The Internet isn’t just a place to chat with friends and watch YouTube clips. According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, 20 percent of Americans share their faith online every week. That’s a greater percentage than listen to Christian rock in a given week (19 percent) and about the same as who listen to religious talk radio.

Still, that online faith engagement is half of what Pew researchers saw in the real world. A full 40 percent of respondents said they shared something about faith offline. Pew’s experts believe online and media-centric Christian engagement augments, but does not replace, traditional religious participation (similar to going to church, which 35 percent of us do weekly). Researchers found that folks who attend religious services were more likely to share faith online or partake in Christian entertainment such as Christian rock or Christian TV. (Pew Forum)

Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Check out his entertainment blog at Patheos.com/blogs/WatchingGod or follow him on Twitter.