Social media & vocations studied

In the first study of its kind, A Nun's Life Ministry found that while most U.S. women religious have a website (92 percent), few are fully employing the internet technologies that young women routinely rely upon.

“The new research study highlights both the need for and desire of religious institutes to receive increased training and resources to enhance vocation outreach, especially on the most promising platforms,” said Sister Maxine Kollasch, I.H.M., co-founder of A Nun’s Life.

The study found that 92 percent of women’s institutes have a website; 70 percent are on Facebook. However, they tend not to be involved in the social media sites that younger women use, namely Snapchat (4 percent of institutes use it), chatrooms (4 percent), Pinterest (14 percent), and Instagram (11 percent). Only 24 percent of institutes have a plan that identifies strategies and desired outcomes for vocation outreach on the internet.