Top 10 Online Activities of "Religion Surfers", 2001
The chart shows the top 10 online activities of "Religion Surfers." The term was coined by Elena Larsen of the Pew Internet & American Life Project to describe the 28 million Americans in 2001 (up from 19-20 million in 2000) who have used the Internet to get religious and spiritual information or to interact with the faithful. Most of these "Surfers" used the Internet as a spiritual library: searching for information on their own faith or the faith of others. But not all activities were of a solitary nature. Many also requested prayers or offered spiritual advice online — activities that promote socialization and helping their fellow human beings. This is not surprising: 81% say their faith is very strong, 74% attend religious services at least once a week, and 86% pray or meditate daily. In fact, "Religious Surfers" put a higher priority on "real world" interactions.
Percent of "Religion Surfers" Who Say These Activities Are Important To Them
| Solitary meditation or prayer | 85% |
| Volunteering to help others | 71% |
| Regular worship or prayer | 70% |
| Conversation with fellow worshippers | 69% |
| Group celebration of holidays | 55% |
| Small group study | 50% |
| Regular confession | 44% |
| Speaking with clergy or other advisors | 43% |
| Going online for religious information | 13% |
| 10Based on a listing of cities with the highest concentration of the Jewish population. Those cities were: New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C. Data taken from World ORT. | |
On any given day in 2001, 3 million Americans sought spiritual information on the Internet. This activity was more popular than online gambling, online banking and investing, online auction participation, and Internet-dating services.
What about the clergy? Are they seeking divine inspiration on the web? The following table presents the top 5 online activities of the clergy. Besides these activities, more than half of the clergy who use the Internet did so to get information on other denominations or faiths and have sought information on matters of their own faith.
Top 5 Online Activities by the Clergy, 2000
| Obtained information for worship services | 81% |
| Sought information on the Bible, Torah, or other scriptures | 77% |
| Obtained devotional resources | 72% |
| Gathered information for educational programs | 72% |
| Looked for information on matters of doctrine | 59% |
The next panel discusses religious congregations online.
Source: Larsen, Elena. CyberFaith: How Americans Pursue Religion Online. Pew Internet & American Life Project: Washington D.C., December 23, 2001. Online. Available: http://www.pewinternet.org. Elena Larsen, et. al. Wired churches, wired temples: Taking congregations and missions into cyberspace. Pew Internet & American Life Project: Washington D.C., December 20, 2000. Online. Available: http://www.pewinternet.org.
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