Religion: How the Internet is Transforming Holiday Economics

The first generation to grow up with the Internet, born post-1991 and now in college and entering the workforce, regards the holiday season as an abstraction, a time for commercial excess far removed from any direct and causal relationship with soul enrichment. This Hooked Up generation of Internet Natives is recasting the commercial foundation of the holiday season. They are returning it to its roots as a time to encourage peaceful coexistence; they're going online to experience the warmth of home and hearth through online communities that are focused on improving the lives of others; and they're reflecting on spiritual connectivity and purpose. Internet Natives are far less enthusiastic about spending their hard-earned money in response to high-pressure marketing campaigns and are less impressed with the "hottest," "latest" or "newest." Economists are already realizing the need to pay less attention to consumer spending, housing starts and new car purchases as defining measures of economic health. They can no longer consider the fourth quarter a reliable determinant of corporate economic vitality. As Internet Natives increase their influence over the consumer economy, marketers dependent on holiday shopping, and media accustomed to fourth quarter spending bursts, will need to recalibrate their goals, strategies and messaging. The following is excerpted from my best-selling new book Hooked Up: A New Generation's Surprising Take on Sex, Politics and Saving the World .

In Spirituality We Trust

Despite their busy lifestyles, Internet Pioneers are more spiritually-minded than earlier generations. Many college students find time to cultivate their spiritual growth.

Dena P., a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee alumna, learned this firsthand while volunteering at a privately owned New Age library. She was surprised at how many college students used and volunteered at the library. With her college days 15 years behind her, she wasn't sure if she'd have much rapport with these students. Yet she "came to see that these college students who were actively working on their spiritual growth were already quite close to what has been called 'spiritually awakened or 'spiritually enlightened.' At a time when they are focused on term papers, preparing for the 'real world' and getting good grades on exams, these young people were balancing their secular studies with meditation, devotional study and reading and learning about the lives of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and other teachers and examples of higher states of consciousness."

Study Results: Participation in Organized Religion?

My study found that only 27 percent of Internet Pioneers (born 1991-1995) are involved weekly in religious/social organization activities and services while 54 percent rarely or never participate in religious/social organizations. The World Values Study, a worldwide survey of religious beliefs, reported that among U.S. youth ages 18 to 24, about 42 percent participated in a religion between 1999 and 2001 - a period in which Internet access expanded into the majority of U.S. homes. By 2008, the American Religious Identification Survey found only 22 percent of youths in the United States reported participating in an organized religion.

That drop of nearly 50 percent indicates that Internet Pioneers are less involved in religion than preceding generations, and this drop corresponds exactly with the years in which the Internet became part of their daily life.

Toward Spirituality … and Beyond

While active involvement with organized religion may be waning among Internet Natives, a growing percentage of young people are pursuing a spiritual relationship with the divine. They share a belief in life after death and the possibility of communications with those who have passed, rather than a relationship with a faith community or organized structure.

An underlying belief in another plane of existence and some form of life after death is spreading among a fast-growing number of Internet Pioneers.

One of the theories being embraced by some Internet Pioneers and being spread through the Internet is the concept advanced by biologist Rupert Sheldrake that all knowledge resides in very real, organized energy fields in the air all around us, or perhaps even in other dimensions that are accessible to us. According to Sheldrake, all knowledge, all ideas and areas of study have their own "morphogenetic field," or "M-field." The more human beings tap into these knowledge energy fields, the stronger these fields become.

According to Sheldrake, there seems to be an energizing effect that runs both ways between human beings and these invisible but very real fields of energy and information. While the energy fields are subtle, they are quite real and have a definite impact. They are reservoirs of data and information and the more people are connected to them, the more they can accelerate current and future learning.

Sheldrake's theory of an energy field that exists in another dimension is, to some, analogous to the Internet: a powerful energy field that connects all beings, is omniscient (has infinite knowledge), is omnipotent (unlimited power), is omnipresent (present everywhere), treats everyone equally and is available to all, and is simple to access and incorporate into your life. Share this same description with theologians and they will believe you are describing God. A logical connection can be made from the Internet to a god-like presence in people's lives.

This connection may seem sacrilegious to many. But Internet Pioneers are embracing the concept of existential energy fields that the mind will ultimately be able to connect to and communicate with. This may be an uncomfortable reality, but nonetheless it is a truth that puts the extraordinary influence of the Internet in relevant context.

The Future of Religion

How actively will Internet Pioneers embrace traditional religion in their lives, and what role will religion have?

Factors influencing youth and religion are complex and difficult to measure. Some studies look at youth and religion. Some look at religion and the Internet. Some look at youth and the Internet. To date, no study has combined youth, religion and the Internet. However, comparing data from different studies seems to indicate a handful of trends:

Active participation in organized religion is waning among young people.

Changes occurring in religious affiliation appear to be true of the population as a whole––not just youth.

Among today's religious youth there is a shift toward spirituality and away from organized worship and commitment to the orthodox tenets of one particular faith.

There is a growing trend among young people to experience holiday spirit as an opportunity to give of themselves through community outreach (both online and local communities). Though many still welcome and even expect excessive gifting from their parents, a growing percentage are embracing gift-free holidays, defined by charity instead of commerce.

Religious (and other) organizations will actively extend their holiday services via streaming video and Internet access to religious leaders, from local to global to universal. Group networking will be available through social media; fund-raising will be actively developed online; meetings will convene online; and communications about everything and anything church-related will spread virally and immediately throughout the congregation and beyond. Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza and other religious-based holidays will return to being more about the spiritual connectivity of all humanity than commercialism and ornamental displays.

Internet Pioneers will develop and actively participate in social networks built around spirituality and religious-like beliefs, but not necessarily religious traditions. Among today's college students and future generations, the Internet is the first place many turn for spiritual connectivity. Today's emphasis on religious holidays as an excuse and justification for consumerist excess will progressively recede as these generations have families and focus their sense of purpose away from financial achievement and toward spiritual fulfillment.

Marketers who fail to understand this trend will find themselves marginalized by emerging generations that embrace the spiritual traditions of the holidays and refuse to conform to the commercial excesses of their parents and grandparents.

Jack Myers best-selling new book Hooked Up: A New Generation's Surprising Take on Sex, Politics and Saving the World is available at Amazon , BN.com and all leading booksellers.

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