• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Lifeway Research

Lifeway Research

Enlightening today’s church with relevant research and insights

  • Research
  • Insights
  • Resource Library
  • Fast Facts
  • Search

Evangelicals Are on Social Media, But Many Stay Intentionally Isolated

Insights| Faith & Culture | Oct 9, 2019

Tracy Le Blanc photo | Pexels

By Aaron Earls

Chances are when evangelicals check social media what they see will further support their beliefs and perspectives, as many prefer to follow those who agree with them and refrain from engaging others on social media.

Evangelicals’ preferred social media platforms

Like most other Americans, Facebook, and YouTube are the two most popular social media platforms among evangelicals, according to Lifeway Research.

Around 3 in 4 use Facebook at least every few weeks (77%), with two-thirds (66%) using it at least once a day. Only 16% say they never visit or use Facebook.

The older the evangelical the less likely they are to be on Facebook about once a day or more. Still, 57% of evangelicals over the age of 65 say they visit the site at least that often.

Seven in 10 are regular users of YouTube (70%), with a 39% on the streaming video site at least once a day. Around 1 in 5 (19%) say they’re never on YouTube.

Those in the Northeast (45%) and South (43%) are more likely to say they visit YouTube about once a day or more than evangelicals in the West (31%).

Younger evangelicals are most likely to say they are on the site at least once a day or more (71%).

African Americans (60%) and Hispanics (57%) are twice as likely to say they visit YouTube at least once a day than whites (28%).

Far fewer evangelicals regularly use Instagram (34%), Pinterest (32%), Twitter (26%), LinkedIn (19%) or Snapchat (19%).

Among evangelicals, Twitter is least popular among women, older adults, those in the Midwest, those with a high school degree or less, and whites.

Evangelical Instagram users are more likely to be young, female, and an ethnic minority.

Almost 2 in 5 evangelicals (38%) say they regularly get news from social media, including 56% of 18- to 34-year-olds and 48% of African Americans.

But around 3 in 5 (62%) say social media has a negative impact on the respectfulness of public debates, including 68% of evangelicals 65 and older and 67% of whites.

Evangelical social media bubble

Despite the prevalence of social media use among evangelicals, many avoid interactions with those who think differently.

More than 6 in 10 evangelicals (63%) say they rarely or never engage others on social or political issues on social media.

See also  Pastors Encourage Racial Reconciliation, Churchgoers Want More Diversity in the Church

Younger evangelicals are less likely to avoid that type of engagement.

Almost 7 in 10 evangelicals 50 and older (69%) say they rarely or never use social media to engage with those who believe different than them, compared to 57% of 35- to 49-year-old evangelicals and 51% of those 18 to 34.

Women are more likely to avoid engagement than men (67% to 57%).

White evangelicals are also more likely to say they rarely or never engage than African American evangelicals (67% to 50%).

Among those who are on social media, close to half of evangelicals by belief (48%) say they prefer to follow people who have similar social and political views, while 37% disagree.

Evangelicals in the South are more likely to agree than those in the Northeast (51% to 38%).

Younger evangelicals, those 18 to 34, are more likely to agree than the oldest evangelicals (57% to 43%).

Men (55%) are also more likely to agree than females (43%).

Increased education makes evangelicals more likely to say they prefer to follow those with similar social and political opinions. Those with some college (52%) or a graduate degree (57%) are more likely to agree than high school graduates or less (44%).

Most (60%) ignore political posts on social media with which they disagree. Around 1 in 5 say either they comment that they disagree while being careful not to put down the person (19%) or comment specifically on their disagreement.

Evangelical women (65%) are more likely to simply ignore the post than men (54%).

Whites (66%) and Hispanics (61%) are more likely to do the same than African Americans (43%).

Few admit to putting down the individual for believing that (3%) or making sure their followers see how bad that viewpoint is (4%).

AARON EARLS (@WardrobeDoor) is online editor of Facts & Trends.

Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com

Connected: Curing the Pandemic of Everyone Feeling Alone Together

Erin Davis

FIND OUT MORE

Related posts:

5 Social Media Stats Pastors Should Know 5 Ways Pastors Can Equip Their Congregations to Use Social Media 3 Ways Social Media Affects Pastors

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us On…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular

  • Most Popular Sermon Passages, Topics in 2021
  • 6 Qualities of Biblical Manhood
  • 4 Factors That Predict Church Growth
  • 7 Reasons to Praise the Lord
    praise

Join the Lifeway Research Newsletter

Lifeway Research: Enlightening Today’s Church with Relevant Insights.

Signup for email updates on our church and culture research.

Sign Up

Leader Resources

Bible
Clip Art
Classics
Clip Art
Current Events
Clip Art
Discipleship
Clip Art
Pastoral Ministy
Clip Art
Theology
Clip Art
VIEW ALL RESOURCES
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Custom Research
  • Resource Library
  • Search

Copyright © 2023 · Lifeway Research, a ministry of Lifeway Christian Resources