Elder Ballard Becomes the First Apostle to Use Twitter
Contributed By By Marianne Holman Prescott, Church News staff writer
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Screen capture of Elder M. Russell Ballard in the October 2013 general conference.
Article Highlights
- Some Apostles are going to use Twitter to share their words, thoughts, and teachings.
- Elder Ballard was the first to tweet, and it took only two days for Elder Holland to follow suit.
“Thank you to all who tuned in to the devotional. It was a joy to be with you, both those in San Diego and throughout the world. #CESDevo” —Elder Ballard’s tweet
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After spending some time talking about using technology wisely during a Church Educational System devotional broadcast on May 4, Elder M. Russell Ballard became the first member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to send a tweet using the social platform Twitter.
Elder Ballard's tweet said, “Thank you to all who tuned in to the devotional. It was a joy to be with you, both those in San Diego and throughout the world. #CESDevo”
Although the Church has been using social media platforms such as Facebook and Google+ for quite some time, Sunday night marked the beginning of Apostles tweeting. “In addition to the official Facebook and Google+ pages for Church leaders that the Church has maintained on their behalf for some time now, these senior leaders have begun using Twitter to share their words, thoughts, and teachings,” LDS Church spokeswoman Jessica Moody said in a statement. “Elder Ballard’s tweet is the first to be shared, but other Church leaders will also be using Twitter in the near future.”
It took only two days for Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to follow suit. After speaking to missionaries at the Provo Missionary Training Center and, via satellite broadcast, to other MTCs around the world on May 6, Elder Holland tweeted at 10 p.m., “Being with missionaries is the greatest. Tonight it was the MTC in Provo, with all international MTCs listening in.”
Elder Ballard’s twitter handle is @M_RBallard, and he has more than 11,000 followers. Elder Holland’s handle is @J_R_Holland, and he has more than 8,000 followers.
