According to a new study from Grey Matter Research (Phoenix, AZ), 44% of online American adults (that’s 35% of all American adults) use the Internet for religious purposes. During the last 6 months:
· 19% have visited the website of a church or other place of worship they’re currently attending
· 17% have visited the website of a church or place of worship they’re not attending
· 19% have visited a website designed to provide religious instruction or learning
· 17% read religion-oriented blogs once a month or more
· 14% have a pastor or other religious leader as a friend on Facebook or a similar social network site
· 11% have visited the website of a group or organization from a religious faith that’s different from their own
· 1 out of 10 have “Liked” a church or other place of worship on Facebook or a similar social network site
· 8% participate in religion-oriented discussions online (e.g. bulletin boards or forums) once a month or more
· 2% follow a church or other place of worship on Twitter
· 2% follow a pastor or other religious leader on Twitter
· 57% of online adults under age 35 use the Internet for religion, compared to 48% who are 35 to 49 years old, 36% who are 50 to 64, and 31% who are 65 or older.
Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research, notes how much diversity there is in how the Internet is used for spiritual purposes:
No one type of religious use or method dominates Internet religion. Eight different activities we evaluated saw participation from between 8% and 19% of online adults, from blogs to church websites to social media. There’s tremendous diversity in who is using the Web for spirituality, but also in how it’s getting used for that purpose.
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