Difference between revisions of "Internet atheism"

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(2017 Alexa ranking of The Orbit)
(Google Trends: From January 2004 to January 2024, the number of USA Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly down)
 
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[[File:Losing.jpeg|thumbnail|201px|right|The article ''[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]'' points out that internet atheism has been in a significant slump since 2008. ]]
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[[File:Losing.jpeg|thumbnail|251px|right|The article ''[https://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2020/01/internet-atheism-thrill-is-gone.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]'' points out that internet atheism has been in a significant slump since 2011. ]]
In the early part of the 21st century, the [[Atheism|atheist]] community was very active on the internet.<ref>http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789</ref>  However, by 2008 there began a marked decline in '''internet atheism''' (see: [[Internet atheism web traffic volume]]).<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]</ref>  
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In the early part of the 21st century, [[Atheism|atheists]] were very active on the internet.<ref name="wnd.com">https://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789</ref>  However, by 2008 there began a marked decline in '''internet atheism''' (see: [[Internet atheism web traffic volume]]).<ref name="questionevolution.blogspot.com">[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]</ref>  
  
One of the reasons why some atheist participate in internet atheism is that offline participation in the atheist community is often difficult.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/08/10/how-the-atheist-movement-failed-me-part-1-cost/ How the Atheist Movement Failed Me – Part 1: Cost]</ref>  
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One of the reasons why some atheist participate in internet atheism is that offline participation in the atheist community is often difficult.<ref name="patheos.com">[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/08/10/how-the-atheist-movement-failed-me-part-1-cost/ How the Atheist Movement Failed Me – Part 1: Cost]</ref>  
  
In an essay entitled ''How the Atheist Movement Failed Me'', an [[atheism and women|atheist woman]] noted that participation in the atheist community is often expensive due to the cost of attending [[atheist conferences]] and even local atheist meetings in restaurants and bars challenged her modest budget.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/08/10/how-the-atheist-movement-failed-me-part-1-cost/ How the Atheist Movement Failed Me – Part 1: Cost]</ref>  As a result of the challenges that atheists commonly have in terms of socializing in person, many atheists turn to the internet in terms of communicating with other atheists.
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In an essay entitled ''How the Atheist Movement Failed Me'', an [[atheism and women|atheist woman]] noted that participation in the atheist community is often expensive due to the cost of attending [[atheist conferences]] and even local atheist meetings in restaurants and bars challenged her modest budget.<ref name="patheos.com"/>  As a result of the challenges that atheists commonly have in terms of socializing in person, many atheists turn to the internet in terms of communicating with other atheists.
  
 
In addition, ''Conatus News'' indicates:
 
In addition, ''Conatus News'' indicates:
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This societal stigma is certainly part of the reason atheists seem so drawn to internet interactions. Anonymity, or at least the safety of separation from those around you, provides the ability to truly speak one’s mind.<ref>[https://conatusnews.com/atheists-online--how-atheists-grew-an-active-internet-community/ Atheists Online: -How Atheists Grew An Active Internet Community], ''Conatus News''</ref>}}
 
This societal stigma is certainly part of the reason atheists seem so drawn to internet interactions. Anonymity, or at least the safety of separation from those around you, provides the ability to truly speak one’s mind.<ref>[https://conatusnews.com/atheists-online--how-atheists-grew-an-active-internet-community/ Atheists Online: -How Atheists Grew An Active Internet Community], ''Conatus News''</ref>}}
  
As far as atheists engaging in non-internet related activities, Dr. J. Gordon Melton said about the [[atheist movement]] (organized atheism) that [[atheism]] is not a movement which tends to create community, but in the last few years there has been some growth of organized atheism.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0i4kuN9XSc Baylor ISR- J. Gordon Melton - End of Religion? (May 5, 2015)]</ref> See also: [[Atheism and apathy]] and [[Atheist factions]] and [[Atheism and loneliness]]
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Division is widespread among atheists online and offline (see: [[Atheist factions]]). [[Atheism]] tends not to create community and most atheists are apathetic (See: [[Atheism and apathy]] and [[Atheism and loneliness]]).
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Numerous [[Atheism|atheists]] have declared that the "[[atheist movement]] is dead" or that it is dying (see: [[Decline of the atheist movement]]).<ref>
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*[https://freethoughtblogs.com/reasoner/2017/10/21/the-atheism-movement-dead-or-alive/ The “Atheism Movement:” Dead or Alive?], [[Freethought Blogs]]
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*[http://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2017/11/seth-andrews-keeps-hearing-reports-of.html Atheist activist Seth Andrews keeps seeing reports on social media and the media that the atheist movement is dying], ''Examining Atheism''
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*[http://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2017/10/now-that-that-poseur-atheist-aron-ra.html Atheist Aron Ra indicates the atheist movement is dead. Now that that Aron Ra has surrendered....], ''[[Examining Atheism]]''
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*[http://www.atheistrev.com/2013/12/the-day-atheist-movement-died.html The Day the Atheist Movement Died] by Jack Vance at Atheist Revolution
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*[https://twitter.com/jennifurret/status/405391218273554433 Jennifer McCreight on Twitter about the Elevatorgate scandal destroying the atheist movement], [[Jen McCreight]], Twitter</ref> In 2019, a writer at [[Freethought Blogs]] wrote: "Last month I looked at some [[Post-mortem interval|postmortems]] of the atheist movement...".<ref>[https://freethoughtblogs.com/atrivialknot/2019/03/26/the-ghost-of-atheist-past/ The ghost of atheist past], Freethought Blogs</ref> See also: [[Morale of the atheist movement]]
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[[Christianity|Christian]] organizations have been significantly more successful than [[atheist organizations]] as far as evangelizing via the internet (see: [[Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists]] and [[Internet evangelism|Christian internet evangelism]] and [[Major Christian websites]]).
  
 
== Internet atheism web traffic levels ==
 
== Internet atheism web traffic levels ==
  
''See:'' [[Internet atheism web traffic volume]]
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''See:'' [[Internet atheism web traffic volume]] and [[Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world]]
  
During the period of 2008 to 2012, the [[Atheist Population|atheist community]] made a concerted effort to spread atheism through means of the internet. However, leading atheist websites saw plunges in web traffic during the latter period of this time.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]</ref>
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During the period of 2008 to 2012, the [[Atheist Population|atheist community]] made a concerted effort to spread atheism through means of the internet. However, leading atheist websites saw plunges in web traffic during the latter period of this time.<ref name="questionevolution.blogspot.com"/>
[[File:PZ Myers.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|[[PZ Myers]] is one of the more active bloggers at [[Freethought Blogs]]. ]]
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[[File:PZ Myers.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|[[PZ Myers]] is one of the more active bloggers at [[Freethought Blogs]]. ]]
 
In 2016, an article entitled ''2015 was a terrible year for internet atheism'' featured [[Alexa]] web traffic graphs which indicated that some prominent atheist websites lost a significant portion of their global market share.<ref>[http://combatingatheism.blogspot.com/2016/02/2015-was-terrible-year-for-internet.html 2015 was a terrible year for internet atheism]</ref>  Since 2012, [[Freethought Blogs]] (a collection of atheist bloggers) saw a significant decline in its web traffic.<ref>[https://www.quantcast.com/freethoughtblogs.com#/trafficCard Freethoughtblog.com uses Quantcast to measure their web traffic and the demograghhics of their web visitors - Click to see report]</ref>  
 
In 2016, an article entitled ''2015 was a terrible year for internet atheism'' featured [[Alexa]] web traffic graphs which indicated that some prominent atheist websites lost a significant portion of their global market share.<ref>[http://combatingatheism.blogspot.com/2016/02/2015-was-terrible-year-for-internet.html 2015 was a terrible year for internet atheism]</ref>  Since 2012, [[Freethought Blogs]] (a collection of atheist bloggers) saw a significant decline in its web traffic.<ref>[https://www.quantcast.com/freethoughtblogs.com#/trafficCard Freethoughtblog.com uses Quantcast to measure their web traffic and the demograghhics of their web visitors - Click to see report]</ref>  
  
An article entitled ''[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]'' declares:
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An article entitled ''[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]'' declares: "In 2007, the Bible believer [[Chuck Norris]] noted that atheists were making a concerted effort to spread atheism via the internet. As you you will soon see via the graphs below, it has been an abysmal failure! The atheist community flooded the internet with a lot of shallow, ill-reasoned fluff that many in the public quickly dismissed."<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism and skepticism: The thrill is gone!]</ref>
{{cquote|In 2007, the Bible believer [[Chuck Norris]] noted that atheists were making a concerted effort to spread atheism via the internet. As you you will soon see via the graphs below, it has been an abysmal failure! The atheist community flooded the internet with a lot of shallow, ill-reasoned fluff that many in the public quickly dismissed.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism and skepticism: The thrill is gone!]</ref>}}
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For more information see: [http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism - post 2007 market share loss]
 
For more information see: [http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism - post 2007 market share loss]
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{{cquote|Atheists are making a concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of websites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of [[theism]] from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation. While you think your kids are innocently surfing the Web, secular progressives are intentionally preying on their innocence and naïveté.
 
{{cquote|Atheists are making a concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of websites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of [[theism]] from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation. While you think your kids are innocently surfing the Web, secular progressives are intentionally preying on their innocence and naïveté.
  
What's preposterous is that atheists are now advertising and soliciting on websites particularly created for teens...<ref>http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789</ref>}}
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What's preposterous is that atheists are now advertising and soliciting on websites particularly created for teens...<ref name="wnd.com">https://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789</ref>}}
  
Atheism internet outreach efforts, however, [[Ineffectiveness of atheist internet outreach|have been very ineffective]].
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However, there is a now large body of data indicating now indicating that internet outreach efforts are very ineffective (See: [[Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world]]).  
  
 
=== Decline of YouTube atheism ===
 
=== Decline of YouTube atheism ===
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In December 2015, a video entitled ''What Killed YouTube [[Atheism]]?'' was released giving a number of reasons YouTube atheism saw a big decline (see: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oBLvalMb3A What Killed YouTube atheism?]).
 
In December 2015, a video entitled ''What Killed YouTube [[Atheism]]?'' was released giving a number of reasons YouTube atheism saw a big decline (see: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oBLvalMb3A What Killed YouTube atheism?]).
  
== Atheist feminism related online schism ==
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== Internet atheism and women ==
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''See also:'' [[Atheist websites appear to receive significantly less traffic from women]]
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=== Atheist websites appear to receive significantly less traffic from women ===
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As far as online atheism, [[atheist websites appear to receive significantly less traffic from women]].
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=== Atheist feminism related online schism ===
  
 
''See also:'' [[Atheist factions]] and [[Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence|Atheists and antisocial behavior]]
 
''See also:'' [[Atheist factions]] and [[Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence|Atheists and antisocial behavior]]
  
The forerunner of the feminist [[Atheism plus]] movement was the online [[Elevatorgate]] controversy involving [[New Atheism|new atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] and feminist [[Rebecca Watson]].  
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[[Elevatorgate]] is a term commonly used to describe a 2011 controversy involving [[New Atheism|New Atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]]' comments made to atheist [[Rebecca Watson]] which are perceived to have been inappropriate by a sizable portion of the [[Atheism|atheist]] community and to the public at large.<ref>
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*[https://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/07/08/atheist_flirting Richard Dawkins: Skeptic of women? - Salon, July 8, 2011]
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*[http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2011/07/richard-dawkins-chewing-gum Sharing a lift with Richard Dawkins by David Allen Green - New Stateman - 06 July 2011]
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*[http://gawker.com/5818993/richard-dawkins-torn-limb-from-limbby-atheists Richard Dawkins Torn Limb From Limb—By Atheists - Gawker]
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*[https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-09-15/atheist-sexism-women/50416454/1 Atheists address sexism issues - USA Today]
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*[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jul/24/richard-dawkins-women-chilly-climate Richard Dawkins, check the evidence on the 'chilly climate' for women] by Emily Band, ''The Guardian'', July 24, 2011
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*[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/07/05/richard-dawkins-and-male-privilege/#.VYgS0LZmLUA Richard Dawkins and male privilege] By Phil Plait, ''Discover Magazine'', July 5, 2011 10:30 am
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*[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/09/is-richard-dawkins-destroying-his-reputation Is Richard Dawkins destroying his reputation?] by Sophie Elmhirst, ''The Guardian'', June 9, 2015
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</ref>  Watson is a [[feminism|feminist]].<ref>Rebecca Watson (July 5, 2011). "[http://skepchick.org/2011/07/the-privilege-delusion The Privilege Delusion]". Skepchick</ref>
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The forerunner of the feminist [[Atheism plus]] movement was the online Elevatorgate controversy involving [[New Atheism|new atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] and feminist [[Rebecca Watson]].  
  
 
''The Guardian'' wrote about Atheism plus and the reaction of many atheists on the internet:
 
''The Guardian'' wrote about Atheism plus and the reaction of many atheists on the internet:
 
{{Cquote|In the passionate world of [[American atheism]], the venom usually directed at believers has now been turned against the wrong kind of atheists...
 
{{Cquote|In the passionate world of [[American atheism]], the venom usually directed at believers has now been turned against the wrong kind of atheists...
  
It took 700 years from [[Constantine]] renaming Byzantium in his own honour to papal legates circulating letters of anathema that split the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman]] and [[Orthodox Christianity|Orthodox churches]]. Atheism, in its public, online life, has started exchanging internet anathemas – perhaps we should call them inathemas – in little more than a decade.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/sep/02/american-atheism-schism-spit-venom Is American atheism heading for a schism?] by Peter McGrath, ''The Guardian''</ref>}}
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It took 700 years from [[Constantine]] renaming Byzantium in his own honour to papal legates circulating letters of [[anathema]] that split the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman]] and [[Orthodox Christianity|Orthodox churches]]. Atheism, in its public, online life, has started exchanging internet anathemas – perhaps we should call them inathemas – in little more than a decade.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/sep/02/american-atheism-schism-spit-venom Is American atheism heading for a schism?] by Peter McGrath, ''The Guardian''</ref>}}
  
 
Post Elevatorgate and Atheism plus, the conflict between [[atheist feminism]] and anti-feminism atheists continues. Two of the most anti-feminism atheists are YouTube atheists [[Thunderf00t]] and [[TheAmazingAtheist]].
 
Post Elevatorgate and Atheism plus, the conflict between [[atheist feminism]] and anti-feminism atheists continues. Two of the most anti-feminism atheists are YouTube atheists [[Thunderf00t]] and [[TheAmazingAtheist]].
  
