Churchgoers as Likely to Use Social Networking as Nonreligious People?
About 40 percent of Americans are active in a church or religious/spiritual organization. These Americans who are involved in some type of organized religion seem to have the same habits as their non-religious American counterparts when it comes to technology, according to a recent study.
Almost 80 percent of all Americans who are active in religious groups are Internet users compared with 75 percent of those who are nonreligious and do not practice any form of organized religion, PewInternet.org found.
The religious Americans also trumped the nonreligious when it comes to cell phone usage, with 86 percent of them using the devices and only 80 percent of the nonreligious using cell phones, while 60 percent of both groups use text messaging.
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In terms of social networking, almost 50 percent of both groups use sites such as Facebook and Twitter to connect with others. Almost 10 percent of both groups specifically use Twitter.
The study also discussed the impact of the Internet on the lives of both the religious and non-religious. A little under 50 percent of those that consider themselves religious actively view the Internet as having a major impact with 59 percent of the nonreligious doing so. However, 34 percent of the religious believe it has a minor impact, while 25 percent of the nonreligious believe the same.
The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project compiled the data for this research. The organization conducted a nationwide survey between Nov. 23 and Dec. 21, 2010.
Other findings in this report include religious and spiritual groups being the most popular types of groups among Americans, with 40 percent of all of those in the nation involved in a church or other religious organization.
