You may recognize him as the voice of the Branford Festival. Perhaps he blessed your pet—or your boat—during one of Branford’s past events. He’s put his voice and media talent to work for Branford Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking, serves as senior minister of Branford’s First Baptist Church, and in 2015 was named first chaplain of Branford Police Department. Right now, his striking photography is on exhibit at the Blackstone Library through Saturday, Oct. 31. But for Bill Keane, the most important date he’d like folks to remember is Thursday, Nov. 5.

That’s when Bill will moderate Finding Ourselves in a Facebook Generation: Understanding the Impact of Modern Media on Modern People, sponsored by Branford Police Department at 7 p.m. at Branford First Baptist Church. Bill will host a lively, informative panel discussion to help parents and youth navigate social media’s fast-moving stream of posts, texts, Tweets, Snapchats, Instagrams, et al. The free forum is open to the public and will include a question and answer segment.

“This issue has been percolating in my head for a while,” says Bill. “We’re all using social media. This is good way to take an objective look at it. One of the questions that comes up, for me, is, ‘Does social media make us more social?’ We can connect around the world, but sometimes it’s more difficult to connect with each other face to face.”

The forum opens with a brief video showing just how much humans actually rely on visual and vocal cues like gestures, facial expressions, timing, and even tone of voice to successfully communicate.

“None of those things take place in social media, so the parts of the brain used for this communication is different,” Bill explains. “The language is sometimes terse and can come across in a way that seems rather rude; it’s not what you intended.”

Other issues concerning fast-paced social media range from legal ramifications to creating an indelible digital trail for others to examine, from college admission boards to future employers.

“Some young folks don’t realize a lot of these things are really permanent and could impact them,” says Bill.

The digital age’s instant accessibility also affects societal norms.

“In terms of ethics, a lot of people today, if you can download a program [on] your computer [for] nothing, they’re thinking if you can pull it off the Internet, it’s not stealing. But if you took same item as hard goods from Kohl’s, that’s theft. So it almost changes the morality,” says Bill.

How about another norm, civility? For the answer, Bill points to social media’s access to anonymity, which he feels is “broadly and powerfully” diminishing civility.

“Posting anonymous comments—how does that impact our community discourse?” he asks. “In a newspaper, you have to submit your name and a valid address. On some of these sites, you can have a fictitious name.”

Ready to discuss all of this and more on Nov. 5 are panel members Chris Velardi (public relations pro and former News 8 anchorman), Dr. Marialice Curran, Branford Chief of Police Kevin Halloran, Tanya Lauer, Branford High School (BHS) health educator Jennifer Stackpole, and a member of the BHS student body.

“I really think our panel will positively enlighten and equip everyone who attends,” says Bill. “We have some great folks, and some are coming a long way to participate. Tanya [Lauer]’s coming in from Denver, where she’s a social media head.”

Bill says Lauer said she’s noticing, among other indicators, that “people don’t want to speak on the phone anymore.”

Finding Ourselves in a Facebook Generation is the first community forum hosted at First Baptist since he arrived, but Bill is certain it won’t be the last.

“It’s a new thing for us and we’re already looking ahead in the spring to do something similar. We feel it’s a good community service,” he says. “Our sanctuary is made for multi-purpose use, we’ve got a state-of-the-art audio visual system there, and there’s not a bad seat in the house.”

With 33 years in ministry (his first parish was in Australia), Bill arrived in Connecticut as senior minister for Mansfield Baptist church in 1988, then came to Branford as senior minister for First Baptist in 1997. With a B.A. in communications from the University of Miami followed by an eventful decade in broadcast media, Bill earned his M.Div. cum laude from Drew University in 1983 and was ordained with American Baptist Churches in Montclair, New Jersey.

Bill brings his creative talent and experience, as a minister and a media specialist, to Branford First Baptist and this town. His award-winning photography has been published nationally and internationally and viewed in local shows like his current exhibit at the Blackstone. Sharing his radio background, Bill has been Branford Festival emcee since 1998 and often emcees Jazz on the Green. He’s served on Branford Juvenile Review Board since 2001.

As a member of Branford Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking, he has written and produced six public service television commercials since 2007. Bill also produces radio spots heard locally, including Branford Festival’s 30th anniversary song, and his rap celebrating the birth of Christ (airing again this holiday season on KISS 95.7). With other area ministry, he has participated in annual Blessing of the Animals on the town Green and Blessing of the Fleet at Branford Harbor.

It’s a lot to contribute in just 18 years, but Bill says he’s happy to continue to do what he can for this town.

“Branford’s been great to me,” says Bill, adding that hosting the Facebook Generation forum here is especially important to him.

“I’ve never left media behind—I’ve been using it to do my community service thing,” says Bill. “As someone who began my professional career in radio, media has really been a long interest to me, and media has changed so much. Now, I have the chance to host this panel and help bring this to the community.”

The public is invited to attend Finding Ourselves in a Facebook Generation: Understanding the Impact of Modern Media on Modern People on Thursday, Nov. 5 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Branford First Baptist Church, 975 Main Street. The free forum is sponsored by Branford Police Department. No reservation is necessary; all are welcome. For more information, call 203-488-9777 or visit www.firstbaptistbranford.com.