== Percentage of atheists in the world is shrinking while world internet usage is expandking ==
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== Percentage of atheists in the world is shrinking while world internet usage is expanding ==
 
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[[File:Blue Marble.jpg|thumbnail|right|175px|Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world's population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020.<ref name="cnsnews.com">[https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/global-study-atheists-decline-only-18-world-population-2020 Global Study: Atheists in Decline, Only 1.8% of World Population by 2020]</ref> See: [[Global atheism]] ]]
 
''See also:'' [[Global atheism]] and [[Decline of atheism]] and [[Atheist Population]] and [[Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian]]
 
''See also:'' [[Global atheism]] and [[Decline of atheism]] and [[Atheist Population]] and [[Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian]]
  
 
The internet is a global medium which growing rapidly in usage throughout the world.<ref>http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm</ref>   
 
The internet is a global medium which growing rapidly in usage throughout the world.<ref>http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm</ref>   
[[File:Blue Marble.jpg|thumbnail|right|175px|Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world’s population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020.<ref>[http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/global-study-atheists-decline-only-18-world-population-2020 Global Study: Atheists in Decline, Only 1.8% of World Population by 2020]</ref> See: [[Global atheism]] ]]
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The percentage of people in the world who are atheists is shrinking (see: [[Global atheism statistics]]).
 
The percentage of people in the world who are atheists is shrinking (see: [[Global atheism statistics]]).
  
On July 24, 2013, ''CNS News'' reported:
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On July 24, 2013, ''CNS News'' reported: "Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world’s population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) in South Hamilton, Mass."<ref name="cnsnews.com">[https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/global-study-atheists-decline-only-18-world-population-2020 Global Study: Atheists in Decline, Only 1.8% of World Population by 2020]</ref>
{{cquote|Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world’s population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) in South Hamilton, Mass."<ref>[http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/global-study-atheists-decline-only-18-world-population-2020 Global Study: Atheists in Decline, Only 1.8% of World Population by 2020]</ref>}}
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In 2011, the ''[[American Spectator]]'' citing research published in the ''International Bulletin of Missionary Research'' reported that atheism is on the decline as a whole in terms of adherents.<ref>http://spectator.org/archives/2011/02/28/thriving-christianity</ref> 
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== Google Trends: January 2004 to January 2024 data for atheism/agnosticism related terms for the world and the United States ==
  
The ''American Spectator'' declared:
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''See also:'' [[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]] and [[Google trends - Global searches for atheism and agnosticism terms]]
{{cquote|The report estimates about 80,000 new [[Christianity|Christians]] every day, 79,000 new [[Islam|Muslims]] every day, and 300 fewer atheists every day. These atheists are presumably disproportionately represented in the [[Western World|West]], while religion is thriving in the Global South, where [[Charismatic movement|charismatic Christianity]] is exploding."<ref>http://spectator.org/archives/2011/02/28/thriving-christianity</ref>}}
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=== Google Trends: From January 2004 to January 2024, the number of worldwide Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly down ===
  
== Elevatorgate and Richard Dawkins' loss of online influence ==
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[[File:Google trends atheism and agnostic terms world seaches january 2024.png|thumbnail|center|1400px|According to Google Trends, as of January 2024, worldwide Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly below their levels in January 2024.]]
[[File:Richard Dawkins Stockholm.JPG|alt=Richard Dawkins|thumbnail|200px|right|[[Richard Dawkins]] ]]
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{{Clear}}
''See also:'' [[Atheist movement]] and [[Elevatorgate]]
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Richard Dawkins is still widely criticized for causing embarrassment to his fellow atheists via his [[Elevatorgate]] scandal and for igniting deep fractures in the [[atheist movement]].<ref>
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==== Google Trends: From January 2004 to January 2024, the number of USA Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly down ====
*[http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/07/08/atheist_flirting Richard Dawkins: Skeptic of women? - Salon, July 8, 2011]
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[[File:Google trends atheism and agnostic terms USA seaches january 2024.png|thumbnail|center|1400px|According to Google Trends, as of January 2024, in the United States, Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly below their levels in January 2024.]]
*[http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2011/07/richard-dawkins-chewing-gum Sharing a lift with Richard Dawkins by David Allen Green - New Stateman - 06 July 2011]
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*[http://gawker.com/5818993/richard-dawkins-torn-limb-from-limbby-atheists Richard Dawkins Torn Limb From Limb—By Atheists - Gawker]
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*[http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-09-15/atheist-sexism-women/50416454/1 Atheists address sexism issues - USA Today]
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*[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jul/24/richard-dawkins-women-chilly-climate Richard Dawkins, check the evidence on the 'chilly climate' for women] by Emily Band, ''The Guardian'', July 24, 2011
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*[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/07/05/richard-dawkins-and-male-privilege/#.VYgS0LZmLUA Richard Dawkins and male privilege] By Phil Plait, ''Discover Magazine'', July 5, 2011 10:30 am</ref> 
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For example, on November 26, 2013, the atheist activist and blogger [[Jen McCreight]] posted at Twitter the message: "Did anyone on Dawkins AMA ask how he feels about singlehandedly destroying the atheist movement with the Dear Muslima yet?"<ref>[https://twitter.com/jennifurret/status/405391218273554433 Jennifer McCreight on the Twitter about the Elevatorgate scandal]</ref> In December 2013, atheist Jack Vance at Atheist Revolution called July 2, 2011, which is the day that Elevatorgate occurred, "The day the atheist movement died."<ref>[http://www.atheistrev.com/2013/12/the-day-atheist-movement-died.html The Day the Atheist Movement Died] by Jack Vance at Atheist Revolution</ref>
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=== Post sexual harassment allegations against Lawrence Krauss and David Silverman, searches for atheism related topics have dropped markedly ===
  
=== Graph showing Richard Dawkins' loss of influence post Elevatatorgate ===
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''See also:'' [[Post sexual harassment allegations against Lawrence Krauss and David Silverman, searches for atheism related topics have dropped markedly]]
  
''See also:'' [[Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science website]]
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[[File:Atheism & agnosticism related searches in world june 2018.jpg|thumbnail|775px|center|Post sexual harassment allegations against [[Lawrence Krauss]] and [[David Silverman]], searches for atheism related topics have dropped markedly around in the world.
 
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<br />
As can be seen by the graph below, by means of embedded code on his website from Quantcast, Quantcast directly measured the web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website. Traffic to Dawkins website is significantly down post-Elevatorgate scandal.
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<br />
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For more information, please see: [[Post sexual harassment allegations against Lawrence Krauss and David Silverman, searches for atheism related topics have dropped markedly]] and [https://www.mercatornet.com/features/view/a-shambolic-atheist-community-faces-some-tough-choices/21401 ''A shambolic atheist community faces some tough choices''] ]]
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{{Clear}}
  
Although his following of Dawkian atheist has significantly waned post-Elevatorgate and due to his generally [[Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins|abrasive manner]], he does retain a small cult following (See: [[Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]] and [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality]] and [[Atheist cults]]). 
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== Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic ==
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[[File:Coronavirus1.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Electron microscope scan of a coronavirus, so-called due to the crown-like filaments on the surface.
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<br />
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<br />
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See: [[Atheism and the coronavirus pandemic]] ]]
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''See also:'' [[Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic]]
  
[[File:Richard Dawkins web traffic 12-23-12.png|thumbnail|center|775px|According to the web traffic tracking company [[Quantcast]], the web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website fell in 2012.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/12/2012-has-been-bad-year-for-richard.html 2012 has been a very BAD year for Richard Dawkins's website according to Quantcast]</ref> By October 2014, the web traffic for his website fell to a lower level according to Quantcast.<ref>[http://shockawenow.blogspot.com/2014/10/richard-dawkins-loss-of-influence.html Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]</ref>
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Several atheist websites did very poorly during the [[coronavirus]] [[pandemic]] and lost a large amount of their traffic since the early part of 2020 (See: [[Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic]]).
 +
 
 +
Historically, religiosity increases during pandemics. Pew Research found people's religious faith grew during the pandemic - especially in the United States.<ref>[https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/01/27/more-americans-than-people-in-other-advanced-economies-say-covid-19-has-strengthened-religious-faith/#:~:text=A%20similar%20pattern%20occurs%20in,as%20do%2049%25%20of%20Americans. More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say COVID-19 Has Strengthened Religious Faith], Pew Research, 2021</ref> Nearly three-in-ten U.S. adults say the outbreak has boosted their faith; about four-in-ten say it has tightened family bonds.<ref>[https://www.pewforum.org/2021/01/27/more-americans-than-people-in-other-advanced-economies-say-covid-19-has-strengthened-religious-faith/ More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say COVID-19 Has Strengthened Religious Faith], Pew Forum</ref>
 +
 
 +
In addition, many [[atheist organizations]] have significant difficulty in getting their fellow atheist to financially support them (see: [[Atheist organizations and fundraising]]), so their web marketing budgets could have been low during the pandemic. In addition, many atheist organizations have poor fiscal management so they may not have had reserves built up before the pandemic (see: [[Atheist organizations and financial mismanagement]]).
 +
 
 +
On the other hand, there were major Christian websites that saw their web traffic substantially grow during the coronavirus pandemic (See: [[Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic#Christian websites and the coronavirus pandemic|Christian websites and the coronavirus pandemic]]).
 +
 
 +
The atheist websites might never gain that traffic back again as the number of [[Global atheism|atheists in the world]] is expected to drop before mid-2022 according to the scholars at the [[Center for the Study of Global Christianity]] at [[Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary]].<ref>[https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/01/Status-of-Global-Christianity-2022.pdf Status of Global Christianity, 2022, in the Context of 1900–2050]</ref> Currently, the [[Global atheism|global atheist population]] is losing market share in terms of the world's population (see: [[Global atheism statistics]]).
 +
 
 +
== Google trends research suggesting that internet atheism preaches to the atheist choir and is not effective at atheist evangelism ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world]] and [[Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists]] and [[Atheism and groupthink]] and [[Atheist activist]] and [[Atheist apologetics]] and [[Christian apologetics]]
 +
 
 +
The abstract for the journal article ''Who is Not Afraid of Richard Dawkins? Using Google Trends to Assess the Reach of Influential Atheists across Canadian Secular Groups'' published in the journal
 +
''Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses'' indicates:
 +
{{Cquote|Google Trends data on search volumes of high profile atheist public figures are used to assess their relative reach among different types of seculars in Canada. The user query data mined from Google Trends are complemented with an extensive set of information extracted from the Canadian General Social Surveys of 2005 to 2016. The analysis shows that the reach of high profile atheists is positively correlated with the presence of strictly-seculars, a proxy for the atheists. The investigation produces no statistically significant correlation between the presence of other types of seculars, namely the unchurched believers and the nominal affiliates, and the search volumes for high profile atheists. This exploratory finding suggests that the influential atheists likely “preach to the choir,” catering to like-minded individuals, at the exclusion of those with relatively close but differing views on religion and spirituality.<ref>[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0008429819854353?journalCode=sira ''Who is Not Afraid of Richard Dawkins? Using Google Trends to Assess the Reach of Influential Atheists across Canadian Secular Groups''] by Maryam Dilmaghani, ''Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses'', First Published December 13, 2019 Research Article
 +
https://doi.org/10.1177/0008429819854353</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
For more information, please see: [[Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world]]
 +
== Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world ==
 +
 
 +
See: [[Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world]]
 +
 
 +
== Internet outreach and the Matthew effect: Atheist websites vs. religious websites==
 +
[[File:St Matthew stained glass.JPG|thumbnail|175px|right|[[Saint Matthew]] ]]
 +
''See also:'' [[Internet outreach and the Matthew effect: Atheist websites vs. religious websites]]
 +
 
 +
Study.com defines the [[Matthew effect]] thusly: "The Matthew Effect is a term that describes the concept in society of accumulated advantage. It argues that people who start from a place of advantage, like intelligence, fame, wealth, or skill, will have the opportunity to accrue more of that advantage compared to others. The Matthew Effect is often thought of by the phrase, "the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.""<ref>[https://study.com/learn/lesson/matthew-effect-definition-application.html What is the Matthew effect]</ref> The Matthew effect's [[etymology]] can be traced to [[Gospel of Matthew]] which declares: "For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away." (Matthew 25:29, RSV).
 +
 
 +
Because the religious population is larger than the [[atheism|atheist]]/[[agnosticism|agnostic]] populations and [[Atheist fundraising vs. religious fundraising|raises more money]] for web marketing budgets than the atheist/agnostic populations, they greatly outperform atheist websites in terms of web traffic. In addition, Google tends to rank large websites with a lot of traffic higher at Google for various search terms - especially high volume searches. So large Christian websites with a lot of web traffic have a big competitive advantage over atheist websites. Furthermore, religious groups often have more evangelistic zeal and also have more international cooperation in terms of web outreach efforts.
 +
 
 +
As time has progressed the gap between the effectiveness of religious websites vs. atheist websites in terms of reaching larger audiences has widened and will most likely widen further. For example, Christian websites are greatly outperforming atheist websites in terms of their respective web outreaches (see: [[Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists]]).
 +
 
 +
For more information, please see:  [[Internet outreach and the Matthew effect: Atheist websites vs. religious websites]].
 +
 
 +
== YouTube atheism ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[YouTube atheism]]
 +
 
 +
[[Image:chuck_norris.jpg|thumbnail|150px|right|[[Chuck Norris]] ]]
 +
In 2007, WorldNetDaily featured a column by the [[Christian]] [[Chuck Norris]] which declared:
 +
{{cquote|Atheists are making a concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of websites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of [[theism]] from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation. While you think your kids are innocently surfing the Web, secular progressives are intentionally preying on their innocence and naivete.
 +
 
 +
What's preposterous is that atheists are now advertising and soliciting on websites particularly created for teens.
 +
 
 +
[[YouTube]], the most popular video site on the Net for young people, is one of their primary avenues for passing off their secularist propaganda.<ref name="wnd.com">https://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
Atheism internet outreach efforts, however, [[Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world|have been ineffective]].
 +
 
 +
In October 2016, a video entitled ''What Killed YouTube [[Atheism]]?'' was released which gave a few  reasons why YouTube atheism saw a big decline.<ref>''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gt8CfyA_BE What Killed YouTube Atheism]?''</ref>
 +
 
