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When it comes to their technology profile, Americans who are members of religious groups are just as likely as others to use the Internet, have broadband at home, use cell phones, use text messaging, and use social networking sites and Twitter.

“Some analysts have been concerned that those who have active spiritual lives might not be as engaged with the secular world,” notes Jim Jansen, author of the report. “We see the opposite. Those who are religiously active are more likely to participate in all kinds of groups and more likely to feel good about their communities. Those who are active in religious groups seem to be joiners. They also are active users of technology.”

Read this in full.

Observing the same report, Baptist Press (@baptistpress) offers these highlights:

·         9% of those actively involved in religious groups use Twitter, the same percentage as the general population.

·         46% of those in religious groups use social networking sites—almost identical to the 47% of all adults.

·         60% of both groups use text messaging.

·         79% of those actively involved in religious groups use the Internet while 76% of all adults do so.

Attendance is a factor in determining the percentage of churchgoers involved in social media and electronic communication.

·         54% of weekly churchgoers use Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn—a much smaller percentage than the 71% of monthly churchgoers and 65% of less frequent churchgoers who do so. Pew said the average age of weekly churchgoers could explain the disparity

·         9% of weekly churchgoers use Twitter (15% of monthly churchgoers and 14% of less frequent churchgoers do so).

·         26% of weekly churchgoers make donations online (35% of monthly churchgoers; 27% of less frequent churchgoers).

·         70% of weekly churchgoers who have a cell phone send or receive text messages (80% of monthly churchgoers; 77% of less frequent churchgoers).

·         36% of weekly churchgoers use their cell phone to access the Internet (51% of monthly churchgoers; 45% of less frequent churchgoers).

Read this in full.

Also see our blogpost "Mississippi Is Most Religious USA State."

A major research study in 2007, reported in Leadership Journal (@Leadership_Jnl), concluded that Christians can be identified as belonging to one of 5 categories: Active, Professing, Liturgical, Private, and Cultural Christians.

Each group represents about one-fifth of those identifying themselves as Christian, with Active Christians most likely to have a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that affects their beliefs and inspires an active church life; Cultural Christians are least likely to align their beliefs or practices with biblical teachings, or attend church. Between the two is a range of beliefs, commitment levels, and public practice of the faith.

Read this in full.

A summary lists them:

·         Active Christians (19%): Committed churchgoers, often in positions of church leadership; believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ; Bible readers.

·         Professing Christians (20%): Similar beliefs to Active Christians, but less committed to church attendance; focus more on personal relationship with God and Jesus, less on Bible reading or faith sharing.

·         Liturgical Christians (16%): High level of spiritual activity; regular churchgoers, recognizing the authority of the church; predominantly Catholic and Lutheran.

·         Private Christians (24%): Largest and youngest segment; believe in God and have spiritual interest, but not within the church context; only one-third attend church at all, almost none are church leaders.

·         Cultural Christians (21%): God aware, but do not view Jesus as essential to salvation; affirm many ways to God; express little outward religious behavior.

Read this in full.

See the SlideShare deck.

To get a perspective on non-religious people, read USA TODAY's (@faith_reason) article, "For many, 'Losing My Religion' isn't just a song: It's life." And The Christian Post's (@ChristianPost) "Survey: Unchurched Do Not Ponder Life's Purpose, Afterlife."

Stay informed by bookmarking and daily using Somersault’s (@smrsault) SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Religion News tab.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life’s (@pewforum) Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population concludes that the number of Christians around the world has more than tripled in the last 100 years, from about 600 million in 1910 to more than 2 billion in 2010. But the world's overall population also has risen rapidly, from an estimated 1.8 billion in 1910 to 6.9 billion in 2010. As a result, Christians make up about the same portion of the world's population today (32%) as they did a century ago (35%). This apparent stability, however, masks a momentous shift.

Although Europe and the Americas still are home to a majority of the world's Christians (63%), that share is much lower than it was in 1910 (93%). And the proportion of Europeans and Americans who are Christian has dropped from 95% in 1910 to 76% in 2010 in Europe as a whole, and from 96% to 86% in the Americas as a whole. At the same time, Christianity has grown enormously in subSaharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, where there were relatively few Christians at the beginning of the 20th century.

Read this in full. See the interactive maps. Review the sortable data tables. Take the quiz.

Also see our previous post, "Poll: Religion, Faith Still Important to Most People Around the World."

What are the implications of this information on your publishing agenda? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Religion News Service (@ReligionNewsNow): “Report shows Christianity shifting to Africa.”

Baptist Press (@baptistpress): “Pew: Christianity has become global faith in past century.”

The Christian Post (@ChristianPost): “Christianity Is the World's Largest Religion, Says Pew Forum Survey.”

CBN (@CBNNews): “Christian Population Declining in Europe.”

CNN (@CNNbelief): “Christianity goes global as world's largest religion.”

On BookRiot (@BookRiot), Jeff O'Neal (@readingape) reflects on the basic elements all readers want in a book, whether it’s in digital format or print.

