Whatever you do, please, please, please do not watch the Pulpit & Pen Twitter feed during the 2019 Annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting. That’s the message sent out to SBC pastors.
In a post entitled, SBC Annual Meeting Guide 2019, Southern Baptist pastors were warned against reading our Twitter feed, which auto-tweets articles from P&P.
Under a subtitle, Block or Mute Anonymous Accounts You Find in SBC Annual Meeting Hashtags, the pastors are warned:
Americans are more aware of the dangers of manipulation by faceless Twitter bots/trolls than we ever have been because of our running conversation in the political realm about how foreign agents attempt to manipulate U.S. poltics [sic] through these kinds of accounts.
They then proceed to warn about P&P.
Of course, we are not a “pseudo news blog.” We have three or four times the readership of the Southern Baptist-owned Baptist Press or the more-mainstream Baptist News Global. If we’re pseudo-news, what does that make the SBC news outlet?
It’s weird that Southern Baptists would be warned about “anonymous” accounts and then mention my name. The full title of P&P was, “The Pulpit & Pen of JD Hall.” It’s hardly a secret. Click “about us” on the website. It tells you about me, our website, our statement of faith, my church, and provides all the necessary links for you to find out more about us. We couldn’t be less anonymous.
Furthermore, all the writers at P&P identify themselves, unless on rare occasion, someone is scared for their Southern Baptist job. And if somebody tweets from P&P it’s either our Editor, Communications Manager, or Lead Admin (all of them are listed on the website by name).
One wonders how we avoid “public embarrassment and real-world consequences” when our name is on stuff…everywhere.
Now, let me ask you. Who’s “fake news”? Who’s ill-informed? Whoever wrote this stupid post to warn Southern Baptist pastors about anonymous Twitter accounts and then lists P&P as their #1 public enemy.
What are Southern Baptists so afraid of that they have to beg people not to watch our news feed during the Convention? The answer is the truth.
Thanks for the spotlight.
[Contributed by JD Hall]