 +
In addition, a December 2015 video entitled ''How [[Feminism]] destroyed '[[New Atheism]]''', YouTube atheist/evolutionist [[Thunderf00t]] pointed out that merely 2 out of 7 YouTube atheist/evolutionist channels that he plugged in the past are now active.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emrD6hTKkIY How Feminism destroyed 'New Atheism']</ref>
 +
 
 +
In 2017, YouTube atheist/skeptic videos began another period of significant decline in terms of views.<ref>[https://osf.io/73jys/ A Supply and Demand Framework for YouTube Politics] by Kevin Munger & Joseph Phillips. Penn State Political Science, October 1, 2019, See page 23</ref><ref>[https://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2019/10/you-tube-atheistskeptic-videos-see.html You Tube atheist/skeptic videos see a decline in views from 2017 to present]</ref>
 +
=== YouTube videos with an atheistic, classical liberalism, political viewpoint see a decline starting in 2017 ===
 +
 
 +
See: [[YouTube videos with an atheistic, classical liberalism, political viewpoint see a decline from 2017 to present|YouTube videos with an atheistic, classical liberalism, political viewpoint see a decline starting in 2017]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:YouTube videos with an atheistic classical liberalism political perspective see a decline .png|thumbnail|center|800px|center|YouTube atheist/skeptic videos which have a [[Classical Liberal|classical liberalism]], political perspective see a decline in views from 2017 to present while conservative YouTube videos see a marked rise in views during this same period as can be seen above.<ref>[https://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2019/10/you-tube-atheistskeptic-videos-see.html YouTube atheist/skeptic videos with a classical liberalism perspective see a decline in views from 2017 to present]</ref>]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
According to the academic paper ''A Supply and Demand Framework for YouTube Politics'' by Kevin Munger & Joseph Phillips. Penn State Political Science, October 1, 2019:
 +
{{Cquote|The second segment of the AIN [(Alternative Influence Network, who belong politically to [[Classical Liberal|classicial liberalism]])] include people in what we describe as the "Skeptic" community. These include people like [[Carl Benjamin]] ("Sargon of Akkad"), former candidate for European Parliament; [[Jordan Peterson]], known for his opposition to a bill adding gender expression and identity as protected under the Canadian Human Rights Act; and [[Dave Rubin]], a former affiliate of the [[Progressivism|progressive]] [[The Young Turks|Young Turks]]. This segment of the AIN agrees, in principle, with most [[liberal]] values, and often "Skeptics" say they used to consider themselves part of the mainstream left. Where Skeptics define themselves in contrast to the mainstream left is through opposition to certain practices, namely explicit appeals to marginalized racial and gender identities and the use of no-platforming against far-right speakers. However, unlike further-right segments of the AIN, they also strongly criticize the far-right for its own use of identity politics to bolster white supremacy."<ref>[https://osf.io/73jys/ A Supply and Demand Framework for YouTube Politics] by Kevin Munger & Joseph Phillips. Penn State Political Science, October 1, 2019, See page 23</ref><ref>[https://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2019/10/you-tube-atheistskeptic-videos-see.html You Tube atheist/skeptic videos with a classical liberalism political perspective see a decline in views from 2017 to present]</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
== Reddit atheism ==
 +
[[File:Reddit logo and wordmark.svg.png|thumbnail|[[Reddit]]'s trademark]]
 +
''See also:'' [[Reddit atheism]]
 +
 
 +
[[Reddit atheism]], also known as r/[[atheism]], is one of the largest internet groups of atheists.<ref name="mashable.com">[http://mashable.com/2013/06/14/reddit-atheism-mods/ Reddit Atheists Have New Leadership After Turbulent Coup]</ref> 
 +
 
 +
=== In 2013 Reddit atheism lost its main page status ===
 +
 
 +
In 2013 it suffered a major setback as it lost its status as a default subreddit (default subreddits are the forums that all non-logged in users see when they visit the site. In other words, the atheism subreddit was removed from its homepage).<ref>[http://www.dailydot.com/news/reddit-atheism-politics-new-default-subreddits/ Reddit dumps r/atheism and r/politics from its default homepage]</ref>
 +
 
 +
In 2016, due to Reddit removing inactive "ghost accounts", Reddit reduced the amount of members in Reddit atheism by 10,000 user accounts.<ref name="motherboard.vice.com">[http://motherboard.vice.com/read/reddit-rapture-how-ratheism-suddenly-lost-10000-users Reddit Rapture: How r/atheism Suddenly Lost 10,000 Users]</ref>
 +
=== Reddit atheism has a bad reputation ===
 +
 
 +
A June 14, 2013 ''Mashable''  article declared: "In recent years, r/atheism has become known for memes, images, quote pictures and other content viewed by some as "low brow."<ref name="mashable.com"/>
 +
 
 +
According to the website Motherboard.com, "The term “reddit atheist” has evolved as a shorthand in recent years for a negative internet cliché, that of the rabid [[Richard Dawkins]] supporter, the mansplainer..." <ref name="motherboard.vice.com"/>
 +
 
 +
Historically, the atheist population has often used mockery as a substitution for reasonable discussion/debate and Reddit atheism is a continuation of this tradition (see: [[Atheism and mockery]]).
 +
 
 +
=== Reddit atheism and their reluctance to engage in offline atheist activism ===
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Atheism and cowardice]] and [[Christian apologetics|Evidence for Christianity]]
 +
 
 +
In May 2013, Policymic published an article on Reddit atheism  which indicated that Reddit atheists are reluctant to share their atheism offline.<ref name="policymic.com">[http://www.policymic.com/articles/41797/reddit-users-why-atheist-redditors-are-stuck-on-the-internet  ''Reddit Users: Why Atheist Redditors Are Stuck On the Internet'']</ref>
 +
 
 +
The  Policymic article declared:
 +
{{cquote|Are we to make cowards out of Reddit’s atheists for the discrepancy between the prevalence of real life and internet proclamations of godlessness? Maybe, as the world’s loudest atheist, Richard Dawkins, first bemoaned in his TED talk, “Atheists do not want to be impolite … Can we stop being so damned polite?” Or, as R/atheist stalwart with the username “blackstar9000” explained in a very thoughtful post on the state of the atheist subreddit, “Many of the users are just recently converted, who fear being ostracized by people the religious people who make up their support system.”<ref name="policymic.com">[http://www.policymic.com/articles/41797/reddit-users-why-atheist-redditors-are-stuck-on-the-internet  ''Reddit Users: Why Atheist Redditors Are Stuck On the Internet'']</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
Atheists have a reputation for apathy and cowardice when it comes to sharing their atheism with others and defending atheism against valid criticism (See:  [[Atheism and apathy]] and [[Atheism and cowardice]]).
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Wikipedia's atheism page - monthly page views ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Wikipedia's atheism page - monthly page views]] and [[Conservapedia:Atheism articles statistics]]
 +
 
 +
[[Wikipedia]] was founded by the [[atheism|atheist]] [[Jimbo Wales]] and the [[agnostic|agnostic]] [[Larry Sanger]].
 +
 
 +
[[File:Wikipedia Atheism page views 10-14-2022.png|center|1400px|thumbnail|Wikipedia's atheism page has seen a major decline in page views since November 2015.
 
<br />
 
<br />
 
<br />
 
<br />
In October of 2012, [[Rebecca Watson]] published a story about Elevatorgate and its aftermath in ''Slate'' entitled, ''It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too: I spoke out about sexual harassment among atheists and scientists. Then came the rape threats''.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/10/sexism_in_the_skeptic_community_i_spoke_out_then_came_the_rape_threats.html It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too: I spoke out about sexual harassment among atheists and scientists. Then came the rape threats] by Rebecca Watson, ''Slate'', October 2012</ref>
+
In November 2015, Wikipedia's atheism page received 118,015 page views. In July 2022, Wikipedia's atheism page received 68,836 page views.
 
<br />
 
<br />
 
<br />
 
<br />
The web traffic was measured via [[Quantcast]] which directly measured Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.<ref name="Quantcast - Quantcast Measure">[https://www.quantcast.com/measure/ Quantcast - Quantcast Measure]</ref>]]
+
In the early part of the 21st century, [[Atheism|atheists]] were very active on the internet.<ref name="wnd.com">https://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789</ref>  However, by 2008 there began a marked decline in [[internet atheism]] (see: [[Internet atheism web traffic volume]]).<ref name="questionevolution.blogspot.com">[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]</ref> ]]
  
=== Recent web traffic according to Quantcast which directly measured Dawkins' website traffic ===
+
== The Satanic Temple website ==
  
[[File:Richard Dawkins' website traffic.jpg|500px|thumbnail|center|The above graph shows the monthly website traffic to Richard Dawkins' website as of June 22, 2015 in terms of unique monthly web visitors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2015/06/web-traffic-of-richard-dawkins-main.html Web traffic of Richard Dawkins' main website]</ref>  As you can see above, in 2012, Richard Dawkins saw a very large decrease in web traffic.
+
''See also:'' [[The Satanic Temple]] and [[The Satanic Temple#Nontheist Jex Blackmore on The Satanic Temple and her allegation of sexual harassment|Nontheist Jex Blackmore on The Satanic Temple and sexual harassment]] and [[The Satanic Temple#Jex Blackmore on The Satanic Temple and financial transparency|Jex Blackmore on The Satanic Temple and financial transparency]]
  
 +
[[File:Satanic Temple website Google referral traffic as of 12-28-2022 according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|1600px|center|In November of 2022, The Satanic Temple experienced a loss of Google referral web traffic according to the web marketing related website SEMRUsh.com.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
 +
== Sam Harris' website ==
  
The website traffic is measured via [[Quantcast]] which directly measures Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.<ref>[https://www.quantcast.com/measure/ Quantcast - Quantcast Measure]</ref>]]
+
''See also:'' [[Sam Harris]]
=== Alexa ranking of Richard Dawkins' website ===
+
  
''See also:'' [[Alexa rankings of Richard Dawkins' website]]
+
[[File:Sam Harris' website's Google referral traffic as of December 22, 2022 accoring to SEMRush.jpg|center|thumbnail|1200px|According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, Sam Harris' website lost a significant amount of its referral traffic from Google as and as of December 22, 2022 it was merely receiving 85,500 monthly web visits via Google referral traffic which is a big drop from its peak.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
=== Sam Harris' website and its drop in global ranking to leading web marketing company SimilarWeb.com ===
  
[[File:Richarddawkins.net alexa.png|thumbnail|center|400px|According to [[Alexa]], Richard Dawkins website lost a large amount of its global market share during to period between 2010 and the beginning portion of 2012.]]
+
''See also:'' [[Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:Sam Harris similarweb 12-2-2022.jpg|1500px|thumbnail|center|According to the leading web marketing website SimilarWeb.com, the website SamHarris.org was losing its current SimilarWeb.com ranking. In September of 2022, Similarweb.com indicated that SamHarris.org was the 105,639th most popular website in the world.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
On August 19, 2019, according to [[Alexa]], the website of Samharris.org was the 66,776th most popular website in the world and its global market share was dropping.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
[[File:Richard Dawkins alexa 2016.png|thumbnail|center|400px|In 2015, Richard Dawkins' website fell in terms of its [[Alexa]] ranking.]]
+
 
 +
== RationalWiki ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[RationalWiki and web traffic]]
 +
 
 +
[[RationalWiki]] is a politically [[leftism|left]] leaning website that skews towards [[atheism]]/[[agnosticism]] in terms of its [[worldview]].
 +
 
 +
The RationalWiki website lost a huge amount of web traffic in the latter part of 2019 and throughout most the first half of 2020 (See: [[RationalWiki and web traffic]]).
 +
 
 +
1,300+ websites delinked from RationalWiki.org from May of 2021 to July 15, 2021 according to the website Semrush.com.  See: [[RationalWiki and web traffic#1,300+ websites delinked from RationalWiki.org from May of 2021 to July 15, 2021|1,300+ websites delinked from RationalWiki.org from May of 2021 to July 15, 2021]].
 +
 
 +
RationalWiki has a history of having poor leadership (see: [https://www.conservapedia.com/Category:RationalWiki#RationalWiki_and_its_poor_leadership RationalWiki and its poor leadership]). On July 14, 2022, during the election process for the RationalMedia Foundation board of directors, RationalWiki users admitted that RationalWikians were offering weak candidates so far.<ref>[https://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2022/07/rationalwiki-users-admit-election-for.html RationalWiki users admit the election for its Board of Trustees is offering weak candidates so far], [[Examining Atheism]] blog, July 14, 2022</ref>
 +
 
 +
On May 29, 2022, one of the founders of the RationalWiki website indicated "Currently the donations we get are sparse... We have not done a donation drive in a long time and have not been self-supporting for over a year....".<ref>[https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=RationalWiki_talk:Site_support&diff=2457044&oldid=2457020 Difference between revisions of "RationalWiki talk:Site support", Revision as of 17:15, 29 May 2022 (edit) (undo)]</ref> A global fundraising scam, Rationalwiki has not complied with non-profit reporting requirements for 7 consecutive years.<ref>''[https://archive.ph/YC96o#Is_the_Foundation_Defunct.3F Is the Foundation Defunct?],'' RationalWiki talk:RationalMedia Foundation/Archive2, 22:50, 26 August 2021‎. Rationalwiki.org.</ref>  See also: [[Atheism and charity]] and [[Atheist organizations and fundraising]] and [[Atheist fundraising vs. religious fundraising]]
 +
 
 +
In June of 2022, the RationalWiki admin [[GrammarCommie]] said that RationalWiki was "half dead".<ref>[https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:2friedeggs&diff=prev&oldid=2460941 Revision as of 03:49, 10 June 2022 (edit) (undo) GrammarCommie (talk | contribs)</ref> In reply, the RationalWiki user 2friedeggs said:  "This site is dying for a reason" and he indicated that GrammarCommie was chasing good faith editors away.  In addition, in June of 2022, RationalWiki user Neiltyson1fan called RationalWiki a "[[zombie]] wiki".<ref>[https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=RationalWiki_talk:All_things_in_moderation&diff=2463835&oldid=2463826 Latest revision as of 10:07, 21 June 2022 (view source), Neiltyson1fan (talk | contribs)]</ref> The RationalWiki user KarmaPolice is a British [[socialism|socialist]]. On August 15, 2022, KarmaPolice wrote concerning RationalWiki: "...it's quite possible that by say, 2030 the RW 'TimeCube' page may be *only* surviving record of it's existence."<ref>[https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=RationalWiki:Saloon_bar&diff=2477921&oldid=2477918 Latest revision as of 19:08, 15 August 2022 (edit) (undo) KarmaPolice (talk | contribs)(→‎Rationalwiki should tone down on the snark.)]</ref>On November 6, 2022, RationalWiki user Rairyu75 wrote: "See, what I'm trying to ask, in a really roundabout sort of way is... are you all confident this website will continue to exist? Not like into next week, or next month but like, next year, or 5 years from now? Cause I would kinda like to edit this place... and I just can't tell if it would be futile or not. Like fixing the engine of a car that's destined for the scrapheap. I just can't f@cking tell if one day, in the near future, I will type the URL into my search bar and I'll get nothing in response."<ref>[https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=RationalWiki_talk:RationalMedia_Foundation&diff=2499178&oldid=2494043 Revision as of 00:56, 6 November 2022 (edit) (undo) Rairyu75 (talk | contribs) (→‎You guys doing okay?: new section)]</ref>
 +
 
