It seems that the Watchtower Society was very ill prepared for the advent of the Internet. Perhaps, some of the governing body thought the end would come before it became a big problem. Now it is a big problem and is only going to get worse.

I wonder if they made a big mistake by being so critical of the Internet in it's early years. If they encouraged witnessing on the Internet, they could have easily drowned out the voices of apostates. Now some witnesses are using the Internet to try to defend the Watchtower Society, but they often just make themselves look silly. For example, suppose someone puts up a video that is favorable to Jehovah's Witnesses on Youtube. The people who watch it see all sorts of links to related videos that are critical of Jehovah's Witnesses. If a Witness makes a comment, then it usually doesn't take long for former members to point out its flaws.

This is a big dilemma for the Watchtower Society. If they relax their stand on the Internet, they will lose a lot of members who are suddenly exposed to the facts. If they continue to be critical of using the Internet, then they will eventually be overcome be technical advances that make the Internet an important and nearly unavoidable part of daily life. Either that or they will have to withdraw even further from normal society.

Since the Internet is becoming more social, it is becoming harder to view favorable information without also seeing contrary opinions. Of course the official websites of Jehovah's Witnesses don't allow commenting and still have some control over the information (assuming you weren't distracted by apostate sites that came up in a Google search). How long is that going to last? Sites that don't allow comments already face a modest disadvantage because active commenting can help a sites in search results. This trend will probably continue. I assume they will try to maintain their control over information, but this may cause their sites to become increasingly irrelevant and hard to find.

I can also imagine a time in the not too distant future when it will be far more difficult for site owners to avoid public debate of their claims. Suppose you could install a little device on your search engine that allows you to see what others have thought about the site you are visiting or will take you to other sites (like this one) that provide commentary about their information. This could be devastating for the Watchtower Society.

How do you think the Internet will effect the Watchtower Society in the future?

If you know my posts from some usenet discussion groups the internet served me very well as you can see . I am not from Jehovah Witnesses organization but I am sympathizing with them as they clearly surpass other religious organizations. I am not saying they preaching  without mistakes but they are the number 1 from all religious organizations as a whole.

Any time you go from them you have to find the better replacement : the better religious organization not according to your thinking but according to what the Bible says.

If my prediction of the end of the present evil world order comes true in 2011 AD the future for the both : the Watchtower and the internet looks  fantastic in God's Kingdom.

DT,

I think you are right on with your assessment of the Internet's impact on the Borg.  But, I think you may be a little too generous in how long it is going to take for the trickle of anti-JW info, that witnesses are acquiring from the internet, to turn into a flood.  Kids at school are increasingly internet saavy and often use the internet to research things for school.

I believe that this is one reason the Borg has come down hard on higer education ban.  The internet is such an integral part of university life that anyone who goes to college will inevitably be exposed to the real truth about the Dubs.  The Borg is nothing more than a crackpot, adventist, millenialist, pie-in-the-sky church and they know that the internet will completely blow their cover.

Even if the Borg is able to maintain the status quo with current members (which is highly doubtful--see "V's" Watchtower Comments that cites the statistic of 61% of recent converts leaving the Borg), they will be unable to attract significant numbers of new converts if the anti-JW internet sites remain so prevalent (and there is every reason to believe they will) when search engines bring them up.  Additionally, as previously mentioned, the effect of the internet on young ones,in the Borg is bound to be devastating.

My Dad was an US Navy veteran and he had an expression that perfectly describes the position the Borg is in ....whatever their response it is going to be like "shoveling shit against the tide".... they are not going to be just done, they are going to be well done by the internet.

Alex

some of the governing body thought the end would come before it became a big problem.

The grumbling body doesn't actually BELIEVE the crap they feed to their R&F. I suspect that they'll try to ban the internet soon. It reminds me of what I overheard this sister with a thick Jamacian accent saying once:

"Dat intah-net, it's just taking so many of our brothers! It sure is Satan! I don't think we should even use dat intah-net!"

New light coming next month --

Clearly BTG is not the world empire of false religion - it is the internet.

Evidently "666" was the greek representation of "www"

They have really gone hard core against the Internet. But eventually I think inquiring minds will just want to know! So therefore look & scan the net

in the privacy of their own homes. Although most will be a younger generation a lot of older ones are just not into computers.

Hope

This is the future of the WTS and the Internet, nothing, just nothing.   The WTS can't tell the witnesses to stop using the internet when they themselves use it.  They can't tell a witness not to use the internet for fear of this , the more the WTS protests the more people are going to wonder why?  Is the WTS hiding something.  People aren't stupid, and most of them are not robots and yesbot either.

Is the Society trying to hide things from the congregations and its people.  Any honest person would say I can to use the internet and search for the answers I need.  They the WTS called the Televison the devils instrument also.

There is a lot of damage to the Society and they know that they can't deny it.  Do you know how many persons in congregations are afraid of the net, oh maybe a handful.  They are the elderly in most cases.  But even these days the number  of seniors using the internet has jumped into higher levels, Not all seniors are afraid of advancement .   Young kids of course are monitored by their parents.  But as for the rest and as free thinking and free moral agents we have the right to know answers to the inner secrets of the Organization.  The Internet makes the WTS look like a bunch of fanitical idiots.

Remember there are people who have never heard of Jehovah's Witnesses and I still find that incredibly difficult to see, but in consideration of the planets population being over 6 billion I guess 6 million seems pretty small. 

This pretty small scale has wreaked havoc with the lives of millions of former Jehovahs Witnesses.  I am wondering if statistically possible to computate how many people have been witnesses and have left and have never returned.  I suppose you may be able to say the ratio is 6 million to six million.   If the Organization stills uses that same old number 40,000 a year disfellowshipped leave that are baptized in one decade that is equivilant to 400,000 person and add that by sixty years your looking at about a figure of 24 million witnesses baptized who have left.   Those figures are pretty high.  I am being generous with the sixty year period because I recall them even using those figures in the early sixties.  Now consider how many of them are not baptized but have left as they became older and leaving the parental nest.  A lot of children dont' get baptized.  I fear fro the baptized ones who at 5 year and up are getting baptized and imagine by their teen years many have left or been marked as bad association.

So maybe a few go back.   Now a days  many of them won't  come back.   Is this the internets fault?

Things look pretty grim for the Watchtower Organization. 

Is the organzition feeling at its worse? I would say yes.  They have made fools of themselves many times over.  But then whose fault is that?  The Holy Spirt?  What a terrible thought that is.  Because when God's holy spirit is working then the witnesses wouldn't have to fear.  They know their goose is cooked.  They either change their policies and lighten up or bring down their own Organization from within.   It is newer ones who haven't much knowlege of the earlier years of the society and the society isn't going to volunteer that information.   Should people let bygones be bygones or what?

I think of Moses, how many millions did he bring out of Egypt?   Did God's Holy Spirit prove him wrong?  Absoultely not it worked for him because God was behind him all the way to the Red Sea and over then into the wilderness then to the land of milk and honey.  God had to scould the Jews many times but in the end there faith was blessed and they prospersed well.  For many hundreds of years.

So what is up with the WTS,  this they have forgotten what it is to be honest upright, not hypocritical, not liars and bloodguilty not protecting its people from sexual perverts and molesters.  There scandal is there own scandals.  You can't blame the internet and more then you can blame a television..

Orangefatcat

They already have current witnesses programmed in the most advanced internet nations so if they can achieve it there, how to rationalise?

Maybe what happens in JW territories in advanced nations helps them see what works and what doesn't?

Time will tell!

Maybe exJWs should be seeing what works and what doesnt about blowing all the lies and misleading reasoning?