Buzzplant (a social media firm) recently surveyed thousands of Churches (it was a general survey, so not just Catholics), asking what forms of social communications they were using to communicate with their parishioners. Here's a summary of the results:

  • 62% of Churches post homilies to website as text or podcast
  • 28% of Churches have a Pastor's Blog
  • 32% of Churches use social media in one way or another
  • 25% of Churches use social media to promote parish events [really? this should probably be the highest statistic, imo]

You can view the full report on Churches' use of social communications tools (PDF) from Buzzplant. With the USCCB having recently released its proposed guidelines for social media use, and with many Archdioceses effectively using Twitter and Facebook to spread the gospel, the time is ripe to use social media on the parish level, and integrate it with parish websites.