 +
=== RationalWiki and its large drop in Google referral traffic ===
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[RationalWiki and web traffic]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:RationalWiki Google referral traffic according to SEMRush as of 6-30-2023.jpg|thumbnail|center|1400px|According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, RationalWiki has experienced a huge drop in Google referral traffic in the latter part of 2019 and as of June 30, 2023 it receives 136,000 monthly visits via Google referral traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
In addition, according to SEMRush, RationalWiki dropped from a 66 domain authority score on October 21, 2023 to a 43 domain authority score on June 30, 2023.  Domains with low domain scores typically have less traffic, less authoritative websites linking to them and more lower quality websites linking to them.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
[[File:Richarddawkins.net alexa 10-2106.png|thumbnail|center|400px|In 2016, Richard Dawkins' website lost a considerable amount of global market share according to the web traffic tracking company [[Alexa]].]]
+
==== Ahrefs.com data on RationalWiki and Google referral traffic ====
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:RationalWiki Google referral traffic as of December 22, 2022 according to Ahrefs.jpg|thumbnail|center|1200px|According to the leading web marketing website Ahrefs.com, the website RationalWiki has lost a huge amount of Google referral traffic since the latter part of 2019. As of December 22, 2022, Ahefs.com reported that RationalWiki.org was merely receiving 111,000 Google visits per month.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
[[File:Richard Dawkins Alexa December 2016.png|thumbnail|400px|center|In the latter half of 2016, Richard Dawkins' website saw a significant decline in its Alexa ranking.]]
+
 
[[File:Richard Dawkins alexa feb 2017.png|thumbnail|center|400px|In 2016 and the in the beginning portion of 2017, the global internet market share of of Richard Dawkins' website has been falling according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa.]]
+
=== SimilarWeb data for RationalWiki as of January 9, 2021: On January 9, 2022, SimilarWeb indicated that RationalWiki.org was losing its ranking relative to other websites when it comes to web traffic. ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:RationalWiki SimilarWeb January 9 2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|2000px|On January 9, 2022, SimilarWeb indicated that RationalWiki.org was in decline relative to other websites in terms of web traffic. ]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
Web marketing is often a relative strength game. Just because a website is gaining content or links does not mean that its competitors are not moving faster.
 +
 
 +
=== RationalWiki lost a significant amount of its popularity from August 2020 to January 2023 according to the Mangools SEO tool ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:Popularity of RationalWiki from August 2020 to January 2023 according to SEO tool produced by the company Mangools.jpg|thumbnail|center|2001px|According to search engine optimization tool produced by the company Mangools, RationalWiki lost a significant amount of its popularity from August 2020 to January 2023.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
  
=== Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins has seen a large decline ===
+
=== Google searches for the term "RationalWiki" from 2007 to February 6, 2022 in the world and in the United States ===
  
See: [[Richard Dawkins#Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins has seen a marked decline|Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins has seen a marked decline]]
+
''See also:'' [[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]
  
== Sam Harris' main website and his Project Reason website shutdown ==
+
=== Worldwide Google searches for the search term "RationalWiki" ===
  
''See also:'' [[Sam Harris]]
+
''See also:'' [[RationalWiki and its branding problems]]
  
As can be seen below, [[Sam Harris]]' main website has seen an uptick in traffic. This is probably partly due to his recent public commenary on superintelligent artificial intelligence to the public at large<ref>Harris, Sam (2016). "[https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_can_we_build_ai_without_losing_control_over_it Can we build AI without losing control over it?[" TED. June 2016.</ref>
+
[[File:Brand searches vs. domain strength and SEO.jpg|thumbnail|500px|center|According to the leading SEO and web marketing website MOZ.com, the number of brand searches for a domain is significantly correlated with a website's Google referral traffic - even more so than a website's domain strength (Domain strength is the quality and quantity of inbound links to a website.).
and his commentary on [[Islam]]. In addition, perhaps [[New Atheism|new atheist]] Richard Dawkins' recent pulling back from public life due to an illness in 2016 caused Sam Harris, who is also a new atheist, to obtain some of Dawkins' web traffic.
+
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
As can be seen below, the number of brand searches for the term "RationalWiki" is on a downward trend.]]
  
On the other hand, as can be seen below, Harris' ambitious plans for his [[Project Reason]] website were not successful.
+
[[File:RationalWiki worldwide Google trends data for 2-20-2023.jpg|center|1500px|thumbnail|Google Trends worldwide data for the keyword "RationalWiki".]]
 +
{{clear}}
  
=== Sam Harris' main website ===
+
=== RationalWiki has less than 40 active editors ===
  
[[File:Sam Harris alexa March 2016.png|thumbnail|center|400px|A March 2017 [[Alexa]] graph indicates that Sam Harris' main website experienced a surge in web traffic.]]
+
[[File:RW has less than 40 active editors.jpg|thumbnail|center|1500px|In December of 2022, RationalWiki had elections for a site moderators. The screeshot taken above shows that the vote tally revealed that RationalWiki is a [[wiki]] website with less than 40 active editors.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
=== Project Reason ===
+
=== RationalWiki and its web visitor interest in pornography ===
  
''See also:'' [[Project Reason]]  
+
''See also:'' [[RationalWiki and web visitor interest in pornography|RationalWiki and its web visitor interest in pornography]]
  
Sam Harris' Project Reason website indicated concerning the online project:
+
[[File:RationalWiki audience interest in pornography 1-10-2022 1.jpg|thumbnail|1200px|center|[[RationalWiki and web traffic|RationalWiki.org]] is a politically [[leftism|left]] leaning website that skews towards [[atheism]]/[[agnosticism]] in terms of its [[worldview]].  
{{cquote|Project Reason is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. The foundation draws on the talents of prominent and creative thinkers in a wide range of disciplines to encourage critical thinking and erode the influence of dogmatism, superstition, and bigotry in our world.
+
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
The editors of the website RationalWiki try to portray the website as a thinking person's [[wiki]] where the editors carefully analyze various matters.
 +
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 +
<br />
 +
But SimilarWeb.com data shows a significant portion of RationalWiki's web audience is interested in "adult" material as can be seen by the "adult" audience interests in the above graphic. 
 +
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 +
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 +
<br />
 +
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 +
Atheists have played a significant role in both the production and consumption of pornographic material (See: [[Atheism and pornography]] and [[Atheism and child pornography]]).
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Many feminists contend that pornography exploits women.<ref>[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-sex-markets/ Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets], The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, October 6, 2020</ref> RationalWiki is a pro-[[feminism]] website.<ref>[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Feminism RationalWiki - Feminism]</ref> ]]
 +
{{clear}}
  
One immediate need is to build an archive of the best secular resources on the Internet. Registered users can submit their favorite articles, videos, interviews, etc."<ref name="Sam Harris, Project Reason failed!">[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/sam-harris-project-reason-failed.html Sam Harris, Project Reason failed!]</ref>}}
+
==== Trustworthiness of websites linking to RationalWiki ====
  
In addition, the article [http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/sam-harris-project-reason-failed.html''Sam Harris, Project Reason failed''] offers this web traffic graph from the web traffic tracking company Alexa:
+
[[File:RationalWiki domain inbound links trustflow vs. citation flow.jpg|thumbnail|center|1000px|According to the leading search engine optimization website Search Engine Land: "Citation Flow is a number of predicting how influential a URL might be based on how many sites link to it. Trust Flow is a number predicting how trustworthy a page is based on how trustworthy sites tend to link to trustworthy neighbors."<ref>[https://searchengineland.com/majestic-seo-announces-new-link-metrics-trust-flow-citation-flow-121230 Majestic SEO Announces New Link Metrics: Trust Flow & Citation Flow]</ref>
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
As far as a website's domain, high authority and trustworthy websites commonly have their trustflow metric higher than their citation flow metric. As can been above, RationalWiki has the exact opposite. Perhaps its web visitors who visit adult websites link to RationalWiki from low quality websites that are untrusted. ]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
[[File:Project Reason 6-26-2012 alexa.png|thumbnail|600px|center|An Alexa web traffic tracking graph for Project Reason taken from the article ''Sam Harris, Project Reason failed''<ref name="Sam Harris, Project Reason failed!">[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/sam-harris-project-reason-failed.html Sam Harris, Project Reason failed!]</ref>]]
+
== American Humanist Association's website  ==
  
 +
''See also:'' [[American Humanist Association]]
  
An updated Alexa web traffic tracking graph on January 31, 2014:
+
[[File:American Humanist Association website Google referral traffic according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|1200px|center|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, the American Humanist Association's website lost a large portion of its monthly Google referral web traffic from its peak. As of April 28, 2023, the American Humanist Association website was merely receiving 57,700 monthly Google refferal traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
  
[[File:Project reason 1-31-2013.png|thumbnail|center|600px|A January 31, 2014 Alexa web traffic tracking graph for the website Project Reason]]
+
== American Atheists website ==
  
The [[Shadow To Light blog]] wrote in 2016:
+
''See also:'' [[American Atheists]]
{{Cquote|It looks to me like Project Reason is dead.  Which is weird given that there is no announcement or explanation.  If Project Reason is indeed gone, then Harris is quietly trying to slip it down the memory hole.  But why?
+
  
So I looked around on the internet and the only information I could find was in a very brief thread on the forum on Sam Harris’s remaining webpage:
+
On August 9, 2019, the American Atheists website was ranked the 338,824th most popular website in the world by the web trafic tracking company [[Alexa]].
 +
=== American Atheists website and its loss of Google referral traffic ===
  
::The Administrator:”Project Reason has been retired as a website. It’s forum has been transplanted here.”
+
''See also:'' [[Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic]]
  
::Someone asked, “Does that mean Project Reason itself has dissolved and is not taking on projects?”
+
[[File:American Atheists website Google referral traffic according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|center|1200px|According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, the American Atheists' website has lost a large proportion of it Google referral traffic. As of April 28, 2023, according to SEMRush, the website was receiving 43,400 monthly web visits via Google referral traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
::Administrator replied: “Correct.”
+
=== Embarrassing incidents concerning the website of the American Atheists ===
  
If it is true that Project Reason has been dissolved and is no longer taking on projects (since it no longer exists), then why hasn’t Harris made this announcement?<ref>[https://shadowtolight.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/is-project-reason-gone/ Is Project Reason Gone?], [[Shadow to Light blog]]</ref>}}
+
See: [[Embarrassing incidents concerning the website of the American Atheists]]
  
== Freethought Blogs ==
+
[[File:American Atheists.jpg|alt=American Atheists|thumbnail|200px|right|[[Nate Phelps]] spoke at the 2009 [[American Atheists]] convention.<ref>http://lifewithoutfaith.com/?p=183</ref>
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
See also: [[American Atheists and obesity]] and [[Atheism and obesity]] ]]
 +
[[File:American Atheists website SEMRush.png|center|thumbnail|1000px]]
 +
[[File:American Atheists website one of top keywords is athiest.jpg||center|thumbnail|1000px|According to the leading web marketing organization SEMRush, one of the top ways that people find the [[American Atheists]] organization's website via Google searches is by misspelling the word atheist.  About 18,100 Google searches a month are done for the keyword "athiest".]]
 +
{{clear}}
  
''See also:'' [[Freethought Blogs]] and [[The Orbit]]
 
  
[[Freethought Blogs]] is a spinoff of ScienceBlogs launched by [[PZ Myers]] and [[Ed Brayton]].
+
== Freedom From Religion Foundation  ==
  
=== Alexa ranking of Freethought Blogs ===
+
''See also:'' [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]] and [[Dan Barker]] and [[Freedom From Religion Foundation#Freedom From Religion Foundation: BBB Wise Giving Alliance - Failure to meet standards for a nonprofit|Freedom From Religion Foundation: BBB Wise Giving Alliance - Failure to meet standards for a nonprofit]]
  
[[File:Frethoughtblogs 10-2016.png|thumbnail|center|400px|In 2016, [[Freethought Blogs]] lost a considerable amount of global market share according to the web traffic tracking company [[Alexa]].]]
+
[[File:Freedom From Atheism Foundation Google referral traffic - SEMRush 9-20-2023.jpg|thumbnail|center|1400px|In 2023, the Freedom From Atheism website saw a large drop in Google referral traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
=== Atheist Dan Barker (Co-Founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation): Google trends data from 2004 to 2020 ===
  
[[File:Freethoughtblogs alexa 2016.png|thumbnail|center|400px|[[Freethought Blogs]] is a spinoff of ScienceBlogs launched by PZ Myers and [[Ed Brayton]].
+
''See also:'' [[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]
  
[[Alexa]] is a web traffic tracking company. In 2015 and 2016, Freethought blogs saw a large decrease in its Alexa ranking.]]  
+
[[File:Dan Barker Google trends 2004 to 2020 (1).png|800px|thumbnail|center|[[Dan Barker]] is the co-founder and co-president of the [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]].
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "[[Dan Barker]]" in the United States.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
[[File:Freethoughtblogs.com Alexa December 2016.png|400px|center|thumbnail|Freethought Blogs fell sharply in its Alexa ranking for much of the latter part of 2016]].
+
 
 +
== National Secular Society (UK website) ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[National Secular Society]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:National Secular Society Google referral traffic according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|1200px|center|The National Secular Society, which is a United Kingdom (UK) website, has lost a significant portion of its Google refferal traffic as as its peak Google traffic according to leading web marketing website SEMRush.com.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
[[File:Freethoughtbllogs alexa May 2017.png|400px|center|thumbnail|In May of 2017, according to Alexa, Frrethoughtblogs continued to lose global market share.]]
+
 
