Fifty-four percent of evangelicals believe social media is more harmful than helpful to the Christian faith, but they use social media anyway.

A total of 1,039 evangelical Protestants participated in this study, and data was gathered in early 2024.

Those who are more actively engaged in their faith (regular Bible readership, worship attendance, prayer, etc.) are more likely to see social media as helpful. Some of the primary reasons social media was considered more helpful than harmful include evangelism, easy access to Christian content, connecting with community, and encouragement in their faith.

Other insights gathered from the report:

• More Harmful than Helpful: 58% of all evangelicals, whether they use social media or not, consider social media more harmful than helpful to the Christian faith, while 42% believe it is more helpful than harmful.
• Very Few Disengaged: Only 4% of evangelical adults who are online say they have not touched any social media in the past month.
• Facebook and YouTube Dominate: Evangelicals, like most Americans who are online, favor Facebook (81%) and YouTube (71%).
• Platforms Decrease with Age: Five different platforms are used by at least half of evangelicals 18 to 29, three by those 30 to 49, and two among those 50 and older.

“Some evangelicals talk glowingly of how social media has allowed them to talk to others about Jesus, build their own faith through study or encouragement, and develop greater community with other believers,” said Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research. “Others bash social media as shallow, distracting, untrue, seductive, and even evil. But almost all use it.”

“What is rather puzzling is that a majority of evangelicals believe social media is more harmful than helpful to the Christian faith in the US, yet they continue to use it anyway. One is left to wonder whether the Church is providing sufficient guidance regarding social media,” said Mark Dreistadt, president and CEO of Infinity Concepts.

“Christian leaders can provide guidance to believers to help them navigate to more beneficial content on social media,” Dreistadt added. “A hammer is just a hammer until you imbue it with action. You can pick it up to help build housing for the poor or to smash a window in an act of vandalism. Social media is much the same.”