Controversial Opinion: Why the web site campaign is actually brilliant

by Apognophos 54 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  done4good

  Apognophos-

  I see your point, but I do believe it has some important caveats.

  I think time will only tell if this campaign increases membership. Quantitative measures tend to be very susceptible to being skewed in WT land, mostly due to their proprietary methodology of membership accounting.

  That being said, qualitatively, I think this is suicide. They are throwing in the towel on ever being able to reach the intelligent and critical thinking folks. Here is why:

  1. They are way too late to the internet.

  2. As some have pointed out, the website is one-way. No thinking person would tolerate not being able to ask questions or comment openly.

  3. Any thinking person would definately look for answers elsewhere if their questions were not or could not be answered.

  4. The only thing to my knowledge that has ever worked converting an intelligent person was personal attention from another person. If a thinking person spent any length of time by themselves reading through, watching videos, etc. from this site, they would come to the conclusion all on their own that something is not quite right, with no one to talk them out of that thinking.

  5. It is not going to be "healthy", (from a WT perspective), for existing members. Less social interaction, and more dependence on electronic media will not produce greater control, (which the WT needs to survive).

  I think this is a very good sign this authoritarian regime is under serious external social stress.

  d4g
• 

  steve2

  Why does God permit wickedness? I now know where to go to the sole "unique" website to answer that question! Fantastic!
• 

  jw07

  By the way jw.org is offline for now.
• 

  LisaRose

  I think you have a point Apog. My feeling was not that the website itself is a bad idea, but that it's twenty years too late. It made them look backwards that they didn't get the importance of a web presence before this, but it is an improvement.

  My other comment was that it's quite labor intensive to have people go out handing out leaflets, it would not be cost effective for most organizations, but since they have a large, free labor force, why not? I doubt that it will be very effective, but who knows? It will probably be more effective than what they were doing before.
• 

  daringhart13

  Yeah......for the mindless, which is exactly who they are targeting.

  You would have to literally suspend all thought.....ALL thought.....to hand someone a tract and say you would back it with your life.

  Jehovah's Witnesses are one of several human tragedies. It's a study in laziness and chosen ignorance.

  I would be willing to bet that the majority of JW's never visit their own website.
• 

  steve2

  If the website is too successful, it will be a slap in the face for the door-to-door workers. The Watchtower had better be very careful how it "parades" internet success because it will throw up how much your average JW hates the door-to-door work and how dismally ineffective it has become for recruiting.

  Tightrope time?
• 

  yadda yadda 2

  Wrong, wrong, wrong. It is utterly dumb and counter-productive for obvious reasons you overlook:

  • Anyone who checks the website out after accepting the tract will also do a google search on JW's and check apostate websites. 'Worldings' are not stupid enough to only check out some pseudo-religious cult's website without flipping the coin and seeing the other side on the internet.
  • It's dumb because it cheapens the message. JW's are not actually giving a 'witness' by doing this. They are reduced to mere leaflet distributors, akin to junk-mail letterbox distributors.
  • By so undermining the JW's door-to-door preaching 'ministry' and putting so much emphasis on their website, the leadership undermines the motivation of JW's to bother giving a future genuine verbal 'witness' at door-steps. In the minds of many JW's, especially the already high percentage of JW's who just go through the motions putting in as little effort possible, perceiving themselves as a kind of glorified magazine salesman on behalf of the organisation, this will just be the final nail in the coffin. What is the point of going 'door-to-door' anymore and trying to give a proper scriptural witness when the public can just visit JW.ORG and get all the 'content' they need there?
• 

  prologos

  The mood projected by the lead elders here is it is the panacea for the thirsty for answers public, that the house holders are lapping it up. from the lap tops.

  if it pans out, it will be a different cult.

  all the bible personal researchers culled.
• 

  RichardHaley

  You gotta admit, no one else is going door-to-door to tell you to visit websites.

  This was my thought exactly... from an Internet Marketer's standpoint one can't help be jealous... no worries about keyword research, back links, or paid advertising... just employ your army of slaves to send you the traffic and in turn the search engines will reward you with great page placement since you must seemingly providing valuable content to your readers, why else for all the traffic? Throw enough sh*t on the wall and some will stick.
• 

  smiddy

  I see it as a ruse to keep the the JW`s mind off the fact that one hundred years of Christs rule has really accomplished nothing that they can point to with a householder , to prove they are being used by God.

  Once upon a time books did that , such as : " Your Will Be Done On Earth " an examination of daniels prophecy in the 20th century , and the march of the World Powers , then their was " Life Everlasting In freedom Of The Sons Of God " pinpointing 6000 years since mans creation , and the 1000 years of Christs reign to begin in 1975 .

  They did have their own radio station , WBBR , if I remember correctly which they ran for many years in the USA , and obviously this wasn`t profitable for them as it was discontinued and sold. And no doubt an ineffective tool for them to keep using. Maybe even embarrasing for them.

  I`ll bet my bottom last dollar that JW.ORG does not have Q.&A. page that is visible for all to see without being filtered , they will censor and screen all questions like they do with their magazines.

  smiddy