 +
== Flying Spaghetti Monster website ==
 +
 
 +
See also: [[Flying Spaghetti Monster]]
 +
 
 +
=== Google referral visits per month ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:Www.spaghettimonster.org Google referral traffic as of 12-8-2022 according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|center|1600px|According to the web marketing website SEMRush.com, the website Spaghettimonster.org is receiving 29,400 monthly Google referral visits per month as of 12-28-2022.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
=== Google Trends: Google searches for the term Flying Spaghetti Monster is dramatically down ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:Flying spaghetti monster Google trends as of December 28, 2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1600px|According to Google Trends, Google searches for the term "Flying Spaghetti Monster" is dramatically down.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Center for Inquiry ==
 +
[[File:Paul Kurtz.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Paul Kurtz]] was the founder of the Center for Inquiry. ]]
 +
''See also:'' [[Center for Inquiry]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:Center for Inquiry Google referral traffic SEMRush 7-29-2022.png|thumbnail|1200px|center|The [[Center for Inquiry]]'s website lost a large majority of its Google referral web traffic from its peak Google referral traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
 
 +
== OnlySky ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[OnlySky]]
 +
 
 +
[[OnlySky]] is a website for [[atheism|atheists]], [[agnosticism|agnostics]] and [[nones]]. It features news and commentary.
 +
 
 +
=== OnlySky's loss of Google referral traffic from August 24, 2022 to September 24, 2022 ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:OnlySky Google referral traffic from 8-24-2022 to 9-24-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|12000px|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.com, the website OnlySky.media lost Google referral traffic from August 24, 2022 to September 24, 2022.  Specifically, it went from 26,680 visitors in a day on August 24, 2022 to 18,097 visitors in a day September 24, 2022.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
=== Patheos nonbelief blogging channel sees an exodus of atheists/agnostics subsequent to its new editorial policy of not allowing atheists/agnostics to criticize religion ===
 +
[[File:Hemant Mehta at Skepticon 7.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|[[Hemant Mehta]] ]]
 +
The ''Religion News Service'' reported:
 +
{{Cquote|Visitors to Patheos, the multifaith media platform that hosts commentary from writers in many of the world’s religions, may have noticed some changes lately.
 +
 
 +
Its nonreligious channel has become an empty hulk, bereft of most of the familiar names that once occupied the space, including its most popular blogger, [[Hemant Mehta]], the “Friendly Atheist.”
 +
 
 +
Mehta and 14 other nonreligious bloggers, along with the channel manager, have decamped to a new site, OnlySky Media, set to launch later this month...
 +
 
 +
Efforts to reach Patheos’ management team were unsuccessful, but the departing bloggers and their channel manager, Dale McGowan, said that about a year ago, Patheos decided to change its editorial direction. Bloggers were advised they could stay at Patheos so long as they stopped writing negative or critical posts on religion or politics and instead focused on how to live a good life within their own worldview.<ref>[https://religionnews.com/2022/01/04/what-happened-to-the-nonbelief-channel-at-patheos/ What happened to the nonbelief channel at Patheos?]</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
== Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij website ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij]]
 +
 
 +
[[Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij]] (VtdK; English: "Association against Quackery") is the oldest [[Philosophical skepticism|skeptical]] organization in the world, having been founded in 1880 in the [[Netherlands]]. In the 1950s, it expanded its focus on [[alternative medicine]].
 +
 
 +
The influence of this skeptical organization has greatly waned as evidenced by the latter 20th century and 21st century seeing a resurgence of [[religion]] and religious [[fundamentalism]] (See: [[Desecularization]] and [[Growth of global desecularization]] and [[Growth of religious fundamentalism]]) and the 21st century seeing an explosion in the popularity of alternative medicine and complementary medicine.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/altmed/etc/viewers.html The Alternative Fix], PBS</ref>
 +
 
 +
=== The large decline of web traffic going to the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij since its peak ===
 +
 
 +
==== Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij's website experiencing a large loss of Google referral traffic ====
 +
 
 +
[[File:Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij.jpg|thumbnail|center|1500px|According to the leading web marketing tool websites SEMRush.com, since its peak of Google referral traffic in August 2018 of 47,524 monthly web visitors, the website is now merely receiving 14,696 monthly Google referral visits. 
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
[[Internet atheism]] as a whole has seen a big loss of web traffic while leading Christian websites have seen substantial gains in web traffic (See: [[Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists]]).
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
==== Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij's website website experiencing a large loss in its global popularity according to SimilarWeb.com ====
 +
[[File:Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij website Similarweb 11-25-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1500px|In September of 2022, the leading web marketing website Similarweb.com ranked Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij's website the 1,285,506th most popular website in the world. It also indicated that the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij website recently saw a 367,171 drop in its global ranking in terms of its global popularity. ]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
== Freethought Blogs ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Freethought Blogs]] and [[The Orbit]] and [[PZ Myers' loss of influence]]
 +
 
 +
[[Freethought Blogs]] is a spinoff of ScienceBlogs launched by [[PZ Myers]] and [[Ed Brayton]].
 +
 
 +
=== Freethought Blogs - Similarweb.com global ranking ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:Freethoughtblogs.com Similarweb.com ranking.png|thumbnail|900px|center|In May of 2022, Freethought Blogs was the 148,972th most popular website in the world according to the web marketing website SimilarWeb.com.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
In 2011, the [[Atheism|atheist]] and [[evolution]]ist [[PZ Myers]] said that he had greater blog traffic than the [[Answers in Genesis]] website and that the Answers in Genesis (AIG) website had "pathetic" web traffic.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/03/22/ken-ham-brags-about-his-websit/ Ken Ham brags about his websites]</ref> As of May of 2022, the Answers in Genesis website receives more web traffic than Freethought Blogs according to Similarweb.com.<ref>[https://www.similarweb.com/website/answeringenesis.org/#overview Answersingenes.org - Similarweb.com]</ref> According to Similarweb.com, the Answers in Genesis website is the 56,730th most popular website in the world.<ref>[https://www.similarweb.com/website/answeringenesis.org/#overview Answersingenes.org - Similarweb.com]</ref> ]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 
 +
=== Freethought Blogs has lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:Freethoughtblog Google referral traffic has fallen.jpg|center|thumbnail|1200px|[[Freethought Blogs]] has lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.com. ]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
=== Freethought Blogs dramatically loses it global market share according to Alexa ===
 +
 
 +
See: [[Freethought Blogs dramatically loses it global market share according to Alexa]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:Freethoughtblogs.com alexa ranking 9-23-2019.png|thumbnail|center|300px|The web traffic of Freethought Blogs saw a dramatic decline from June 2019 to September 2019 according to the web traffic tracking company [[Alexa]].
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
On June 23, 2019, Freethought  Blogs was the 90,953th most popular website in the world according to Alexa, but by September 23, 2019 Freethought Blogs was merely the 170,112th most popular website in the world according to Alexa.]]
  
 
=== Freethought Blogs appear to receive significantly less traffic from women ===
 
=== Freethought Blogs appear to receive significantly less traffic from women ===
Line 193: Line 524:
 
*[http://www.quantcast.com/freethoughtblogs.com "Freethoughtblogs.com" [demographics&#93;] Quαntcast.</ref> According to the website tracking firm Quantcast, women frequent Richard Dawkins' website  significantly less than men.<ref>[http://www.quantcast.com/richarddawkins.net#demographics Quantcast data - Richarddawkins.net - demographics]</ref>
 
*[http://www.quantcast.com/freethoughtblogs.com "Freethoughtblogs.com" [demographics&#93;] Quαntcast.</ref> According to the website tracking firm Quantcast, women frequent Richard Dawkins' website  significantly less than men.<ref>[http://www.quantcast.com/richarddawkins.net#demographics Quantcast data - Richarddawkins.net - demographics]</ref>
  
== Decline of global market share of Skepchick website ==
+
== Skeptoid ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Skeptoid]]
 +
 
 +
[[Skeptoid]].com is website that focuses on [[philosophical skepticism]] and science. It also has a podcast.
 +
 
 +
=== Skeptoid.com's Loss of Google referral web traffic ===
 +
[[File:Skeptoid Google referral traffic 7-26-2022.png|thumbnail|1200px|center|Since December of 2018, the website Skeptoid has lost a high proportion of its Google referral traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
 
 +
== Humanist International website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Humanist International Google referral traffic as of December 20, 2022 according to SEMRush.jpg||thumbnail|center|1201px|According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush.com, the Humanist International website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic relative to its peak Google referral traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Free Inquiry website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Free Inquiry website Google referral traffic as of 12-22-2022 according to SEMRush.com .jpg|thumbnail|center|1201px|According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush.com, the Free Inquiry website, which is run by the [[Center for Inquiry]], lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Humanists UK website ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Humanists UK]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:British Humanist Society Google referral traffic SEMRush 12-23-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1400px|The Humanists.UK website lost a large proportion of its monthly Google referral traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Elevatorgate and Richard Dawkins' loss of online influence ==
 +
[[File:Richard Dawkins Stockholm.JPG|alt=Richard Dawkins|thumbnail|200px|right|[[Richard Dawkins]] ]]
 +
''See also:'' [[Elevatorgate]] and [[Richard Dawkins and social media]] and [[Atheist movement]]
 +
 
 +
Richard Dawkins is still widely criticized for causing embarrassment to his fellow atheists via his [[Elevatorgate]] controversy and for igniting deep fractures in the [[atheist movement]].<ref>
 +
*[https://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/07/08/atheist_flirting Richard Dawkins: Skeptic of women? - Salon, July 8, 2011]
 +
*[http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2011/07/richard-dawkins-chewing-gum Sharing a lift with Richard Dawkins by David Allen Green - New Stateman - 06 July 2011]
 +
*[http://gawker.com/5818993/richard-dawkins-torn-limb-from-limbby-atheists Richard Dawkins Torn Limb From Limb—By Atheists - Gawker]
 +
*[https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-09-15/atheist-sexism-women/50416454/1 Atheists address sexism issues - USA Today]
 +
*[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jul/24/richard-dawkins-women-chilly-climate Richard Dawkins, check the evidence on the 'chilly climate' for women] by Emily Band, ''The Guardian'', July 24, 2011
 +
*[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/07/05/richard-dawkins-and-male-privilege/#.VYgS0LZmLUA Richard Dawkins and male privilege] By Phil Plait, ''Discover Magazine'', July 5, 2011 10:30 am</ref> 
 +
 
 +
For example, on November 26, 2013, the atheist activist and blogger [[Jen McCreight]] posted at Twitter the message: "Did anyone on Dawkins AMA ask how he feels about singlehandedly destroying the atheist movement with the Dear Muslima yet?"<ref>[https://twitter.com/jennifurret/status/405391218273554433 Jennifer McCreight on the Twitter about the Elevatorgate scandal]</ref> In December 2013, atheist Jack Vance at Atheist Revolution called July 2, 2011, which is the day that Elevatorgate occurred, "The day the atheist movement died."<ref>[http://www.atheistrev.com/2013/12/the-day-atheist-movement-died.html The Day the Atheist Movement Died] by Jack Vance at Atheist Revolution</ref>
 +
 
 +
=== Graph showing Richard Dawkins' loss of influence post Elevatatorgate ===
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science website]]
 +
 
 +
As can be seen by the graph below, by means of embedded code on his website from Quantcast, Quantcast directly measured the web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website. Traffic to Dawkins website is significantly down post-Elevatorgate scandal.
 +
 
 +
Although his following of Dawkian atheist has significantly waned post-Elevatorgate and due to his generally [[Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins|abrasive manner]], he does retain a small cult following (See: [[Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]] and [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality]] and [[Atheist cults]]). 
 +
 
 +
[[File:Richard Dawkins web traffic 12-23-12.png|thumbnail|center|775px|According to the web traffic tracking company [[Quantcast]], the web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website fell in 2012.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/12/2012-has-been-bad-year-for-richard.html 2012 has been a very BAD year for Richard Dawkins's website according to Quantcast]</ref> By October 2014, the web traffic for his website fell to a lower level according to Quantcast.<ref>[http://shockawenow.blogspot.com/2014/10/richard-dawkins-loss-of-influence.html Richard Dawkins' loss of influence]</ref>
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
 
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
The web traffic was measured via [[Quantcast]] which directly measured Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.<ref name="Quantcast - Quantcast Measure">[https://www.quantcast.com/measure/ Quantcast - Quantcast Measure]</ref>]]
 +
 
 +
=== Recent web traffic according to Quantcast which directly measured Dawkins' website traffic ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:Richard Dawkins' website traffic.jpg|500px|thumbnail|center|The above graph shows the monthly website traffic to Richard Dawkins' website as of June 22, 2015 in terms of unique monthly web visitors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2015/06/web-traffic-of-richard-dawkins-main.html Web traffic of Richard Dawkins' main website]</ref>  As you can see above, in 2012, Richard Dawkins saw a very large decrease in web traffic.
 +
 
 +
The website traffic is measured via [[Quantcast]] which directly measures Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.<ref name="Quantcast - Quantcast Measure"/>]]
 +
=== Richard Dawkins' website and loss of Google referral traffic ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:RichardDawkins.net Google referral traffic according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|center|1400px|The Richard Dawkins website has lost a large portion on its monthly Google referral traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
=== Alexa ranking of Richard Dawkins' website ===
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Alexa rankings of Richard Dawkins' website]]
 +
 
 +
=== Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins has seen a large decline ===
 +
 
 +
See: [[Richard Dawkins#Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins has seen a marked decline|Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins has seen a marked decline]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== ReligiousTolerance.org (Has a significant amount of atheism/skepticism content) ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:ReligiousTolerance.org Google referral traffic SEMRush 8-4-2022.jpg|center|thumbnail|1200px| ReligiousTolerance.org contains a large archive of articles and essays on subjects relating to atheism, religion and skepticism. According to the Religioustolerance.org website, they do have an atheist and agnostic on staff, but no religious conservatives on staff.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/website-purpose-religious-tolerance-4.htm About this web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (OCRT)]</ref> In addition, one of the website's core beliefs is the separation of church and state.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/website-purpose-religious-tolerance-2.htm About this web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (OCRT)]</ref>
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, ReligiousTolerance.org has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Atheist Alliance International  ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Atheist Alliance International]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:Atheist Alliance International Google refferal traffic SEMRush 7-28-2022.png|thumbnail|center|1200px|The [[Atheist Alliance International]] website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== EvilBible.com website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Evil Bible website Google referral traffic SEMRush 8-4-2022.jpg|center|thumbnail|1200px|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.com, EvilBible.com has lost a very large portion of it monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Atheist Community of Austin website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Atheist-community.org Google referral traffic SEMRUsh stats 8-5-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1201px|The Atheist Community of Austin website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic. According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, on May 5, 2020 the website received 6,698 Google referral visits in the previous 30 days. On August 5, 2022,  the website received 3,519 Google referral visits in the previous 30 days.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Freethought-trail.org website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Freethought-trail.org Google referral traffic as of December 20, 2022 according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|center|1201px|The Freethought-trail.org website lost a significant proportion of its Google referral web traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Skepchick ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Skepchick]]
 +
 
 +
[[Skepchick]] is an atheist website founded by [[Rebecca Watson]] which discusses [[atheism]], [[feminism]], [[science]], and [[pseudoscience]]. Being an atheist website, Skepchick advocates [[evolution]]ary [[pseudoscience]].
 +
 
 +
=== Global market share of Skepchick website ===
  
 
''See also:'' [[Skepchick]] and [[Atheist feminism]]
 
''See also:'' [[Skepchick]] and [[Atheist feminism]]
  
 +
[[File:Skepchick.org Similarweb.com global ranking 8-7-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|800px||According to the website traffic tracking company Similarweb, the Skepchick.org website was the 688,855th most popular website in the world in May 2022 and the website was experiencing a big drop in its global popularity.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 
[[File:Skepchick alexa.png|thumbnail|center|300px|According to the website traffic tracking company [[Alexa]], the [[Skepchick]] website saw a large decrease in its global market share from October 2015 to September 2016.]]
 
