(Minghui.org) Nowadays, social media has become an important part of people’s lives. Around a quarter of the world’s population uses a certain social media platform, including many Chinese people. Using this platform to clarify the truth is a convenient channel to save people. In September 2020, to keep up with the times, the Minghui website launched a Chinese Minghui page. Articles published on the website are turned into eye-catching posts with well-crafted images and a short introduction. This is a big step towards clarifying the truth on social media.
New Platform for Truth Clarification and Promoting Dafa
Four posts are published daily on Minghui's social media page. To date, more than 1,000 Minghui articles have been published on social media with a minimum daily reach of 2,000 to 3,000 people. The page has received many comments and “likes” from followers. Some people who did not know the truth in the beginning and left negative comments changed their opinion through reading the page. One follower left a comment asking where to purchase Zhuan Falun after reading an article titled “Those Who Read Zhuan Falun Will Not Be Accepted in Hell.” Soon afterward, that person began practicing Falun Dafa. Most posts receive likes from thousands of followers soon after they are published. In the process, people learn about Dafa and the truth about the persecution.
Practitioners who manage the social media page regard their involvement as an opportunity to improve in cultivation. Many of them were not involved in the Minghui website previously and were not familiar with how the Minghui website or social media operates. After attending training sessions, studying the Fa, and sharing understandings, everyone understood that this is a tool created in line with current trends and is used to clarify the truth and save people. In an amazingly short period of time, the team became adept. Everyone had to create three posts every week. Forty-two weeks later, although some of these posts are now old, they are still being shared by followers.
Practitioners' personal cultivation stories, Falun Dafa's extraordinary health benefits, ancient cultivation stories, concepts of how good is rewarded and evil is punished, and so on move like water across our page, telling people “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
The page was launched just as the CCP virus began ravaging the world. Lockdown measures of varying degrees were imposed in most countries. People could not travel and had to stay home. Consequently they spend more time on their mobile phones and on social media. This greatly increased the chances of their seeing Minghui’s page. The worldwide pandemic offered us a unique and unforeseen way to clarify the truth.
Crafting Eye-Catching Posts
It is not a small challenge to write good posts. The editor has to carefully read the chosen Minghui article and gain an in-depth understanding of the cultivation aspect the article is trying to convey in order to write a good summary. Several editors said they'd never read Minghui articles so thoroughly before and that they felt as though they were communicating with the author on a deep level. The foreword needs to be written in 100-150 Chinese characters, and an exquisite image needs to go with it. This is the basis of an eye-catching post. To achieve the best results, the editors held discussions on techniques and principles in writing forewords and creating beautiful images. Some editors even signed up for writing lessons while others bought software and signed up for photo editing workshops to learn to create professional images.
In fact, all our social media posts are like shining truth-clarification flyers. They can effectively change people’s notions and save them. Therefore, every detail must be perfect, and the editors put in a lot of effort to achieve that.
Learning to Accept Edits to Posts
Every post needs to be proofread before it is published. After the editor comes up with a draft, it goes through an initial edit and final edit to make it more readable and ensure it accurately presents the article's main points. The editors have everyday jobs. Some of them are doctors, teachers, government workers, engineers and so on and are accomplished in their fields. But they are not familiar with writing or how Minghui operates. Consequently, the editors often have some attachment to their own work. They think the post they drafted is already good—they’d put in a lot of effort to create the photos, so why should there be edits?
There are also editors who cannot accept changes and want to quit the project. However the social media editors have to uphold a certain standard—if the finished product does not meet it, the article needs to be polished before it can be published. Of course both parties have their own views and often spend a lot of time sharing openly and finding ways to work together. They analyze why the changes were made and compare the before and after. In the end, most practitioners are able to let go of their notions and form one body. Thus, they improve and progress together.
Master said,
“I want the environment to be one in which everyone can accept criticism and at the same time look inside themselves. If everyone cultivates himself, everyone looks within, and everyone cultivates himself well, won’t the conflicts be few?” (Teachings at the Conference in Los Angeles)
A Piece of Pure Land on the Internet
I always thought social media was a big, dirty dye vat. All kinds of things are found there, and I was against it. However, studying the Fa made me change my thinking and revived my passion to save people. I realized that the articles on Minghui can be sent to even more practitioners, and even everyday people can clarify the truth through this page. It's just like handing out flyers at tourist spots or on the streets. It has the power to save people and change their negative thoughts, helping many people return to traditional culture and moral standards.
The Minghui Website Is a Treasure Trove
This is a new project, and it takes a lot of time. Every week I have to find more than 20 articles published under various categories on the Minghui website that are suitable for everyday people so the editors can work on them. I am also an editor. I have to pick one of these articles to create a post, edit the foreword and images, and schedule them for posting. After that, I begin to search for next week’s new articles. The job is tense and goes round and round.
As I read the articles published on Minghui, I was rewarded and moved by how rich the content is—the website is like a museum where one can recharge spiritually. It is also a great treasure trove. I have been involved in Minghui for 21 years, but now I often go to search for treasures. Every cultivation story is so moving. We should put our hearts into making posts out of these treasures and place them in the hands of everyday people and other practitioners.
Righteous Energy Only Comes from a Pure Heart
When we write a foreword for a Minghui article, we need to come from an angle everyday people can accept and that will attract their attention. We should consider how people who don’t know anything about Falun Dafa will react, and attract their attention and curiosity so that the gap between them and cultivators is smaller. The way we clarify the truth needs to align with everyday people’s attachments.
Often, the words reflect the editor’s thoughts. Only when the post is pure can it save people. When we see a post has a high reach, we feel encouraged to continue working harder. At the same time, we remind ourselves not to be zealous. On the other hand, when a post has a low reach, we reflect on how we can improve—is our writing lacking? Or do the images' colors or writing need adjusting? Everyone has the same feeling: the purer we are and the more we let go of self, the higher reach these posts often achieve.
Seizing the Opportunity to Practice Cultivation
One day, there was a problem with the Minghui page: none of the posts could be liked or shared. Others' social media pages were fine. I wondered if our page was suddenly being censored. I started to become very anxious. I calmed down to study the Fa, sent righteous thoughts, and looked within. I also took the approach of an everyday person and lodged a complaint.
Master said,
“You should always keep your thoughts righteous, and when you are confronted with evil or with certain situations, you should send forth righteous thoughts a lot; you need to clarify the truth and save sentient beings, but even more so should you cultivate yourselves well. If you don't cultivate yourselves well you won't have mighty virtue, what you say will not be in line with the Fa, and then you can't possibly save sentient beings. When what you say has no mighty virtue and no power, it will have no effect, and the evil will capitalize on that.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Manhattan International Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol V)
After looking within, I found that I had slacked off in cultivation, studying the Fa, and doing the exercises. I wasted a lot of time watching videos on the Internet. I decided to study the Fa first. In the end, things recovered very quickly. This incident taught me that I must seize the time to save people and practice cultivation. Once the opportunity is gone, it will be gone forever.
We have just launched our Minghui social media page. We hope that through continued, persistent efforts, the page’s influence will increase and more people will learn the truth.
Thank you, Master. I treasure this opportunity to improve in cultivation. I will be steadfast in practicing cultivation to the end.
(Presented during the 2021 Minghui Website Fa Conference)
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