Mormon Bloggers And Patterns of Participation

With a close examination of religious blogs, it doesn’t take long to see distinct patterns in participant’s age, emotional maturity, and personality type. Because a religious group tends to be homogenous, it possesses characteristics that are unique to that group.

The first pattern that emerged in the blogs was the age of the bloggers. It became apparent that most bloggers in the Mormon group were young. Their style of writing, slang, topics, and maturity level put them somewhere in age between high-school-sophomore and a college student. Their writing style seemed as though it was still in developmental stage—it lacked depth and clarity. It did, however, possess the feeling and passion of youth. Their slang gave away their age too. They used words and phrases like: “no way,” “totally awesome,” “rad,” “too cool,” “Like, how do you do that?”

Some of the subjects revealed their age by the content of their messages. One girl was worried what her “dad” might think about her decision and how he might punish her. Other readers revealed their age like one college student who stated she was 21 years old.

Another pattern among some bloggers was their emotional immaturity. Some seemed very needy and lonely. One writer was struggling with cutting her skin and asked readers for help. It was obvious she had a serious behavioral problem that required professional counsel from a qualified therapist, yet, she turned to total strangers for help. It seemed odd she would implore help from complete strangers. The question that came to mind was “Why do they turn to complete strangers?” Do they not possess a support group in their own community? Perhaps they’ve already exhausted their resources and their only hope left is the online community. These are questions worth searching in the future.

Not all participants in the blogs had emotional issues, but many did seem lonely. One person wrote:

“So tonight was our second meeting and we had an excellant discussion. So the topic for next week is prayer: What prayer like for you? Is there a 'right' way to pray? How do you pray? What does it feel like for you. How do you get answeres, etc...
So, I would love to hear from anyone who would like to comment.
Much love!
LeA”

This individual seemed genuinely inquisitive but at the same time lonely. They could have easily found answers to those questions from Mormon missionaries, church members, or friends, yet they chose online strangers.

One girl didn’t seem lonely but her solicitations one might wonder if she has enough social interaction in her real life. She wrote:

“What is everybody doing for General Conference? Do you have family traditions? Do you make breakfast before hand? Do you go to another state and watch it with family there? Guys, do you have any traditions for priesthood?”

After reading this, my first impression was that she is merely a very social girl that wants to interact online with others. Like other subjects, her question doesn’t request emotional support or counsel in grave matters, but rather her question is very superficial. It does seem, however, sincere and merely a petition to “chat”. Is that the case though? Is she a gregarious person merely seeking for someone to chat with? Is she an extrovert seeking for more social interaction? Or, could she be a girl that doesn’t have her emotional needs met at home, so she seeks to meet them in cyberspace? These are questions that would be interesting to research: What kind of personality types participate in social software? Are they emotional healthy or unstable? What percentage are extroverts and introverts? Are they “takers” or “givers”?; Do they take what they can get from others online or are they merely there to give?

Overall, it seems the Mormon blog community is place for Mormons to seek help, counsel, comfort, validation, and surreal socialization. Unlike the Mormon newsgroup, they weren’t interested in playing doctrinal ping-pong. On the contrary, they were more interested interacting online with individuals that understands their values, traditions, and needs.