On Saturday, President Russell M. Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called for female members to fast from social media for 10 days. (Men were not included in this challenge.)
Many female Latter-day Saints have already heeded the call and begun social media fasts. So many, in fact, that entrepreneurs, politicians and advocates are struggling to keep in contact with this large demographic. Moreover, many of the people who rely on social media to reach their clients and constituencies also happen to be female Latter-day Saints themselves. For these women, a fast from social media isn’t just time away from cat videos, it is a potential financial hit to the businesses that support their families, lost momentum in political campaigns for an election that is less than a month away, or the absence of much-needed voices of women to address issues critical to the nation and the world—issues in which women, on average, tend to differ dramatically in opinion and perspective from their male counterparts.
At the Exponent II, our mission is to elevate the voices of Mormon* women. Now is a critical time for us to fulfill this mission. During this time of social media fasting, we are dedicating this space as a forum for Latter-day Saint women to share businesses and campaigns you support with each other—without relying on social media.
Feel free to share your business websites, your campaign websites, and your nonprofit or grassroots organizational websites in the comments below, as well as those of Latter-day Saint women that you support. During the next week or so, return to this site and click on the links to learn more about the great work your sisters are doing in the world—even without the aid of Facebook or Twitter.
With a little resourcefulness—a virtue our pioneer foremothers taught us well—we can help Latter-day Saint women who want to heed the call to fast from social media to mitigate its side effects for their businesses, campaigns and causes.
*Note: Exponent II uses the term Mormon to describe a broader demographic than members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints only. The Exponent serves all people who identify as Mormon women or Latter-day Saints, including women with cultural ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but not current membership and women from other branches of Mormonism such as the Community of Christ.
