People turn to Web more for religion than gambling, pornography
Don Baker DBJ Senior Reporter
In the past year, religion and spiritual Web sites have drawn more users than gambling and pornography sites, traditional kings of the Internet, according to a new report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
One-fourth of all Internet users said they have searched out religious information online, according to the study, while only 15 percent reported surfing for porn and only 5 percent reported gambling online.
"That's actually a little surprising to me, but I think it's an encouraging sign," said the Rev. Jeffrey Syverson, senior pastor at Faith Alliance Church in Middletown.
More than 3 million people seek religious or spiritual material online each day, up from 2 million this time last year. The total number of Americans who have surfed religion Web sites climbed to 28 million this year, up from less than 20 million a year ago.
"People are more comfortable searching for all sorts of information online. If you're a church and you want to start a Web site, this is good news because people will use it and people will find it," said Lee Rainie, director of Pew Internet and American Life Project.
According to the report, religious and spiritual Web sites are becoming more popular than a host of other well-traveled sites, including online auction, stock trading, banking and dating service sites.
"When you realize that the spiritual answers fulfill our deepest emotional needs, it's not that surprising," said Pastor John Bradosky of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Centerville.
Immediately following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the number of people looking at religion sites jumped to a whopping 41 percent.
"That I would have expected," Syverson said. "There was a resurgence of people searching for answers and information about religion after the Sept. 11 attacks. It seems that people are seeking information and the Internet is a great source."
And while the majority of the online religion surfers are looking to the Internet for information about their own faith, half of them are trying to learn about other faiths. Ninety-one percent of those surfers are Christian, with no other religious group representing more than 2 percent of Internet faith-seekers.
In the wake of the terror attacks, 23 percent of Internet users turned to online sources to get information about Islam, and 7 percent donated money to relief charities online.
Pew researchers did acknowledge the number of people looking at pornography online, for example, could be much higher than the 15 percent who admitted to doing so in the study. Still, Syverson and Bradosky said they're encouraged by the report.
"I think it's an opportunity for us and we're putting in place the technology for people to further explore us online," Bradosky said.
Added Syverson: "It makes me want to go out today and update our site again."