Is your church “liked” on Facebook? Social media use of Christian congregations in the United States

• Author: Young‐Joo Lee
• Date: 01 March 2018
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21291

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Is your church “liked”on Facebook? Social media

use of Christian congregations in the United States

Young-Joo Lee

University of Texas at Dallas

Correspondence

Young-Joo Lee, School of Economics, Political

and Policy Sciences, University of Texas at

Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road, GR 31,

Richardson, TX 75080.

Email: ylee@utdallas.edu

Despite the increasing interests in social media platforms

among religious congregations, little is known about the

patterns of these organizations' social media use. This

study examines religious congregations' adoption of Face-

book, using the data from the 2012 National Congrega-

tions Study. The results show that Christian

congregations' involvement in nonreligious activities,

both social service and political activities, predicts their

Facebook adoption. Congregations' membership size and

staff resources are also positively associated with their

Facebook use. Other organizational characteristics,

including religious tradition, clergyperson's age, and

urban location, also explain congregations' Facebook use.

Overall, the findings suggest that Christian congregations'

adoption of social media platforms is closely related with

their community outreach and social marketing activities

as well as their resources. This study concludes with sug-

gestions for narrowing the gap in social media use

between resource-rich and resource-restricted congrega-

tions, as well as between urban and rural congregations.

KEYWORDS

communications, internet, religious charity

1|INTRODUCTION

Social media applications have presented new communicationopportunities to nonprofit organizations,

regardless of the type of service that they provide (Lovejoy & Saxton, 2012; Nah & Saxton, 2013).

Social media are considered as innovative ways of organizational communication with its stakeholders,

and developing online relationships through these media has become an essential part of an organiza-

tion's public relations and communication strategies. These platforms allow organizations to send out

information quickly and receive their stakeholders' feedback instantly, without incurring as much cost

Received: 20 December 2016 Revised and accepted: 1 September 2017

DOI: 10.1002/nml.21291

Nonprofit Management and Leadership. 2018;28:383–398.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nml © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 383

as traditional forms of communication would (Lovejoy, Waters, & Saxton, 2012; Maxwell & Carboni,

2016). Social media have also become an important instrument for nonprofit marketing, not only to

increase sales of services and goods but also to promote awareness and behavioral changes among

public. Empirical studies report that nonprofit organizations use social media to enhance their manage-

ment functions, interact with various stakeholders, and educate the public about their programs and

services (Waters, 2009; Waters, Burnett, Lamm, & Lucas, 2009). As a result, social media platforms

such as Facebook and Twitter have become strategic and interactive stakeholder engagement tools in

managing nonprofit organizations' financial and other challenges (Levine & Zahradnik, 2012; Nemen-

off & Schenk, 2015). With the increasing adoption of these applications and their growing influence

on organizational communication and success, studieshave examined nonprofits' use of social network

sites (e.g., Guo & Saxton, 2014, Nah & Saxton, 2013, and Waters et al., 2009). These empiricalstudies

show how nonprofit organizations share, cooperate, and mobilize joint actions with present and poten-

tial stakeholders through these platforms (Guo & Saxton, 2014).

Religious organizations, just like other nonprofit organizations, have realized the growing influ-

ence of social media and searched for ways to effectively use these platforms in order to stay engaged

in the community. Surveys of Christian congregations in the United States show that the majority of

churches view social media as a more effective outreach and proselytization method than such tradi-

tional ways as knocking on doors, radio, television, or newspaper advertisements (BuzzPlant, 2012;

LifeWay, 2011). Recent studies report that religious congregations use social media applications for

various purposes, including recruiting and training volunteers (Cnaan, Heist, & Storti, 2017).

Research also suggests that congregations' adoption of media and information technologies contrib-

utes to increased membership (Webb, 2012). As more congregations have appreciated the potential

benefits of social media, various instructional resources for creating effective Facebook pages and

other social media platforms exclusively for churches have become available.

1

Despite religious organizations' increasing interests in and use of social media, no empirical

research on their adoption and use of social media is currently available. Understanding religious

organizations' use of social media is an important task because of the influence that these organiza-

tions have on people’lives. The sociology literature posits that religious organizations are social by

their very nature, contributing to the formation of social capital (Lockhart, 2005). In the United States,

a person's involvement in religious organizations has been a significant part of one's social life as well

as spiritual life (Putnam, 2000). Although information of religious organizations is often unavailable

due to their exemption from registration and reporting requirements with the U.S. government, studies

indicate that these organizations account for a significant part of American society. The 2010 U.S.

Religion Census, the latest census data on religious congregations available, shows that more than

150 million people were members of 350,000 religious congregations in the United States

(Grammich, 2012). Religious congregations have functioned as a place for social connection for the

congregational members and the surrounding community. Therefore, understanding congregations'

use of social media has an implication that goes beyond the religious sphere.

In addition, understanding religious congregations' social media use has a practical importance

for congregations themselves, as social media platforms can help them draw and engage new and

existing members. Studies of religion suggest that communication is the fundamental work of the

church, and this view is supported by the fact that churches have been early adopters of new com-

munication technologies as a part of their efforts to promote the faith (Schement & Stephenson,

1996; Sturgill, 2004). For example, churches utilized the first forms of printing technology in order

to distribute the Bible to broader public. In the 1980s, religious congregations fully utilized mass

media, such as radio and television, to broadcast the sermons. In sum, these organizations have used

384 LEE