You'll notice on the home page of LDSTeenHelp.com, that an extremely popular painting has been replaced with a video link. I think we will change videos every week and then have a page with past videos displayed. These are just inspirational videos that are church themed. This week's video is about the restoration and growth of the Church. I realize that whoever created this video most likely did not get proper copyright permission to use the music and clips that you'll see. I'm okay with that. Also, you'll notice the YouTube logo down in the corner. The simple fact is, YouTube allows you to show videos without denting your bandwith. I know that some people use YouTube to spend hours looking at dumb videos. I hope anyone who sees that we are using YouTube will not be tempted to explore the possibilities, but rather accept the much good content already provided.

Labels: lds, video, youtube

Recent conversations with a friend reminded me of a principle we've all known, but sometimes forget. This was made popular, in the LDS community at least, by Stephen R. Covey. When faced with a stimulus, a reaction occurs. The time that passes in between the stimulus and the response is where our agency takes place. We are and will be faced with many stimuli, but the reaction that occurs can be turned into a voluntary reaction. I've noticed about temptation that the adversary attempts to shorten the time between the stimulus and response so that we can't think about it (at least with temptations of the flesh) and the natural man response takes over. The more that we are able to lengthen this space and interject not only time between the stimulus and response but also decision making, we are able to become "agents unto ourselves." We know that there are things in this world "both things to act and things to be acted upon" (2 Ne 2:14). When we allow the natural reaction to occur to the tempting stimulus, then we are things to be acted upon and we are being acted upon by the chemical reactions within our body. When we take time out between stimulus and response, we separate ourselves emotionally from the situation and become things to act. Going back into the situation can, of course, bring us back to a level of things to be acted upon. We can change states. "And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves..." (Moses 6:56). "For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves" (D&C 58:28). We sometimes yield our agency and give up our right to act. We are creatures to act and not be acted upon, but whether or not we take advantage of that is determined in the stimulus - response cycle. That is why I've been told and I've told others, when tempted with something, always have an action you can perform that will separate yourself from the situation long enough for reason to set in. If you're trying to no longer eat chocolate ice cream (for example) then when you walk into the kitchen, open the freezer and suddenly have an overwhelming desire to eat the ice cream, rather than pulling it out of the freezer, take a moment, go outside, get some fresh air and take a quick walk. That walk determines whether or not you are an agent unto yourself and a thing to act and not be acted upon.

For any that haven't been following, facebook hit a bit of a defining moment this week and I think that they could not have handled it better. They recently launched what is called a mini-feed that basically allows any of your friends to see everything that you do on the website. If you write something to someone on their wall, your friends know about it. If you add a picture, your friends know about it, etc. Facebook thought that this was a great idea and way to enhance the community atmosphere of the social networking site. However, what they didn't take into consideration was one thing that sets them apart from other social networking sites, that is privacy. I've written on the differences between facebook and myspace before and in researching for that post, I found that privacy was one thing that many users regarded highly with facebook. I never occurred to me that this would ever be an issue with such a site.

Well, what happened was that facebook users basically revolted. Some reports say up to 600,000 complained (all in the course of a week). Facebook quickly created privacy settings for the mini-feed, allowing people to turn it off for some or all items. The open letter from Mark Zuckerberg to facebook users starts: "We really messed this one up." There are two lessons to take from this facebook story. First, they handled it extremely well and as a result are in little danger of users searching for a new site or competition being able to steal anyone away. Because the very first line is that they have messed up and they have spent two days trying to correct it, users will be very forgiving. A reiteration of core principles helped to remind users of why they chose facebook in the first place, whether they were conscious of it or not. The second lesson might be hidden. The fact is, facebook quickly changed, working around the clock, something that the users did not agree with because the users were able to voice their opinion and be heard. We are living in a day where people are tired of talking to computerized customer service lines, tired of phone trees, tired of talking to someone on the other side of the world, and companies are tired of paying ridiculous rates to offer live customer service based in the US. Perhaps facebook has a model here that many other corporations can adopt or at least adapt to their needs. Imagine a social network built around a company brand name and that network being the most powerful influence on company policy and practices. Imagine knowing almost instantly how a new product will be viewed in the marketplace and having access to your customer base with a few strokes on the keyboard. If television commercials are based on the idea that TV producers will produce a captive audience and advertisers will pay for access to that audience, then social networkers will soon be the ones that control the marketplace and be in place to make a lot of money. Just a thought.