The medium that best serves most of the desires of most of the readers will win. It seems then that some discussion of what readers want, abstracted from any particular medium, might be useful.

As I see it there are seven broad things readers want, regardless of their specific taste. Each reader will rank and weight these categories differently, but I think there might be a particular profile of “the common reader” that will shape the future of publishing. I’m not sure what that profile is exactly, and I even think it still is being formed as digital publishing matures.

1. Diversity

2. Quality

3. Economy

4. Discovery

5. Convenience

6. Experience

7. Flexibility

Read this in full.

According to a new survey of social consumers, marketers who create highly sharable online content – video, audio, and photos consumers want to share with friends and colleagues – significantly boost their brand’s online presence and are more likely to increase sales.

The Science of Sharing study, conducted by M Booth (@MBoothPR) and Beyond (@beyond), two communications agencies in the Next Fifteen (@Next_Fifteen) global network, examined US consumer engagement with products online across a dozen brand categories. According to the data:

·         more than half of consumers (53%) say they interact with brands on Facebook

·         4 in 10 (42%) have written a product review online

·         a third (33%) have written an online post about a product.

·         1 in 5 consumers are “high sharers” and are 3 times more likely to make a product recommendation online. They tend to be younger, brand loyal, own multiple Internet devices and are conducting online research that requires minimal emotional or monetary investment.

·         “Low sharers” tend to be older, put a premium on quality, are less brand loyal, and are researching products online that cost more and involve more consideration.

When it comes to influencing consumer decision making, search is the most powerful online gateway (seo is a vital marketing element) followed by digital word of mouth and recommendations made by friends and family. The most common products that people recommend online are from the beauty, electronics, fashion, and music categories.

Read the news release in full.

Read the whitepaper (pdf).

See the Infographic (pdf).

See the Infographic (gif).

See the SlideShare presentation.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you reach your brand’s digital consumer.

Google Analytics (@googleanalytics) created this humorous video to showcase the frustration of consumers when they encounter complicated buying procedures online. It reminds us to keep the consumer experience uppermost in our thinking whenever we serve them, whether through etailing procedures or even intuitive website navigation and valuable immediate marketing content.

trendwatching.com (@trendwatching) says the consumer arena has moved beyond the ‘old’ model of consumption (brands produce, consumers buy). “Now, here’s yet another twist on consumers making the most of their assets and possessions: RECOMMERCE.”

It’s never been easier for consumers to unlock the value in past purchases. Novel brand buy-backs, exchange schemes, online platforms, and mobile marketplaces offer smart and convenient options for consumers keen to ‘trade in to trade up,’ alleviate financial strains, and/or quell environmental and ethical concerns.

RECOMMERCE is now increasingly affecting even consumers’ initial purchase decisions. Just as they do when buying a car or a home, consumers are factoring an item's resale value into the cost of ownership for an ever-wider range of purchases.

3 drivers behind the RECOMMERCE phenomenon:

1. NEXTISM: Consumers will forever crave the new and exciting experiences promised by the ‘next’.

2. STATUSPHERE: The growing status boost that comes from being savvy and shopping (environmentally) responsibly.

3. EXCUSUMPTION: Cash-strapped consumers embracing creative solutions.

Read the full report.

Stay informed with SomersaultNOW dashboard's Research and Future tabs.

Mark Coker (@markcoker), founder of ebook distributor Smashwords, wanted to know how readers discover ebooks. So he posted a survey at the ebook forum Mobileread (@mobileread), “challenging readers to select the single most common criterion they follow to discover their next read.”

To capture a broad range of usable data, I suggested 12 answers, one of which was “Other.” Respondents were allowed to select one answer only since I wanted to identify the single most important discovery criteria.

The most-selected answer was “Recommendations from fellow readers on online message forums, blogs and message boards," with 29% of respondents choosing this. By contrast, only 4% selected, “Personal friend/family member recommends it to me.” I think this is fascinating, because it implies readers might trust the collective wisdom of strangers and online acquaintances more than they trust the recommendations of immediate friends and family. At the risk of placing too many eggs in this basket, remember 71% selected something else....

What to make of the results? How might authors and publishers focus their e-publishing efforts based on the data?

·         Target readers who are active in online communities because they influence their fellow readers

·         Maximize the availability of your book so readers can randomly stumble across it and sample it

·         Boring titles, unprofessional cover images and poorly written book descriptions are instant turn-offs

Read this article in full.

Also read our previous blogpost “Where & Why We Buy Books.”

More research on a variety of topics is available on the SomersaultNOW dashboard under the Research tab. Stay abreast of the latest information with this helpful online resource for publishing and marketing executives.

Chart of the Day (@ChartOfTheDay) reports that Facebook hosts 140 billion photos, and will add 70 billion this year, according to 1000memories (@1000memories).

Putting this in context, 1000memories made the above visualization which shows how big Facebook’s library of photos are in comparison to other photo sharing sites, as well as the Library of Congress.

Incredibly, Facebook is hosting 4% of all photos ever taken, according to 1000memories. It estimates 3.5 trillion photos have been taken through history.