't want to make any particular revelations here, but don't believe that everything that is said is absorbed at the ecclesial level."

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Pope on social networking: the virtual is real

CJ tries his hand at Tinder.
CJ and his new friend Lance decide to set up a date through the super popular social networking app "Tinder".

By: MSDriscoll3415

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CJ tries his hand at Tinder. - Video