[[File:Skepchick alexa.png|thumbnail|center|300px|According to the website traffic tracking company [[Alexa]], the [[Skepchick]] website saw a large decrease in its global market share from October 2015 to September 2016.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
 
[[File:Skepchick Alexa 2017.png|thumbnail|center|300px|According to Alexa, the Skepchick website continued to lose global market share in the latter part of 2016.]]
 
[[File:Skepchick Alexa 2017.png|thumbnail|center|300px|According to Alexa, the Skepchick website continued to lose global market share in the latter part of 2016.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
 +
[[File:Skepchick alexa 9-4-2007.png|thumbnail|center|300px|According to Alexa, on September 4, 2017, the Skepchick website was the 448,390th most popular website in the world in terms of its web traffic. ]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
[[File:Skepchick alexa 10-27-2017.png|thumbnail|center|300px|According to Alexa, on October 27, 2017, the Skepchick website was the 587,446th most popular website in the world in terms of its web traffic. ]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
On August 8, 2019, Skepchick was ranked the 376,336th most popular website in the world according to Alexa.
 +
 +
===Google referral traffic to the Skepchick.org website ===
 +
 +
[[File:Skepchick Google referral traffic 7-26-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1200px|Since May of 2014, the Skepchick.org website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush. 
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 +
== Secular Student Alliance's website  ==
 +
 +
''See also:'' [[Secular Student Alliance]]
 +
 +
[[File:Secular Student Alliance Google referral traffic SEMRush 7-29-2022.png|thumbnail|1200px|center|The [[Secular Student Alliance]]'s website lost a large majority of its Google referral web traffic from its peak Google referral traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
  
 
== The Orbit ==
 
== The Orbit ==
Line 206: Line 702:
 
''See also:'' [[The Orbit]]
 
''See also:'' [[The Orbit]]
  
[[File:The Orbit 2016 Alexa December.png|thumbnail|225px|right|According to the web traffic tracking company [[Alexa]], The Orbit began losing global market share in August of 2016.]]
+
[[File:The Orbit alexa 9-4-2017.png|thumbnail|225px|right|In 2016, The Orbit website lost a considerable amount of its global market share according to the web traffic tracking company [[Alexa]]. On September 4, 2017 it was the 357,369th most popular website in the world according to Alexa. ]]
 
The [[Atheism|atheist]] blogger  [[Hemant Mehta]] reported about the atheist blog network [[The Orbit]]:
 
The [[Atheism|atheist]] blogger  [[Hemant Mehta]] reported about the atheist blog network [[The Orbit]]:
 
{{Cquote|Nearly two dozen atheist bloggers — many from [[Freethought Blogs]], along with a few others from Patheos, [[Skepchick]], and independent sites — are about to launch a new website called The Orbit. (The site isn’t functional just yet, but it should come online soon.)
 
{{Cquote|Nearly two dozen atheist bloggers — many from [[Freethought Blogs]], along with a few others from Patheos, [[Skepchick]], and independent sites — are about to launch a new website called The Orbit. (The site isn’t functional just yet, but it should come online soon.)
Line 216: Line 712:
 
I’m speculating here, but I suspect at least some of the Orbit writers are heading to the new site in part to get out from under his shadow and away from his burn-all-bridges. Maybe I’m wrong.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/04/08/atheist-ireland-publicly-dissociates-from-blogger-pz-myers/ reputation Several Atheist Bloggers Are Moving to “The Orbit”] by Hemant Mehta</ref>}}
 
I’m speculating here, but I suspect at least some of the Orbit writers are heading to the new site in part to get out from under his shadow and away from his burn-all-bridges. Maybe I’m wrong.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/04/08/atheist-ireland-publicly-dissociates-from-blogger-pz-myers/ reputation Several Atheist Bloggers Are Moving to “The Orbit”] by Hemant Mehta</ref>}}
  
=== May 5 2017 Alexa ranking of The Orbit ===
+
=== The Orbit: Loss of Google referral traffic ===
  
[[File:The Orbit.png|thumbnail|225px|center|On May 5, 2017, The Orbit has an Alexa ranking of 326,415 which means that according to Alexa it was the 326,415th most popular website in the world.]]
+
[[File:The Orbit website Google referral traffic SEMRush 7-26-2022.jpg|thumbnail|1200px|center|Since March 2017, The Orbit website lost a large portion of its Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== In 2018, The Orbit lost a considerable amount of its global market share ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:The Orbit Alexa December 24 2018.png|thumbnail|center|400px|In 2018, The Orbit website lost a considerable amount of its global market share according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa. On December 24, 2018, Alexa ranked The Orbit the 661,244th most popular website in the world.]]
 +
 
 +
== Secular Web's website ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Secular Web]] and [[Growth of global desecularization]]
 +
 
 +
=== Loss of Google referral traffic to the Secular Web's website ===
 +
 
 +
[[File:Internet Infidels Google referral traffic as of July 20, 2023 according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|center|1200px|Since 2011, the Secular Web's website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 
{{Clear}}
 
{{Clear}}
  
== Reddit atheism ==
+
=== 2023: Secular Web's drop in global ranking according to SimilarWeb.com ===
  
''See also:'' [[Reddit atheism]]
+
[[File:Infidels.org SimilarWeb.com ranking on 3-10-2023.jpg|1200px|center|thumbnail|According to SimilarWeb.com, the Secular Web experienced a very large drop in its website popularity ranking.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
According to SimilarWeb.com, in January 2023, the Secular Web website went from being the 627,509th most popular website to being the 1,234,759th popular website. ]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
[[Reddit atheism]], also known as r/[[atheism]], is one of the largest internet groups of atheists.<ref>[http://mashable.com/2013/06/14/reddit-atheism-mods/ Reddit Atheists Have New Leadership After Turbulent Coup]</ref> 
+
=== 2021: Secular Web's drop in global market share ===
  
=== In 2013 Reddit atheism lost its main page status ===
+
[[File:SecularWeb's drop of Google referral traffic 3-10-2023.jpg|300px|center|thumbnail|The Secular Web experienced a large drop in its global market from February 21, 2021 to May 21, 2021 according to the web traffic tracking company [[Alexa]].
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Specifically, the Secular Web went from being the 315,077th most popular website in the world to being the 577,111th most popular website during this period according to Alexa.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
In 2013 it suffered a major setback as it lost its status as a default subreddit (default subreddits are the forums that all non-logged in users see when they visit the site. In other words, the atheism subreddit was removed from its homepage).<ref>[http://www.dailydot.com/news/reddit-atheism-politics-new-default-subreddits/ Reddit dumps r/atheism and r/politics from its default homepage]</ref>
+
=== 2019: Secular Web's drop in global market share ===
  
In 2016, due to Reddit removing inactive "ghost accounts", Reddit reduced the amount of members in Reddit atheism by 10,000 user accounts.<ref>[http://motherboard.vice.com/read/reddit-rapture-how-ratheism-suddenly-lost-10000-users Reddit Rapture: How r/atheism Suddenly Lost 10,000 Users]</ref>
+
[[File:Infidels.org alexa ranking 12-29-2019.png|300px|center|thumbnail|The [[Secular Web]] experienced a large drop in its global market from November 29, 2019 to December 29, 2019 according to the web traffic tracking company [[Alexa]]. Specifically, the Secular Web went from being the 315,077th most popular website in the world to being the 577,111th most popular website during this period according to Alexa.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
=== Reddit atheism has a bad reputation ===
+
=== Secular Web's previous drop in web traffic and global market share ===
  
A June 14, 2013 ''Mashable''  article declared: "In recent years, r/atheism has become known for memes, images, quote pictures and other content viewed by some as "low brow."<ref>[http://mashable.com/2013/06/14/reddit-atheism-mods/ Reddit Atheists Have New Leadership After Turbulent Coup]</ref>
+
According to the web traffic tracking company [[Quantcast]], the [[Secular Web]] lost a significant amount of web traffic from the period of 6/2/07 to 7/30/11.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/05/internet-atheism-and-skepticism-thrill.html Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!]</ref>
  
According to the website Motherboard.com, "The term “reddit atheist” has evolved as a shorthand in recent years for a negative internet cliché, that of the rabid [[Richard Dawkins]] supporter, the mansplainer..." <ref>[http://motherboard.vice.com/read/reddit-rapture-how-ratheism-suddenly-lost-10000-users Reddit Rapture: How r/atheism Suddenly Lost 10,000 Users]</ref>
+
According to [[Alexa]], the Secular Web experienced a drop in online global market share in 2017 and 2018.<ref>[http://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2017/04/secular-web-lost-global-market-share.html Secular Web lost global market share in the first half of 2017 according to Alexa]</ref><ref>[https://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2018/10/these-atheist-websites-lost-global.html 5 atheist websites that lost global market share in 2018 according to Alexa], [[Examining Atheism]], October 22, 2018</ref>
  
Historically, the atheist population has often used mockery as a substitution for reasonable discussion/debate and Reddit atheism is a continuation of this tradition (see: [[Atheism and mockery]]).
+
On August 19, 2019, Alexa ranked the Secular Web the 285,436th most popular website in the world in web traffic and it was dropping in global market share at the time.
  
=== Reddit atheism and their reluctance to engage in offline atheist activism ===
 
  
''See also:'' [[Atheism and cowardice]] and [[Christian apologetics|Evidence for Christianity]]
+
== John W. Loftus' Debunking Christianity website ==
  
In May 2013, Policymic published an article on Reddit atheism  which indicated that Reddit atheists are reluctant to share their atheism offline.<ref>[http://www.policymic.com/articles/41797/reddit-users-why-atheist-redditors-are-stuck-on-the-internet  ''Reddit Users: Why Atheist Redditors Are Stuck On the Internet'']</ref>
+
''See also:'' [[John W. Loftus]]
  
The  Policymic article declared:
+
[[File:Debunking Christianity Google referral traffic SEMRush 7-28-2022.png|thumbnail|center|1200px|[[John W. Loftus]]' Debunking Christianity website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.  
{{cquote|Are we to make cowards out of Reddit’s atheists for the discrepancy between the prevalence of real life and internet proclamations of godlessness? Maybe, as the world’s loudest atheist, Richard Dawkins, first bemoaned in his TED talk, “Atheists do not want to be impolite … Can we stop being so damned polite?” Or, as R/atheist stalwart with the username “blackstar9000” explained in a very thoughtful post on the state of the atheist subreddit, “Many of the users are just recently converted, who fear being ostracized by people the religious people who make up their support system.<ref>[http://www.policymic.com/articles/41797/reddit-users-why-atheist-redditors-are-stuck-on-the-internet  ''Reddit Users: Why Atheist Redditors Are Stuck On the Internet'']</ref>}}
+
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
  
Atheists have a reputation for apathy and cowardice when it comes to sharing their atheism with others and defending atheism against valid criticism (See:  [[Atheism and apathy]] and [[Atheism and cowardice]]).
+
== The AtheistForums.org website's loss of Google referral traffic ==
  
== YouTube atheism/evolutionism ==
+
[[File:Atheistforums.org Google referral traffic SEMRush 8-5-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1200px|AtheistForums.org website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
== Landover Baptist website ==
  
''See also:'' [[YouTube atheism]]
+
''See also:'' [[Landover Baptist Church]]
  
[[Image:chuck_norris.jpg|thumbnail|150px|right|[[Chuck Norris]] endorses the Total Gym exercise system.<ref>http://www.totalgymdirect.com/</ref>]]
+
[[Landover Baptist Church]] is an [[atheist]] website that mocks [[Christianity]]. It was founded by a satirist named Chris Harper. He regularly speaks in atheist gatherings as Pastor Deacon Fred Smith.
In 2007, WorldNetDaily featured a column by the [[Christian]] [[Chuck Norris]] which declared:
+
{{cquote|Atheists are making a concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of websites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of [[theism]] from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation. While you think your kids are innocently surfing the Web, secular progressives are intentionally preying on their innocence and naivete.
+
  
What's preposterous is that atheists are now advertising and soliciting on websites particularly created for teens.
 
