One of our newer Brothers at Doric Lodge in Seattle has created a group for us on the Telegram app, as a way of keeping in touch, and planning our future events.
As a proud luddite (or perhaps just a weirdo) I’ve not signed up for it yet. I figure that I’ll have to give him my phone to set it up for me.
Now today, just a few minutes ago actually, I received a request from a very rural Masonic District to sign up for their Telegram, with the same purpose in mind.
So it seems that Telegram has reached widespread adoption, from the city to the mountains.
Does your Lodge use Telegram?
If so, do you find that it improves communications?
Nov 21, 2023·edited Nov 21, 2023Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
Our lodge has a WhatsApp group which is quite similar, it's a group-text system where you can all send and see messages.
It's very handy for a quick chat, arranging an informal meet-up or just asking a question; alot of the brethren nowadays frequently have their phones to hand so on dropping a quick message in the chat, a reply often pings back fairly quickly.
It is important to note that not everyone has it, so any arrangements which are rustled together do still need to be emailed to the whole lodge to ensure nobody is missed out
District 19 uses this app as well. So, in turn, I'm trying to see if it can gain traction here. I'm open to any mean of communication to reach as many brothers at a single time!
Our Junior Warden last night mentioned an app called Bands. Worth looking into!
I feel like Telegram suffers from the many of the same pitfalls that WhatsApp and regular Text Messaging have. I personally don't see it as a differentiator in the medium of communication, but with that said, I think that if anything "works" for your lodge in terms of communication then you should continue to use it.
I've thought about the communication problem A LOT. Ultimately, email always has to be the "official" form of communication and it should be emphasized that nothing can truly replace that at this time. Email just spans the range of every generation in lodge currently.
Outside of email, text messaging has become incredibly popular over the past 15 years in lodges. The problem with text messaging is HUGE. People tend to like it because it's an easy and quick way to send a message, but for some people, if they receive a text message while they are in the middle of something, they may read it, put it back in their pocket, and then forget the message existed later in the day. This happens A LOT, and they probably receive many other text messages like that throughout the day. It just makes all the messages a bit less important. Additionally, group text messages are the bane of all my lodges. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to lodge and someone says "oh did you bring that thing from the text message?", and when I check my messages I didn't actually get that message. What happened was there were 5 different group text message threads in lodge with slightly different combinations of members so they thought I was on it when I wasn't.
I have gotten two lodges on an application called Slack which has been wildly successful in one lodge and only mildly successful in the other. The advantages with Slack are it allows for "locked" channels where we can discuss degree planning without EAs/FellowCrafts listening in. It also allows for extremely easy media sharing so in the "Temple Board" channel we can share clips of security cameras very easily. And this application is WIDELY used in the tech community so many people are already familiar with it. The application can also be used on any device that can check email so it's sometimes "easier" for members to get home and take a look at Slack when they are on their computer rather than when they are on their phone to catch up on all the conversations. I gave an educational talk on this platform at Occidental and it was received extremely favorably.
The problem is, there are 101 different messaging apps, and I personally get tired of having to install a different app for different groups. I tend to ignore them all. Even FB Messenger has group chat ability, but not everyone has an account on FB. And I get these group chat requests from multiple groups that I belong to, and it drives me nuts. And with SMS, it's like once I get a group text, I can't friggin leave, people I don't know will message the group, but unless they are in my contacts, all it shows is a phone number.
I want to just chuck it all in the ocean.
It is the same with email. Half the time people tell me "I didn't get your email". Well, you did, it just didn't go to your inbox. Or, you ignored it. Since I manage an email server at work, I know what the process is, and you received that email if I didn't get a bounce back saying undeliverable.
A million ways to contact someone, and they all have issues.
Most of my Lodges and bodies use email, robocalls, occassional prtint, and the membership system Our Lodge Page. However, my Mother Lodge uses group texts (SMS) and I find it annoying and hard to follow.
Telegram and WahtsApp are nice alternatives, as they keep things tidy "in the channel" rather than mixed with tons of other emails and texts.
I haven't been able to get anyone near me to adopt any collaboration-oriented software, but I would LOVe to see it.
I believe that any app that allows for quick fast access to information, or being able to communicate in a secure manner with another Brother is important. Yes, email is a "preferred" 'paper' trail, so we should keep doing that. The benefits of using Telegram are that the messages are encrypted end to end, and it also has a voice calling service that is encrypted as well. Multiple things can be done with it, text, voice, video, photos, etc. It's also able to be used on PCs as well. The security of the app also relies on the user as well. If you are someone that doesn't have a screen lock, or some sort security to prevent others from just picking up your phone and using it, then the security of the app doesn't really matter at that point.
