Among the lessons learned by Diocesan staff—several times each year over the past decade—concerns the problems EDOW parishes have encountered in situations relating to control of their website and social media accounts. For example:
- A parish sought to move its hosting to a new provider only to find this couldn’t be accomplished until parish leaders traced the registration to a former parishioner who had arranged for the creation of the internet domain twenty years ago. The former parishioner had since died. Complicated and time-consuming efforts were required to transfer the domain registration to the parish.
- Another parish decided to increase use of its Facebook account in parish communications. The Facebook account had been created ten years ago, but had been used only sporadically. When the parish tried to change the administrator of the account, it couldn’t do so because it couldn’t locate the individual who, as a member of the youth group, had opened the Facebook account in the name of the parish before going off to college. The former youth member had since moved across the county and his other family members also had relocated in the meantime, to whereabouts unknown. The registration was transferred only after weeks of effort.
These are examples of internet domain and social media registration/administrative rights difficulties that EDOW parishes have confronted in recent years.
We recommend parishes verify internet domains and social media account registrations and administrative rights each year so that changes among volunteer leadership over time don’t jeopardize access to vital communication channels. Peter Turner, EDOW’s Technology Director, can help if you have questions or concerns.