  
[[YouTube]], the most popular video site on the Net for young people, is one of their primary avenues for passing off their secularist propaganda.<ref>http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789</ref>}}
+
[[File:Landover Baptist Church website.jpg|thumbnail|center|1600px|According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, theThe Landover Baptist Church website has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referrral traffic.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
Atheism internet outreach efforts, however, [[Ineffectiveness of atheist internet outreach|have been ineffective]].
+
== Atheist Ireland website ==
  
In October 2016, a video entitled ''What Killed YouTube [[Atheism]]?'' was released which gave a few  reasons why YouTube atheism saw a big decline.<ref>''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gt8CfyA_BE What Killed YouTube Atheism]?''</ref>
+
''See also:'' [[Atheist Ireland]] and [[Michael Nugent]]
  
In addition, a December 2015 video entitled ''How [[Feminism]] destroyed '[[New Atheism]]''', YouTube atheist/evolutionist [[Thunderf00t]] pointed out that merely 2 out of 7 YouTube atheist/evolutionist channels that he plugged in the past are now active.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emrD6hTKkIY How Feminism destroyed 'New Atheism']</ref>
+
[[File:Atheist Ireland website Google referral traffic SEMRush 7-28-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1200px|The [[Atheist Ireland]] website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== The Atheist Revolution ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Atheist Revolution]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:Atheist Revolution website Google referral traffic SEMRush.com 7-28-2022.png|thumbnail|center|1200px|The [[Atheist Revolution]] website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== The atheist Shelly Segal's website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Shelleysegal.com Google referral traffic SEMRush 8-5-2022.jpg|center|thumbnail|1200px|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, the atheist Shelly Segal's website has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Atheist Universe website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Atheist Universe website Google referral traffic as of December 20, 2022 according to SEMRush.jpg|center|thumbnail|1200px|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, the AtheistUniverse.net website has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
== Atheism and the City website  ==
 +
 
 +
''See also:'' [[Atheism and the City]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:Atheismandthecity com website Google referral traffic july 19 2023 SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|1400px|center|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, the Atheismandthecity.com website has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== AtheistScholar.org website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:AtheistScholar.org Google referral traffic SEMRush 8-4-2022.jpg|center|thumbnail|1200px|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, AtheistScholar.org has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Testreligion.com atheist website: Loss of Google referral traffic ==
 +
[[File:Testreligion.com website - SEMRush graph 12-10-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1200px|The Testreligion.com has lost a tremendous portion of its Google referral traffic that was meager to begin with.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Positive atheism website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:PositiveAtheism.org website Google referral traffic as of December 20, 2022 according to SEMRush .jpg||center|thumbnail|1200px|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, PositiveAtheism.org has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== AskTheAtheist.com website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Asktheatheist.com Google referral traffic SEMRush.com 8-4-2022.jpg|center|thumbnail|1200px|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, RationalResponders.com has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
 
 +
== SecularWoman.org website ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Secularwoman.org Google referral traffic as of 12-20-2022 according to SEMRush.org.jpg|thumbnail|center|1200px|According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, RationalResponders.com has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{clear}}
 +
== The Atheist Experience Show website ==
 +
[[File:Matt Dillahunty.jpg|thumbnail|251px|right|[[Matt Dillahunty]] is a former host of the Atheist Experience Show. ]]
 +
[[File:Atheist-experience.com Google referral traffic SEMRush 8-5-2022.jpg|thumbnail|center|1201px|According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush.com, the Atheist Experience website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic. SEMRush is not registering any Google referral traffic going to the Atheist Experience Show website which means it is receiving little to no Google referral traffic monthly visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 
 +
== Atheists.net website. Owned by the atheist David Bedford ==
 +
 
 +
[[File:Atheists.net Google referral traffic as of 2-17-2023 according to SEMRush.jpg|thumbnail|center|1201px|The atheist Darwin Bedford, who legally changed his first name to Darwin and owns the website Atheists.net, was featured on CBC's News Day Special and also appeared in English journalist Rod Liddle's documentary [[The Trouble with Atheism]].<ref>[https://www.atheists.net/ Atheist.net main page]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6MrktRKfJU The Trouble with Atheism (Religious Documentary)]</ref>
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
In 2016, Beford indicated: "I’m not retired yet, but when I am, I promise to expand my efforts regarding my web sites."<ref>[https://medium.com/tryangle-magazine/if-jesus-comes-back-this-guy-will-kill-him-264ddaaf8651 If Jesus Comes Back, This Guy Will Kill Him: Interview with Darwin Bedford, the atheist who wants God dead.], Medium.com website</ref>
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush.com, as of February 17, 2023, Atheists.net is not registering any Google referral traffic which means it is receiving little to no Google referral traffic monthly visits.
 +
<br />
 +
<br />
 +
Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
 
== Atheist PZ Myers says atheists are largely a population of internet nerds and geeks ==
 
== Atheist PZ Myers says atheists are largely a population of internet nerds and geeks ==
[[File:PZ Myers.jpg|thumbnail|180px|left|[[PZ Myers]]  ]]
+
[[File:PZ Myers.jpg|thumbnail|180px|right|[[PZ Myers]]  ]]
 
''See also:''  [[Atheism and marriage]] and [[Atheism and women]]
 
''See also:''  [[Atheism and marriage]] and [[Atheism and women]]
  
 
In 2013, the atheist [[PZ Myers]] declared:
 
In 2013, the atheist [[PZ Myers]] declared:
{{cquote|If we're going to expand our base and we're going to draw in more people to recognize the virtues of living in a secular world, we need to appeal to more than just that geek and nerd subset of the population. We need to have a wider base.  ...I seriously believe that we're on the cusp of a crisis. We're not there yet but it's looming in front of us. Will we adapt and thrive and change the world? Or will we remain an avocation for a prosperous and largely irrelevant subset of the population? Will we become something more than a scattered society of internet nerds? That's what we have to do.<ref>[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/04/in_seattle_pz_m070861.html in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency]</ref>}}
+
{{cquote|If we're going to expand our base and we're going to draw in more people to recognize the virtues of living in a secular world, we need to appeal to more than just that geek and nerd subset of the population. We need to have a wider base.  ...I seriously believe that we're on the cusp of a crisis. We're not there yet but it's looming in front of us. Will we adapt and thrive and change the world? Or will we remain an avocation for a prosperous and largely irrelevant subset of the population? Will we become something more than a scattered society of internet nerds? That's what we have to do.<ref name="evolutionnews.org">[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/04/in_seattle_pz_m070861.html in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency]</ref>}}
  
 
In response, ''Evolution News and Views'' wrote:
 
In response, ''Evolution News and Views'' wrote:
{{cquote|A crisis looms, in Myers's view, because he looks around himself and sees a not very promising basis for a mass movement. He's right. There is indeed a quality of geeky isolation from reality, common sense, and the fullness of life that I see as a motif in atheist and Darwin activism alike.<ref>[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/04/in_seattle_pz_m070861.html in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency]</ref>}}
+
{{cquote|A crisis looms, in Myers's view, because he looks around himself and sees a not very promising basis for a mass movement. He's right. There is indeed a quality of geeky isolation from reality, common sense, and the fullness of life that I see as a motif in atheist and Darwin activism alike.<ref name="evolutionnews.org">[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/04/in_seattle_pz_m070861.html in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency]</ref>}}
  
 
== Christian websites with a large focus on the topic of atheism  ==
 
== Christian websites with a large focus on the topic of atheism  ==
[[File:TFT.JPG|right|200px]]
+
 
 
Four of the more notable [[Christian apologetics|defense of Christianity websites]] which have a large focus on the topic of atheism are: [[Shadow To Light blog]], [[True Freethinker]], the [[Creation Ministries International and atheism|Creation Ministries International resources on atheism]] and the [[Fixed Point Foundation]] website.
 
Four of the more notable [[Christian apologetics|defense of Christianity websites]] which have a large focus on the topic of atheism are: [[Shadow To Light blog]], [[True Freethinker]], the [[Creation Ministries International and atheism|Creation Ministries International resources on atheism]] and the [[Fixed Point Foundation]] website.
 +
[[File:TFT.JPG|thumb|center|300px|[[True Freethinker]] is a [[Christian apologetics]] Facebook page run by Ken Ammi which offers many refutations of [[atheism]].]]
 +
{{Clear}}
 +
 +
== Website with a main focus on criticizing atheism by not a Christian website ==
 +
 +
*[[Atheism is dead (website)]]
 +
 +
== Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists ==
 +
 +
See: [[Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists]]
 +
 +
== Atheist trolls ==
 +
 +
See: [[Atheist trolls]]
  
 
== YouTube atheist TheAmazingAtheist on rape ==
 
== YouTube atheist TheAmazingAtheist on rape ==
[[File:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|When told that Red Army soldiers sexually assaulted German refugees, [[Joseph Stalin]] reportedly declared: "We lecture our soldiers too much; let them have their initiative."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080493/Stalins-army-rapists-The-brutal-war-crime-Russia-Germany-tried-ignore.html | location=London | work=Daily Mail | first=Andrew | last=Roberts | title=Stalin's army of rapists: The brutal war crime that Russia and Germany tried to ignore | date=24 October 2008}}</ref> See: [[Atheism and rape]] ]]
+
[[File:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|When told that Red Army soldiers sexually assaulted German refugees, [[Joseph Stalin]] reportedly declared: "We lecture our soldiers too much; let them have their initiative."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080493/Stalins-army-rapists-The-brutal-war-crime-Russia-Germany-tried-ignore.html | location=London | work=Daily Mail | first=Andrew | last=Roberts | title=Stalin's army of rapists: The brutal war crime that Russia and Germany tried to ignore | date=24 October 2008}}</ref> See: [[Atheism and rape]] ]]
 
''See also:'' [[Atheism and rape]] and [[Atheism and women]] and [[Elevatorgate]]
 
''See also:'' [[Atheism and rape]] and [[Atheism and women]] and [[Elevatorgate]]
  
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== Atheism websites and polyamory ==
 
== Atheism websites and polyamory ==
[[File:Richard Carrier.jpg|thumbnail|165px|right|The atheist [[Richard Carrier]] divorced his wife and now practices [[Polyamorous|polyamory]].<ref>[http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/6737 Coming Out Poly + A Change of Life Venue]</ref> Before divorcing his wife, he was involved in adulterous affairs.<ref>[http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/6737 Coming Out Poly + A Change of Life Venue]</ref>  ]]
+
[[File:Richard Carrier.jpg|thumbnail|165px|right|The atheist [[Richard Carrier]] divorced his wife and now practices [[Polyamorous|polyamory]].<ref name="freethoughtblogs.com">[http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/6737 Coming Out Poly + A Change of Life Venue]</ref> Before divorcing his wife, he was involved in adulterous affairs.<ref name="freethoughtblogs.com"/>  ]]
 
''See also:'' [[Internet atheism and polyamory]]
 
''See also:'' [[Internet atheism and polyamory]]
  
Line 325: Line 971:
 
The website [[Wikipedia]] was co-founded by the atheist [[Jimmy Wales]] and the agnostic Larry Sanger. Wikipedia has a pro-atheism/evolution slant.
 
The website [[Wikipedia]] was co-founded by the atheist [[Jimmy Wales]] and the agnostic Larry Sanger. Wikipedia has a pro-atheism/evolution slant.
  
For example, the current Wikipedia article on atheism is very flattering to atheism. As of June 14, 2012 the Wikipedia atheism article does not explicitly mention the tens of millions who died under atheist [[communism|communist]] regimes although it does allude to it. Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, is the scholar who first coined the term "democide" (death by government). Dr. R. J. Rummel's mid estimate regarding the loss of life due to communism is that communism caused the death of approximately 110,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/atheism-and-unstable-relationships.html Atheist leaders and immoral relationships]</ref>  Starting on February 20, 2007, Wikipedia had a hotly-debated article on [[militant atheism]] that was deleted on February 18, 2012.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/atheism-and-unstable-relationships.html Atheist leaders and immoral relationships]</ref><ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Militant_atheism&action=history</ref>
+
For example, the current Wikipedia article on atheism is very flattering to atheism. As of June 14, 2012 the Wikipedia atheism article does not explicitly mention the tens of millions who died under atheist [[communism|communist]] regimes although it does [[Allusion|allude]] to it. Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, is the scholar who first coined the term "democide" (death by government). Dr. R. J. Rummel's mid estimate regarding the loss of life due to communism is that communism caused the death of approximately 110,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/atheism-and-unstable-relationships.html Atheist leaders and immoral relationships]</ref>  Starting on February 20, 2007, Wikipedia had a hotly-debated article on [[militant atheism]] that was deleted on February 18, 2012.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/atheism-and-unstable-relationships.html Atheist leaders and immoral relationships]</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Militant_atheism&action=history</ref>
 
+
As of June 14, 2012 Wikipedia had this flattering description of polyamory:
+
{{cquote|Polyamory, often abbreviated as poly, is often described as consensual, ethical, or responsible non-monogamy. The word is sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to sexual or romantic relationships that are not sexually exclusive, though there is disagreement on how broadly it applies; an emphasis on ethics, honesty, and transparency all around is widely regarded as the crucial defining characteristic.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/atheism-and-unstable-relationships.html Atheist leaders and immoral relationships]</ref>}}
+
  
 +
As of June 14, 2012 Wikipedia had this flattering description of polyamory: "Polyamory, often abbreviated as poly, is often described as consensual, ethical, or responsible non-monogamy. The word is sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to sexual or romantic relationships that are not sexually exclusive, though there is disagreement on how broadly it applies; an emphasis on ethics, honesty, and transparency all around is widely regarded as the crucial defining characteristic."<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/atheism-and-unstable-relationships.html Atheist leaders and immoral relationships]</ref>
  
 
{{See also|Atheism, polyamory and other immoral relationships}}
 
{{See also|Atheism, polyamory and other immoral relationships}}
Line 341: Line 985:
 
{{See also|Atheist factions}}
 
{{See also|Atheist factions}}
  
In 2010, the [[Christian apologetics]] website [[True Free Thinker]] wrote:
+
In 2010, the [[Christian apologetics]] website [[True Free Thinker]] wrote: "Scienceblogger [http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2008/04/the_cost_of_not_framing.php Chad Orzel described]  the commentators on PZ Myers ' Scienceblogs.com site [[Pharyngula (blog)|Pharyngula]], and other Scienceblogs.com commentators, as "screechy monkeys."<ref>http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/pz-myers-and-pavlovs-monkeys</ref>
{{cquote|Scienceblogger [http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2008/04/the_cost_of_not_framing.php Chad Orzel described]  the commentators on PZ Myers ' Scienceblogs.com site [[Pharyngula (blog)|Pharyngula]], and other Scienceblogs.com commentators, as "screechy monkeys."<ref>http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/pz-myers-and-pavlovs-monkeys</ref>}}
+
  
 
=== Richard Dawkins' battle with online fans ===
 
=== Richard Dawkins' battle with online fans ===
Line 348: Line 991:
 
''See also:'' [[Atheism and profanity]]
 
''See also:'' [[Atheism and profanity]]
  
In February 2010, the news organization ''The Telegraph'' reported Richard Dawkins was "embroiled in a bitter online battle over plans to rid his popular internet forum for atheists of foul language, insults and 'frivolous gossip'."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7322177/Richard-Dawkins-in-bitter-web-censorship-row-with-fellow-atheists.html</ref> Given that ''Wired Magazine'' and [[Vox Day]] declared for [[Atheism appears to be significantly less appealing to women|various reasons that atheists tend to be quarrelsome, socially challenged men]], it is not surprising the online dispute was bitter. In addition, Richard Dawkins [[Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins|has a reputation for being abrasive]].
+
In February 2010, the news organization ''The Telegraph'' reported Richard Dawkins was "embroiled in a bitter online battle over plans to rid his popular internet forum for atheists of foul language, insults and 'frivolous gossip'."<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7322177/Richard-Dawkins-in-bitter-web-censorship-row-with-fellow-atheists.html</ref> Given that atheists often have poor social skills and are often contentious, it is not surprising the online dispute was bitter (See: [[Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence|Atheism and social skills]] and [[Atheist factions]]). In addition, Richard Dawkins [[Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins|has a reputation for being abrasive]].
  
