Religion and Electronic Media

[rug]

One-in-Five Americans Share Their Faith Online

November 6, 2014

In an average week, one-in-five Americans share their religious faith online, about the same percentage that tune in to religious talk radio, watch religious TV programs or listen to Christian rock music. And nearly half of U.S. adults see someone else share their religious faith online in a typical week.

These are among the key findings from a survey conducted in May and June of 2014 that asked 3,217 adults from the Pew Research Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel whether they had engaged in various kinds of religious activities during the previous week.

Fully 20% of Americans said they had shared their religious faith on social networking websites or apps (such as Facebook and Twitter) in the past week, and 46% said they had seen someone else share “something about their religious faith” online. The percentage of Americans who shared their own faith online is similar to the proportions who said they watched a religious TV program (23%), listened to religious talk radio (20%) or listened to Christian rock music (19%). Even more (40%) said they shared something about their religious faith “offline, in a real-life setting.” By way of comparison, in Pew Research telephone surveys conducted in 2014, 35% of Americans have reported attending religious services at least once a week.

The survey suggests that religious engagement through TV, radio, music and the internet generally complements – rather than replaces – traditional kinds of religious participation, such as going to church. Americans who said they frequently attend religious services were more likely to engage in these electronic religious activities than those who said they attend religious services less often. And white evangelicals and black Protestants — two groups with high levels of traditional religious observance — shared their faith online, watched religious TV and listened to religious talk radio more often than other large U.S. religious groups.

http://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/06/religion-and-electronic-media/

[cbayer]

1. Those numbers are really high.

I know so few people that do any of these things. I know my sample is very skewed.

It does explain why there is so much religious proselytizing on Facebook, though.

There are some interesting graphs in the article as well.

[rug]

2. I wonder how religious discussions on the internet compare to ateheist discussions.

[cbayer]

3. That would be a very interesting question to study as well.

[pinto]

4. Personal anecdote -

I check out Facebook maybe once a week to see what my nieces and nephews are up to, they're regulars users. I also used it to see how a former co-worker was doing. Though we had very different backgrounds and world views we hit it off during our time working for the same program. (She's an evangelical Christian, committed Republican). Lost her husband very suddenly - brain aneurysm or heart failure, I can't remember what it was exactly. All of a sudden she was a single mom facing some steep financial challenges (our program had been de-funded, so we were all laid off). So I wanted to keep in touch at some level.

Anyway, I followed her updates on her life, her family and her occasional religious comments. At first they were pretty benign - prayer for the day, trust in Jesus, that sort of thing. Over time the religious content grew more pointed, especially as the situations in the mid-east blew up. Eventually she became more vocal with her opinions about it all, Muslims in particular. Crossed the line into extremist militancy, imo. Right to the point of advocating the destruction of Islam.

I found it really disturbing. Someone I knew as a kind hearted, personable and very funny person became someone totally different, apparently. I couldn't read anymore, "unfriended" her or whatever it's called in Facebook world.

Just one example and it could be an anomaly in the bigger picture.

[rug]

6. The interrnet brings out the worst in people, on rare occasions, the best.

Must be the anonymity.

Sorry your friend changed.

[xfundy]

5. "Sharing their faith" also means

frequently and gleefully telling others they're gonna burn in hell.

[rug]

7. The internet tends to spread exaggerations and untruths quite rapidly.

[Promethean]

8. No.

Fundies frequently and gleefully tell people they are going to hell straight to their face all the time as well. My time in Alabama can be described quite succinctly as being told I am going to hell constantly.

[rug]

9. Yes, I was redferring to your post.

But lots of people post that. Without challenging your anecdotes, that creates quite a diwstorted picture of the subject. The internet is good at that.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. Cheap shit, Rug.

You know full well we can't satisfy that challenge without revealing our identities.

I know you're not that ignorant of the world around you, so the only viable conclusion is, that was a deliberate rhetorical gambit. Cheap. Lame.

[rug]

11. Ah, a challenge to anecdotal evidence is identity theft.

Stupid shit, AC.