Digital Divine: AT&T and Inspired Mobility

A new study reveals more of us are using our mobile devices to find inner peace and express our spirituality. The research comes from AT&T, and this data shows that more than 71% of Americans use their mobile devices as “digital portals to inspiration.”

The trend is so pervasive, that AT&T has teamed up with rap legend-turned-social media inspirational guru, Rev Run, for a new campaign, #InspiredMobility, based on Rev Run’s popular “words of wisdom” tweets.

In an interview with Black Enterprise, Rev Run provided his take on the findings.

“It is so amazing that I can preach to so many people with a tweet, or a link, or an app. This is an explosive way to reach others,” says Rev Run.

Rev Run, born Joseph Simmons, reaches 4.5 million people with inspiration every day, with a single tweet from his device.

“Through social media, through my words of wisdom, through AT&T helping me, and through spreading the word, I’ve had times where I

was the most retweeted person in the history of Twitter, and that was because of my words of wisdom. Five million followers–my followers–came strictly from having these words of wisdom,” he says.

Is it dangerous to have such quick and easy access, as this could somehow potentially cheapen the spiritual experience? On the contrary; it enhances faith and inspiration, says Jason Caston, a faith and technology specialist that works with faith-based organizations.

Caston shows these organizations how to “utilize their digital platform to connect with their audience.”

“They all understand [that], in order to be effective and grow their online audiences, they have to understand that it’s more than just social. I teach them that it’s about mobile apps, social media, multimedia, online streaming, video, and e-commerce,” says Caston.

Other interesting takeaways from the research include:

• More than half of blacks (53%) use their mobile devices to share or connect with their faith. That’s significantly more than other groups surveyed. The study found 35% of whites, 43% of Asians and 41% of Hispanics turn to mobility to connect with faith.
• Black women engage in inspirational activities on their devices more than any other group (80%) compared.
• More than half of women reported accessing inspiration for motivation, compared to four in 10 men.
• Nearly six in 10 (58%) of young people ages 18 to 25 say they use mobile for inspiration as part of their daily routine.

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