Why am I seeing all these articles come out now about how the internet is destroying Mormonism? Haven't we had the internet for like two decades now?

http://www.policymic.com/articles/57939/the-internet-is-making-mormons-turn-on-their-faith

Is it just that bloggers and journalists are putting up more research into the Church? Is any of this actually having an effect on members? Is there any info on how many people are becoming inactive or leaving the church over the years?

Social media.
People now talking
no longer feel guilty reading this stuff and realising its not all anti.

Two things are making a difference:

Acceptance and accessibility.

6 or 7 years ago, when I was a TA, any attempt to cite wikipedia (or other Internet sources, for that matter) would have been laughed off. Academics were very much invested in traditional sources, to the point that many would dock students for citing Internet sources.

Now, that's changing. People are realizing that the Internet is often a better source of information than peer-reviewed papers, because the information is subject to criticism by all, not just by white-collar academics with a subscription to a journal.

Second, accessibility. 20 years ago, Internet meant a 14.4k modem. Online shopping wasn't a thing yet. The people using the Internet could not access large amounts of information. Now, of course, lots of people have broadband. Furthermore, anybody can set up a blog and start writing. The barriers to entry on both the content generation and content consumption side have changed.

Alpiner wrote:

"Now, that's changing. People are realizing that the Internet is often a better source of information than peer-reviewed papers, because the information is subject to criticism by all, not just by white-collar academics with a subscription to a journal."

Exactly! The best questions and criticism are in the FAQs and comments. Notice anything officially LDS, or pro LDS is always censored- like that dangerous idiot DearBroJo or AskGramps.

We now have a generation of people that have been raised in the internet question everything. Credibility claimed by academics, or people trying to be academics, is questioned- and should be when they are making extraordinary claims.

LDS Inc has survived by the control of information to the unwashed masses. They cannot do that now, which is one more reason I think LDS Inc is morally and financially bankrupt.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,987726,987726#msg-987726

Google is going to kill LDS Inc, and Facebook is going to be the death blow.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 10:14AM by deco.

To be fair, the Internet given many groups a place to self-reinforce; it doesn't have to be a monolithic organization desperately trying to keep its flock within its reason-sanitized fields. I mean, look at BabyCenter.

It's a bit of a snowball effect imo. It gradually gains momentum.

Also, as weird as it sounds, for some people, especially some of the older generation, it's really only in the past few years that they've properly started using the Internet. I know my parents, even today, only use the Internet to check their emails basically. They have little interest in anything else. I doubt they've ever used Youtube or decided to research something on Google.

Adding to what Alpiner said, the way we access the internet has changed tremendously over the past 20 years. Back then the family might share one computer, so there was not a lot of privacy when someone got online. Now everyone has their own personal devices - smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc. People don't have worry about a spouse or parent looking over their shoulder as they access the web.

I'm one of those older generation people you're talking about. I have a Kindle that I don't use. I'm a bound book kind of person. But I Google everything. If I read a good book, I use the internet to find out more about some particular aspect of the book that I found interesting. That is what happened with my de-conversion. I read Rough Stone Rolling, but then I went to the internet typed the word Polyandry and found Mormon Think. The rest, as they say, is history.

My google was StarGate and then one link lead to another and I was blasted with the Book of Abraham papyrus.

If you "lost" your testimony due to studying the church's history, etc.,

1) what books or websites did it?
and 2) when was this?

For me, the Godmakers shook me but Mormonism-Shadow or Reality sealed the deal. This was in 1996 when I was a missionary. I also give credit to Quinn's books and several of the books published by Signature Books, as some final nails in the coffin too. I'm sure if the internet was around when I was a teenager, I would be thanking one of the websites for getting me out sooner and not going on a mission.

Sorry, wrong post.

I think what just happened on the internet before is spilling over into the real lives of TBMs.

More Mormons probably know somebody who has resigned, or quit attending the LDS Church over the kinds of issues discussed on boards like this one. People are organizing things like the resignation march, which get attention in the mainstream local Utah media. High profile members like Hans Mattson are no longer true believers, and organize a group to get some answers. That winds up on the front page of the New York Times.

And so it continues.

I think in addition to the mainstreaming of Internet use for shopping and information gathering, we can't overlook the 2012 election as why things are changing so rapidly now.

When Newsweek or Time magazine puts a front page story on Mormonism as part of its in-depth coverage of Mitt Romney and acknowledges some controversy or unease regarding TSCC, then examining and learning about TSCC, warts and all, becomes part of the popular culture and lexicon.

No longer was TSCC an obscure Utah-based faith full of nice but weird people, it was front page news and it was impossible not to hear about mormonism, both good or bad.

TBMs can usually try to shame people in or near the Mormon world when it comes to controversial issues. TBMs can usually call online info "typical anti-Mormon material" and get most in the morg to obey obediently.

But when Newsweek, similar far-reaching media orgs and other credible orgs say there is controversy about TSCC, it becomes harder to hush and shush some questions. It allows for some disagreement to enter the discussion.

I truly believe TBM's insulate and isolate themselves, even with the Internet, because they know deep-down, TSCC doesn't pass the mainstream laugh test.

It's kinda hard to believe that 99.99% of humanity who isn't or won't ever be a Mormon is wrong and they are right. But give them credit, few people wear a pair of earmuffs or rose-colored glasses like a bunch of TBMs.