Jana Riess

It's such a love-hate relationship. So on the one hand, you do have this emphasis from the church that this could be a tool that is used for good things. So in 2007, one of the highest leaders of the LDS church, M. Russell Ballard, gives a speech.

It's such a love-hate relationship. So on the one hand, you do have this emphasis from the church that this could be a tool that is used for good things. So in 2007, one of the highest leaders of the LDS church, M. Russell Ballard, gives a speech.

He said, I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the internet to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the restoration.

He said, I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the internet to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the restoration.

He said, I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the internet to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the restoration.

And so the church explicitly promoted this idea that you would write something, that you would post something to present your religion and possibly also yourself and your family in a positive light. And they got a very good response to that in 2007 with a lot of members using their own personal social media or Internet presence to share the gospel.

And so the church explicitly promoted this idea that you would write something, that you would post something to present your religion and possibly also yourself and your family in a positive light. And they got a very good response to that in 2007 with a lot of members using their own personal social media or Internet presence to share the gospel.

And so the church explicitly promoted this idea that you would write something, that you would post something to present your religion and possibly also yourself and your family in a positive light. And they got a very good response to that in 2007 with a lot of members using their own personal social media or Internet presence to share the gospel.

And then on the other hand, at the same time, you have the church trying to control its own narrative in a way that it's always been able to. It's always been able to write its own history and publish its own books about that history. And suddenly on the internet, you have people saying, well, actually, Joseph Smith married a 14-year-old girl. And what do we think about that? And then

And then on the other hand, at the same time, you have the church trying to control its own narrative in a way that it's always been able to. It's always been able to write its own history and publish its own books about that history. And suddenly on the internet, you have people saying, well, actually, Joseph Smith married a 14-year-old girl. And what do we think about that? And then

And then on the other hand, at the same time, you have the church trying to control its own narrative in a way that it's always been able to. It's always been able to write its own history and publish its own books about that history. And suddenly on the internet, you have people saying, well, actually, Joseph Smith married a 14-year-old girl. And what do we think about that? And then

In the past, many Latter-day Saints, I think, would have simply responded and said, well, that's just an anti-Mormon lie. There's no evidence for that.

In the past, many Latter-day Saints, I think, would have simply responded and said, well, that's just an anti-Mormon lie. There's no evidence for that.

In the past, many Latter-day Saints, I think, would have simply responded and said, well, that's just an anti-Mormon lie. There's no evidence for that.

And then in the age of the internet, suddenly confronted with the mountain of evidence for a lot of things that people weren't necessarily taught about LDS history at church, suddenly they have to say, oh, what else don't I know about the church's own history? And so the church has...

And then in the age of the internet, suddenly confronted with the mountain of evidence for a lot of things that people weren't necessarily taught about LDS history at church, suddenly they have to say, oh, what else don't I know about the church's own history? And so the church has...

And then in the age of the internet, suddenly confronted with the mountain of evidence for a lot of things that people weren't necessarily taught about LDS history at church, suddenly they have to say, oh, what else don't I know about the church's own history? And so the church has...

not enjoyed, I think, that part of the internet, the idea that everything is available out there for better or for worse, and that it can no longer control even its own story, let alone all the other stories, right?

not enjoyed, I think, that part of the internet, the idea that everything is available out there for better or for worse, and that it can no longer control even its own story, let alone all the other stories, right?

not enjoyed, I think, that part of the internet, the idea that everything is available out there for better or for worse, and that it can no longer control even its own story, let alone all the other stories, right?