I belong to two lodges in District 19. Both are making use of Telegram in a couple of different ways. We have chat groups for the district and individual lodges that help get the word out about events, goings-on, etc. I think it really shines as a great tool when it comes to coordinating among committees and smaller groups. Much of the Lodge Officer communication takes place via telegram. I find it very convenient to be able to update my officers about something and have have a "conversation" about it. The features found on Telegram can be found on other messaging apps as well, but I do prefer the security of it vs. a Meta product or the like. We also coordinate events and degrees with this platform. We have a big event coming up in the new year, and the committee hasn't had to meet in person yet because of the ease of use and features.
I'm starting to sound like a shill for Telegram, but for me, it's a great solution. As I mentioned, you can find most, if not all of the same features on other messaging apps, etc. This is just my preferred mode of communication with smaller groups.
I'd like to thank everyone for chiming in here with your thoughts and experiences! I appreciate it, and I think the discussion will be helpful to others as well.
Based on this, and the fact that one Lodge I'm active with, and one district that I enjoy being connected to are using Telegram, I guess I'll take the plunge. Now I just need to find my steward and convince him to set it up for me.
I will say that years ago, Centralia Lodge did have great success using Facebook for Lodge communications. It was a superb tool for us. But, its usefulness plummeted as the algorithm changed and our posts became less and less visible to our own members.
Let me be upfront about text messaging. I spent a good deal of my working life prior to retirement with the telephone company (AT&T). I was in the part of the company that pioneered cell phone technology and email. With the phones, we marketed them as a tool where you are "calling a person, instead of a place." I was cool with this. Then email came along. A good fast way to send information over long distances (my alma mater was one of the original DARPA sites with internet connectivity and email messaging). I was cool with this. Then came text messaging. WTF? I asked one of our engineers what the allure of SMS (short messaging service) compared to email. He stared at me like I was the class dunce. Then came all these SMS services, a variation of SMS. Your post piqued my curiosity. So I asked me kid (also named Cameron, no relation to you, and not a kid any more, a grownup with a regal title of IT Administrator for a medical group). So, I posed the Telegraph question to him. Feeling like Marty McFly, he too stared at me like I was a dunce. Actually, WB Jon Lind, who is a retired telco engineer, gives me the same stare so my reputation precedes me. So my kid tells me that unlike email, Telegram has end-to-end encryption. I write a lot and the stuff I write about is not top secret in any sense, except when my keyboard and grammar check take over and turn my beautiful prose into unintelligible mush. Which is why I don't use telegrams, telephones or any other modern communication convenience except to harass the noble and well-spoken founder of this site, who probably, and with good reason, uses another marvel of technology when he sees something from me. A delete button.
Our lodge has a WhatsApp group which is quite similar, it's a group-text system where you can all send and see messages.
It's very handy for a quick chat, arranging an informal meet-up or just asking a question; alot of the brethren nowadays frequently have their phones to hand so on dropping a quick message in the chat, a reply often pings back fairly quickly.
It is important to note that not everyone has it, so any arrangements which are rustled together do still need to be emailed to the whole lodge to ensure nobody is missed out
Undecided. Has some interesting features, but I have app fatigue.
District 19 uses this app as well. So, in turn, I'm trying to see if it can gain traction here. I'm open to any mean of communication to reach as many brothers at a single time!
Our Junior Warden last night mentioned an app called Bands. Worth looking into!
I feel like Telegram suffers from the many of the same pitfalls that WhatsApp and regular Text Messaging have. I personally don't see it as a differentiator in the medium of communication, but with that said, I think that if anything "works" for your lodge in terms of communication then you should continue to use it.
I've thought about the communication problem A LOT. Ultimately, email always has to be the "official" form of communication and it should be emphasized that nothing can truly replace that at this time. Email just spans the range of every generation in lodge currently.
Outside of email, text messaging has become incredibly popular over the past 15 years in lodges. The problem with text messaging is HUGE. People tend to like it because it's an easy and quick way to send a message, but for some people, if they receive a text message while they are in the middle of something, they may read it, put it back in their pocket, and then forget the message existed later in the day. This happens A LOT, and they probably receive many other text messages like that throughout the day. It just makes all the messages a bit less important. Additionally, group text messages are the bane of all my lodges. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to lodge and someone says "oh did you bring that thing from the text message?", and when I check my messages I didn't actually get that message. What happened was there were 5 different group text message threads in lodge with slightly different combinations of members so they thought I was on it when I wasn't.
I have gotten two lodges on an application called Slack which has been wildly successful in one lodge and only mildly successful in the other. The advantages with Slack are it allows for "locked" channels where we can discuss degree planning without EAs/FellowCrafts listening in. It also allows for extremely easy media sharing so in the "Temple Board" channel we can share clips of security cameras very easily. And this application is WIDELY used in the tech community so many people are already familiar with it. The application can also be used on any device that can check email so it's sometimes "easier" for members to get home and take a look at Slack when they are on their computer rather than when they are on their phone to catch up on all the conversations. I gave an educational talk on this platform at Occidental and it was received extremely favorably.
