How many members of A.A. know that our General Service Office in NYC creates what are called, “A.A’ Guidelines?”

My guess is – very few!

I was years into both my recovery and the work I was doing in the General Service structure before I learned about them and started studying them.  This one, (mg-18) “A.A. Guidelines – Internet” was the first one I ever read as I was asked to do a workshop presentation on “Anonymity and Social Media” back in 2013 and someone suggested I go to aa.org, search “mg-18” and download it to help me in my research.

I was quite literally blown away when I read it because not only did it provide “shared experience” on the topic of anonymity and social media, it shared how we can best use the Internet to carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic AND stay within the guardrails of the Traditions.

This particular Guideline offered some amazing experience on things like:

• A.A. TRADITIONS AND THE INTERNET
• GUARDING ANONYMITY ONLINE
• GENERAL SOCIAL NETWORKING WEB SITES
• A.A. WEB SITES—SETTING UP A LOCAL WEB SITE
• SPIRITUAL CONSIDERATIONS
• WEB SITE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• SELECTING A DOMAIN NAME
• WEB SITE CONTENTS
• POSTING SERVICE MINUTES AND REPORTS
• PERSONAL PHONE NUMBERS ON A.A. EVENT FLYERS
• “PRIVATE” SECTIONS OF A.A. WEB SITES
• ANONYMITY AND E-MAIL
• E-MAIL IN A.A. — ACCESS, ADDRESSES AND ROTATION
• ANONYMITY ON PERSONAL COMPUTERS
• THE DANGERS OF SPAM
• SPEAKER TALKS ONLINE
• ONLINE A.A. MEETINGS (a handful of Conference agenda items may changes this section in the near future)
• INTERNET STREAMING AND WEB CONFERENCING

If you haven’t seen this Guideline, I highly recommend you go to aa.org, search “mg-18” and download a free PDF copy of it.  Read it, share it with your sponsees, discuss it with other A.A. members, etc.  It is totally worth the read.  I learned so much and it helped me make more informed decisions as I continue to serve the Fellowship that saved my life.

Oh, and while your’e there, search other Guidelines available on topics like:

• “A.A Member Employed in the Field of Alcoholism”
• “A.A. Answering Services”
• “Accessibility for All Alcoholics”
• “Central or Intergroup Offices”
• “Conferences, Conventions and Roundups”
• “Relationship Between A.A. and Al-Anon”
• “Relationship Between A.A. and Clubs”
• And Much More!

Happy Reading!