Information Age
As computer technology developed at a rapid pace in the 20th century, many scientists and journalists began referring to the dawning of an “information age.” Other periods of widespread information sharing across societies and languages had also represented “information ages,” such as the rise in literacy with the invention of the alphabet and the rise in numeracy with the emergence of arithmetic. Members of the Church first experienced unprecedented abundance of information with the spread of computer and digital technologies in the late 20th century. The Church embraced emerging multimedia and information systems as an early adopter, sometimes leading the way in the collection and delivery of genealogical and archival data.
After successful detonations of atomic and nuclear bombs in World War II and throughout the Cold War era, government officials across the world looked to defend their countries against the possibility of a thermonuclear attack. Development of a communications system capable of surviving such devastation was started in the late 1950s, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States. Around this same time, some university laboratories shared their research via computer networks and eventually extended access to the public. In these decades, data storage technology also advanced with hard drives and compact discs allowing for storage of massive amounts of data in small physical space. Engineers created standard methods for connecting computers, which by the 1980s had become a single shared network called the “internet.” A boom in regular users surged in the 1990s as companies sold access to consumers, which permanently transformed the speed and volume of information sharing far beyond previous levels.
The Church made extensive use of data storage and internet technologies early on, using microfilm as early as 1938 and subsequently adapting to new storage formats, starting the conversion of membership records into digital formats in 1991 and launching its first website in 1996. Church leaders spoke encouragingly of the internet’s capacity to spread the message of the gospel, and in 2000, they released the internet edition of the scriptures. A year later, Elder Dallin H. Oaks announced the launch of mormon.org, an internet tool for members and missionaries to share their testimonies, messages and articles from Church publications, and links to the Book of Mormon.At this same time, Church organizations also made significant strides in distributing genealogical data through the internet. FamilySearch.org launched in 1999, providing over half a billion indexed names and access to several genealogical databases previously accessible only in libraries and on microfilm. The pace of indexing and digitizing records continued steadily—in two decades, the Church had completed the digitization of all its 2.4 million rolls of microfilm, records containing data of some 11.5 billion people from more than 200 countries. Major archival expansions continued alongside significant genealogical advances, as the Church History Library opened in 2009 with larger and high-quality facilities for preservation, digitization, and distribution. Millions of records, including multimedia formats, became available through an online catalog, joining some of the world’s prestigious libraries in volume and access.
As social media platforms increased in popularity in the 2010s, Church leaders and members utilized new digital forums to post commentary, relay news, and share the gospel. Missionaries in New York piloted a multichannel program in 2010 in which they answered questions online, posted short blog articles, and shared links to Church publications on social media networks. Call centers at Missionary Training Centers soon added social media response to missionaries’ schedules, and in 2013, mobile devices were deployed to missionaries across the world for evangelizing online. Church leaders encouraged members and missionaries everywhere to share the gospel and embrace the truth of history through emerging technologies.
During the rapid rise of information technology, Latter-day Saints took an eager and cautious approach toward lending and consuming information. In 1999, President James E. Faust encouraged members of the Church to be wise consumers of information and to utilize the “wonders of technology” for sharing the gospel and showing “spiritual and moral leadership.” Leaders also consistently warned against pornography and urged countering misinformation and prejudice with accuracy, verifiable facts, and harmony. In 2020, new policy was added to the General Handbook of Instructions calling on the Church to “abandon attitudes and actions of prejudice toward any group or individual” and to seek and relay information from reliable sources. “The guidance of the Holy Ghost, along with careful study,” it counseled, “can help members discern between truth and error.”
Related Topics: Family History and Genealogy, Globalization, Broadcast Media, Church History and Recordkeeping, General Conference, Growth of Missionary Work, Church Periodicals