I have not heard of Telegram.
The problem is, there are 101 different messaging apps, and I personally get tired of having to install a different app for different groups. I tend to ignore them all. Even FB Messenger has group chat ability, but not everyone has an account on FB. And I get these group chat requests from multiple groups that I belong to, and it drives me nuts. And with SMS, it's like once I get a group text, I can't friggin leave, people I don't know will message the group, but unless they are in my contacts, all it shows is a phone number.
I want to just chuck it all in the ocean.
It is the same with email. Half the time people tell me "I didn't get your email". Well, you did, it just didn't go to your inbox. Or, you ignored it. Since I manage an email server at work, I know what the process is, and you received that email if I didn't get a bounce back saying undeliverable.
A million ways to contact someone, and they all have issues.
Most of my Lodges and bodies use email, robocalls, occassional prtint, and the membership system Our Lodge Page. However, my Mother Lodge uses group texts (SMS) and I find it annoying and hard to follow.
Telegram and WahtsApp are nice alternatives, as they keep things tidy "in the channel" rather than mixed with tons of other emails and texts.
I haven't been able to get anyone near me to adopt any collaboration-oriented software, but I would LOVe to see it.
I’ve never heard of Telegram, but I’m slow to explore such things due to the aforementioned app fatigue.
My Blue lodge uses Slack, which I sometimes remember to check for messages.
Jay
I believe that any app that allows for quick fast access to information, or being able to communicate in a secure manner with another Brother is important. Yes, email is a "preferred" 'paper' trail, so we should keep doing that. The benefits of using Telegram are that the messages are encrypted end to end, and it also has a voice calling service that is encrypted as well. Multiple things can be done with it, text, voice, video, photos, etc. It's also able to be used on PCs as well. The security of the app also relies on the user as well. If you are someone that doesn't have a screen lock, or some sort security to prevent others from just picking up your phone and using it, then the security of the app doesn't really matter at that point.
I belong to two lodges in District 19. Both are making use of Telegram in a couple of different ways. We have chat groups for the district and individual lodges that help get the word out about events, goings-on, etc. I think it really shines as a great tool when it comes to coordinating among committees and smaller groups. Much of the Lodge Officer communication takes place via telegram. I find it very convenient to be able to update my officers about something and have have a "conversation" about it. The features found on Telegram can be found on other messaging apps as well, but I do prefer the security of it vs. a Meta product or the like. We also coordinate events and degrees with this platform. We have a big event coming up in the new year, and the committee hasn't had to meet in person yet because of the ease of use and features.
I'm starting to sound like a shill for Telegram, but for me, it's a great solution. As I mentioned, you can find most, if not all of the same features on other messaging apps, etc. This is just my preferred mode of communication with smaller groups.
I'd like to thank everyone for chiming in here with your thoughts and experiences! I appreciate it, and I think the discussion will be helpful to others as well.
Based on this, and the fact that one Lodge I'm active with, and one district that I enjoy being connected to are using Telegram, I guess I'll take the plunge. Now I just need to find my steward and convince him to set it up for me.
I will say that years ago, Centralia Lodge did have great success using Facebook for Lodge communications. It was a superb tool for us. But, its usefulness plummeted as the algorithm changed and our posts became less and less visible to our own members.
Let me be upfront about text messaging. I spent a good deal of my working life prior to retirement with the telephone company (AT&T). I was in the part of the company that pioneered cell phone technology and email. With the phones, we marketed them as a tool where you are "calling a person, instead of a place." I was cool with this. Then email came along. A good fast way to send information over long distances (my alma mater was one of the original DARPA sites with internet connectivity and email messaging). I was cool with this. Then came text messaging. WTF? I asked one of our engineers what the allure of SMS (short messaging service) compared to email. He stared at me like I was the class dunce. Then came all these SMS services, a variation of SMS. Your post piqued my curiosity. So I asked me kid (also named Cameron, no relation to you, and not a kid any more, a grownup with a regal title of IT Administrator for a medical group). So, I posed the Telegraph question to him. Feeling like Marty McFly, he too stared at me like I was a dunce. Actually, WB Jon Lind, who is a retired telco engineer, gives me the same stare so my reputation precedes me. So my kid tells me that unlike email, Telegram has end-to-end encryption. I write a lot and the stuff I write about is not top secret in any sense, except when my keyboard and grammar check take over and turn my beautiful prose into unintelligible mush. Which is why I don't use telegrams, telephones or any other modern communication convenience except to harass the noble and well-spoken founder of this site, who probably, and with good reason, uses another marvel of technology when he sees something from me. A delete button.