By Paige Tyson

@Pontifex. “Welcome to the official Twitter page of His Holiness Pope Francis.” Search this handle and this message welcomes visitors to the new Pope’s Twitter page.

His Twitter handle was chosen for the previous Pope, Benedict, and means “Bridge Builder.”

When Francis’ Public Relations manager was questioned about its meaning, he was quoted saying “The Pope wants to reach out to everyone.”

It is undeniable that Francis is doing a better job at reaching everyone than his predecessor was, especially in the Twitter world. According to the Catholic News Agency, the Twitter page has recently reached 10 million followers over nine different languages, up from Benedict’s 3 million.

The use of Twitter is a clear example of Uses and Gratifications Theory which explains the behavior of people’s use of media:

  • People will seek out specific forms of media for the information they desire
  • Used in public relations to better target messages to desired audiences

One particular group that the Catholic Church has struggled to reach is the younger generation of believers. The standards and practices of the church seem out of touch and the church needed a new way to reach them. The Catholic Church, with the Pope, presented chosen stories and events through the Uses and Gratifications Theory by using social media to target those who regularly use that outlet.

While using Twitter is an effective strategy to reach a society that is so in-tune with social media, it could have been seen as nothing more than novelty. However, a series of tweets proved to offer more than simply words of encouragement and advice from HisHoliness. In July of this year, the Vatican offered Indulgences for followers of Pope Francis’ tweets of World Youth Day.

An indulgence  is supposed to reduce the time that Catholics believe they will spend in Purgatory. There are limits and restrictions to this, as those following the hashtag #Rio2013 had to be following the events live, and would hinge on already having gone to confession and praying throughout the event with devotion.

The church explained the reason behind the decision, claiming that they are being mindful of those who cannot afford the trip to Brazil to attend the event in person. This is also an example of Uses and Gratifications because it brings a wider audience to the event, simply by putting it on a relevant outlet that they know their audience uses.

Hopefully the Pope will continue this trend of reaching people where they are at, regardless of location and circumstance. Because not only is his relevant approach great for his image, but every message of encouragement, is inspiring and reminding the faithful to do and be good, which is a goal everyone should have.