Is Facebook Your Religion?
by Amy Colgan and Scott Meyer on April 28, 2010 · 17 comments
Facebook adds the population of South Dakota every day and right here in South Dakota over a third of the population is on Facebook according to Facebook’s ad stats.
This begs the question, is Facebook South Dakota’s new religion?
Religious data from: State Membership Report – South Dakota, Association of Religious Data Archives, Report from 2000, Retrieved April 5, 2010.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
“Is Facebook your religion?” by Amy Colgan an Scott Meyer http://bit.ly/bZa45w http://bit.ly/dD5qI7
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Interesting Find: Is Facebook Your Religion? http://ow.ly/17cw3L
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
RT @ThePostSD: “Is Facebook your religion?” by Amy Colgan an Scott Meyer http://bit.ly/bZa45w http://bit.ly/dD5qI7
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
In SD, more Facebookers than any religious group. Surprised? RT @thepostsd Is Facebook Your Religion? http://bt.io/F17b
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
@MrScottMeyer @ThePostSD That’s a great find / article on more Facebookers than any religious group http://bt.io/F17b
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RT @thepostsd Is Facebook Your Religion? http://bt.io/F1Ew #southdakota
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RT @jaosullivanx: RT @thepostsd Is Facebook Your Religion? http://bt.io/F1Ew #southdakota
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Well, is it? RT @ThePostSD: “Is Facebook your religion?” by Amy Colgan an Scott Meyer http://bit.ly/bZa45w http://bit.ly/dD5qI7
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
These categories are not religions — they are all denominations of the Christian religion. So if you compare the numbers of Christians in South Dakota to Facebook users, there are more Christians.
I agree with Amie. If you want to compare Facebook to multiple religions, actually use religions. This article appears to be purposely written to force the numbers to add up to whatever point the author was attempting to make.
I would like to know how the other states stacked up for percentage of users on facebook
I disagree with Amie. Your right that they should be labeled denominations but there is nothing wrong with comparing Facebook to denominations because one could make the argument that Facebook is a social media denomination compared to all social media like myspace, digg, etc. My issue is that there is no discussion of the fact that members of denomination can also be on facebook so their is obvious over sampling of the same individuals.
Touch as we say in French to Amie and Char. Denominations would be a more accurate description. Although the fact that Christians number roughly 400,000 and Facebook is almost 300,000 is still fascinating.
In terms of the “point,” I was hoping to elicit discussion and thought without a preset point I was trying to accomplish. It’s interesting to muse if this comparison even matters because obviously Christians are “Facebookers” as are atheists, Muslims, Buddhist and all religions.
An interesting question might also be, if churches were the gathering place for previous generations, perhaps Facebook is this generations gathering place. A great read on this is Putnam’s “Bowling Alone.” Maybe we are more alone and counteract that through online discussion.
In terms of other states usage, you can go to Facebook ads and it will tell you how many are in each state. A few samples include:
California – 12.6 million (roughly 30%)
New York – 6.8 million out of 19 million residents
Montana – 255,000 out of about a million
Hawaii – 445,000 out of about 1.3 million
North Dakota – 233,000 out of about 647,000
Scott, I agree it’s worth asking if this comparison matters. To me, it’s like comparing apples to oranges since Facebook isn’t a religion. The article asks “Is Facebook South Dakota’s new religion?” Well, no. It isn’t. Facebook isn’t a religion at all, nor is Facebook commonly considered a place of worship. I guess I don’t see the connection besides the fact that there are a lot of Facebook users and there are a lot of Christians in this state.
I think you mean touché.
Next we’ll be seeing Cars: Your State’s new Religion. Notable $(religious_group) members *driving cars*! News at eleven!
I think you said it exactly right Amie, that is the connection that there are a lot of Facebook users in this state. I think the article is to get you to step back and say wow. We all knew there were a lot of Christians in this state, but I’m shocked that over 30% of our state is on Facebook.
The scary stat would be how many people go to Facebook daily. Obviously more often than all the Christians practice their religion.
I disagree with opello. I think there are parallels that can be drawn to facebook and the role religion can play. For a lot of people churches are a social network in a way facebook is. It is not simply picking something that a lot of people have like cars. Though I think what you say goes back to what I said earlier. That as far as the statistics goes there is definite overlap within each category that can make any conclusions drawn a little muddled.