Circles purpose

[wrigjef]

My Ward actively used circles. The RS&EQ have recently decided to create group me pages for non-church related communication. Is this appropriate? What is and is not appropriate use for circles?

I've always understood that we shouldn't duplicate resources that the church is already offering, if there was a legitimate need I imagine the church would provide.

[russellhltn]

I'd look at General Handbook 38.8.21.2 - Members’ Use of the Internet in Church Callings

You are correct in that it shouldn't duplicate what the church provides, but if it's for non-church communication, I don't know as I'd see it as duplicating.

The biggest issue with Circles is the inability to include visitors and investigators.

[ambldsorg]

The biggest issue with Circles is the inability to include visitors and investigators.

The biggest problem with GroupMe (in my opinion obviously) is that they only allow people to sign up using a cell phone number, not an email address.

Not that Circles is any better in this regard as unfortunately, unless things have changed recently, it is only possible to use Circles from a "smart" phone.

[wrigjef]

Yes it would be nice if there was a “living” desktop app and/or accessable on a website

[BrianEdwards]

My Ward actively used circles. The RS&EQ have recently decided to create group me pages for non-church related communication. Is this appropriate? What is and is not appropriate use for circles?

I've looked a bit and haven't really found a "do-and-do-not" explanation for Circles -- there's lists of things you "can" do in Circles, but not really any description of what might "not" be desired. That said, various articles state things like "The Gospel Living app focuses on living a Christ-centered life". Our ward recently started using Circles for adults and within a couple months, the Bishop had to refocus the posts, with a reminder that things like "we have lots of extra hydrangeas, anyone want some?" aren't exactly the intent of the Circles app.

That said, different leaders/members will feel quite strongly in their own ways about what is or is not appropriate. I expect the Bishop in coordination with the Ward Council will want to establish the vision of different communication methods that make sense for their members, and then keep an eye on how well the implementation and usage goes.

[wrigjef]

Part of my issue is that we live in a somewhat isolated community and about 70 to 75% of the community is LDS. We have a community Facebook page so my argument is that we don’t need a group me for Non church related stuff because it could go on the Facebook page if it's really non-church related. I also make the point that “ward” is a geographic distinction so everyone who lives within the boundaries is in the ward, some of them just have not joined the church yet.