 
== Internet atheism and obesity ==
 
== Internet atheism and obesity ==
[[File:Jogging with dog at Carcavelos Beach.jpg|thumbnail|200px|The 20% of overweight people who are able to achieve permanent weight loss typically report doing it through engaging in high levels of physical activity, eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet, eating breakfast regularly, self-monitoring weight, and maintaining a consistent eating pattern across weekdays and weekends.<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16002825 Long-term weight loss maintenance], ''American Journal of Clinical Nutrition'', 2005 July; 82(1 Suppl):222S-225S.</ref>
+
[[File:Jogging with dog at Carcavelos Beach.jpg|thumbnail|200px|The 20% of overweight people who are able to achieve permanent weight loss typically report doing it through engaging in high levels of physical activity, eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet, eating breakfast regularly, self-monitoring weight, and maintaining a consistent eating pattern across weekdays and weekends.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16002825 Long-term weight loss maintenance], ''American Journal of Clinical Nutrition'', 2005 July; 82(1 Suppl):222S-225S.</ref>
  
  
  
Overweight individuals may need to decrease their computer and internet usage.<ref>http://www.jmir.org/2009/3/e28/</ref>]]
+
Overweight individuals may need to decrease their computer and internet usage.<ref name="jmir.org">http://www.jmir.org/2009/3/e28/</ref>]]
 
''See also:'' [[Atheism and obesity]] and [[Bariatric science]]
 
''See also:'' [[Atheism and obesity]] and [[Bariatric science]]
  
 
A significant portion of the world's atheists are overweight (see: [[Atheism and obesity]]).
 
A significant portion of the world's atheists are overweight (see: [[Atheism and obesity]]).
  
In an essay entitled ''How the Atheist Movement Failed Me'', an [[atheism and women|atheist woman]] noted that participation in the atheist community is often expensive due to the cost of attending atheist conferences and even local atheist meetings in restaurants and bars challenged her modest budget.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/08/10/how-the-atheist-movement-failed-me-part-1-cost/ How the Atheist Movement Failed Me – Part 1: Cost]</ref>  As a result of the challenges that atheists commonly have in terms of socializing in person, many atheists turn to the internet in terms of communicating with other atheists.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789 How to outlaw Christianity] by [[Chuck Norris]]</ref>  
+
In an essay entitled ''How the Atheist Movement Failed Me'', an [[atheism and women|atheist woman]] noted that participation in the atheist community is often expensive due to the cost of attending atheist conferences and even local atheist meetings in restaurants and bars challenged her modest budget.<ref name="patheos.com"/>  As a result of the challenges that atheists commonly have in terms of socializing in person, many atheists turn to the internet in terms of communicating with other atheists.<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789 How to outlaw Christianity] by [[Chuck Norris]]</ref>  
  
In 2009, an Australian university study was done concerning the association between leisure time internet and computer use with being overweight and/or [[obesity|obese]] and also sedentary.<ref>http://www.jmir.org/2009/3/e28/</ref> The study concluded: "These findings suggest that, apart from nutritional and physical activity interventions, it may also be necessary to decrease time spent in sedentary behaviors, such as leisure-time Internet and computer use, in order to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity."<ref>http://www.jmir.org/2009/3/e28/</ref> See also: [[Bariatric science]]
+
In 2009, an Australian university study was done concerning the association between leisure time internet and computer use with being overweight and/or [[obesity|obese]] and also sedentary.<ref name="jmir.org"/> The study concluded: "These findings suggest that, apart from nutritional and physical activity interventions, it may also be necessary to decrease time spent in sedentary behaviors, such as leisure-time Internet and computer use, in order to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity."<ref name="jmir.org"/> See also: [[Bariatric science]]
  
 
As noted above, in 2013, the prominent atheist [[PZ Myers]] declared:
 
As noted above, in 2013, the prominent atheist [[PZ Myers]] declared:
{{cquote|If we're going to expand our base and we're going to draw in more people to recognize the virtues of living in a secular world, we need to appeal to more than just that geek and [[nerd]] subset of the population. We need to have a wider base.  ...I seriously believe that we're on the cusp of a crisis. We're not there yet but it's looming in front of us. Will we adapt and thrive and change the world? Or will we remain an avocation for a prosperous and largely irrelevant subset of the population? Will we become something more than a scattered society of internet nerds? That's what we have to do.<ref>[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/04/in_seattle_pz_m070861.html in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency]</ref>}}
+
{{cquote|If we're going to expand our base and we're going to draw in more people to recognize the virtues of living in a secular world, we need to appeal to more than just that geek and [[nerd]] subset of the population. We need to have a wider base.  ...I seriously believe that we're on the cusp of a crisis. We're not there yet but it's looming in front of us. Will we adapt and thrive and change the world? Or will we remain an avocation for a prosperous and largely irrelevant subset of the population? Will we become something more than a scattered society of internet nerds? That's what we have to do.<ref name="evolutionnews.org">[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/04/in_seattle_pz_m070861.html in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency]</ref>}}
  
 
Internet nerds are typically less active in sports. Also, atheists are not as active in sports as theists (See: [[Sports performance: Religious faith vs. atheism ]]).  And inactivity is a major risk factor for [[obesity]].<ref>[http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314/DSECTION=causes Causes of obesity]</ref> See also: [[Atheist nerds]]
 
Internet nerds are typically less active in sports. Also, atheists are not as active in sports as theists (See: [[Sports performance: Religious faith vs. atheism ]]).  And inactivity is a major risk factor for [[obesity]].<ref>[http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314/DSECTION=causes Causes of obesity]</ref> See also: [[Atheist nerds]]
  
== American Atheists website ==
+
== Atheist Christopher Hitchens: Google trends data ==
  
''See also:'' [[American Atheists]]
+
''See also:'' [[Christopher Hitchens]]
  
[[File:Alexa American Atheists.png|thumbnail|400px|center|In 2016, the [[American Atheists]] website saw a large drop in its [[Alexa]] ranking. ]]
+
[[File:Christopher Hitchens Google trends 2004 to 2011.png|800px|thumbnail|center|According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "Christopher Hitchens".]]
{{clear}}
+
== James Randi: Google trends data from 2004 to 2020 ==
  
=== Embarrassing incidents concerning the website of the American Atheists ===
+
''See also:'' [[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]
[[File:American Atheists.jpg|alt=American Atheists|thumbnail|205px|right|[[Nate Phelps]] spoke at the 2009 [[American Atheists]] convention.<ref>http://lifewithoutfaith.com/?p=183</ref> See also: [[American Atheists and obesity]] and [[Atheism and obesity]]
+
  
<small>(photo obtained from [http://www.flickr.com/photos/martystone/3435459032 Flickr], see [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en  license agreement]), Title: Nate Phelps AAC00 (a very brave man)</small> ]]
+
[[File:James Randi Google Trends 2004 to 2020.png|800px|thumbnail|center|According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "James Randi" in the United States.]]
 +
{{Clear}}
  
''See also:'' [[Embarrassing incidents concerning the website of the American Atheists]]
+
== Videos on atheism ==
  
A Question evolution! campaign blog declares:
+
*[[Atheism videos]]
{{cquote|The popular Christian YouTube video creator [[Shockofgod]] just released a hilarious video entitled ''Proof atheism & [[evolution]] are stupid''.
+
  
On the video, he first did a Google search at Google USA for the word "atheism". The #1 search result for atheism was for the website of the [[American Atheists]] organization and they misspelled the words "separation" and "church" on the main page title tag for their website. The title of their website reads: "Supporting Civil Rights for Atheists and the Seperation of Curch and ...". Did the American Atheist organization's webmaster go to one of the many evolution indoctrinating public schools with a high drop out rate? It appears so!
+
== Social media and social ostracism of atheists in religious societies ==
  
Is it any wonder that the American Atheists organization has been silent concerning the [http://creation.com/15-questions 15 questions for evolutionists] of the [[Question Evolution! Campaign]]? Besides being poor spellers the American Atheists organization's staff is probably poor when it comes to science as well!<ref>[http://shockawenow.blogspot.com/2014/10/uneducated-and-illiterate-american.html Uneducated and illiterate American atheists]</ref>}}
+
See: [[Social media and social ostracism of atheists]]
  
On October 17, 2014, Shockofgod's blog declared:
+
== Atheist deconversion stories and the internet ==
{{cquote|In the United States, due to more women and southerners attending college/universities, atheism is now [[Atheism and education|negatively correlated]] with education.
+
  
As a result, American atheists contribute some of the most ill-informed/uneducated commentary on the internet.
+
''See also:'' [[Atheist deconversion stories]]
  
Alexa is a popular web traffic tracking company. Below is a portion of Alexa's site overview for the website of the American Atheists organization and notice that 5.01% of their search engine traffic comes from the keyword "athiest" which is a misspelling of the world atheist.
+
Michael J. Kruger, President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, wrote about atheist deconversion stories:
 +
{{Cquote|Of course, there have always been de-conversion stories available throughout the history of the church—if one would only take the time to dig them up and listen to them. Christianity has never had a shortage of people who were once in the fold and then left.
  
From the Alexa website on October 17, 2014:
+
But in recent years these de-conversion stories seem to have taken on a higher profile.  Part of this is due, no doubt, to the technology that makes these de-conversion stories more available whether through podcasts, blogs, or other forms of media.<ref>[https://www.michaeljkruger.com/the-power-of-de-conversion-stories-how-jen-hatmaker-is-trying-to-change-minds-about-the-bible/ The Power of De-Conversion Stories: How Jen Hatmaker is Trying to Change Minds About the Bible] by Michael J. Kruger</ref>}}
  
Site Overview
+
== See also ==
  
atheists.org
+
*[[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]
 +
*[[Atheism website resources]]
  
Top Keywords from Search Engines
+
Humor:
Which search keywords send traffic to this site?
+
  
Keyword Percent of Search Traffic
+
*[[Essay: July 2, 2011: The day the atheism movement died on the information superhighway|July 2, 2011: The day the atheism movement died on the information superhighway]]
 
+
*[[Essay: Every internet atheist is a pathetic, uninfluential loser that God Almighty has smited|Every internet atheist is a pathetic, uninfluential loser that God Almighty has smited]]
*1.  atheist 52.97%
+
*[[Essay: Humorous quotes about atheist web marketing|Humorous quotes about atheist web marketing]]
*2atheism 14.80%
+
*3.  american atheists 8.97%
+
*4.  '''athiest 5.01%'''
+
*5.  atheists 3.82%<ref>[http://shockawenow.blogspot.com/2014/10/uneducated-and-illiterate-american.html Uneducated and illiterate American atheists]</ref>}}
+
 
+
== Videos on atheism ==
+
 
+
*[[Atheism videos]]
+
 
+
== See also ==
+
 
+
*[[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]
+
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
Line 442: Line 1,072:
  
 
[[Category:Internet]]
 
[[Category:Internet]]
 +
[[Category:Atheism]]

Latest revision as of 15:40, January 16, 2024

The article Internet atheism: The thrill is gone! points out that internet atheism has been in a significant slump since 2011.

In the early part of the 21st century, atheists were very active on the internet.[1] However, by 2008 there began a marked decline in internet atheism (see: Internet atheism web traffic volume).[2]

One of the reasons why some atheist participate in internet atheism is that offline participation in the atheist community is often difficult.[3]

In an essay entitled How the Atheist Movement Failed Me, an atheist woman noted that participation in the atheist community is often expensive due to the cost of attending atheist conferences and even local atheist meetings in restaurants and bars challenged her modest budget.[3] As a result of the challenges that atheists commonly have in terms of socializing in person, many atheists turn to the internet in terms of communicating with other atheists.

In addition, Conatus News indicates:

The overwhelming anti-atheist sentiment in society means most don’t feel comfortable outwardly proclaiming their lack of faith. So instead of congregating in a large building on Sunday, many atheists have found their own community online.

This societal stigma is certainly part of the reason atheists seem so drawn to internet interactions. Anonymity, or at least the safety of separation from those around you, provides the ability to truly speak one’s mind.[4]

Division is widespread among atheists online and offline (see: Atheist factions). Atheism tends not to create community and most atheists are apathetic (See: Atheism and apathy and Atheism and loneliness).

Numerous atheists have declared that the "atheist movement is dead" or that it is dying (see: Decline of the atheist movement).[5] In 2019, a writer at Freethought Blogs wrote: "Last month I looked at some postmortems of the atheist movement...".[6] See also: Morale of the atheist movement

Christian organizations have been significantly more successful than atheist organizations as far as evangelizing via the internet (see: Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists and Christian internet evangelism and Major Christian websites).

Contents

Internet atheism web traffic levels

See: Internet atheism web traffic volume and Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world

During the period of 2008 to 2012, the atheist community made a concerted effort to spread atheism through means of the internet. However, leading atheist websites saw plunges in web traffic during the latter period of this time.[2]

PZ Myers is one of the more active bloggers at Freethought Blogs.

In 2016, an article entitled 2015 was a terrible year for internet atheism featured Alexa web traffic graphs which indicated that some prominent atheist websites lost a significant portion of their global market share.[7] Since 2012, Freethought Blogs (a collection of atheist bloggers) saw a significant decline in its web traffic.[8]

An article entitled Internet atheism: The thrill is gone! declares: "In 2007, the Bible believer Chuck Norris noted that atheists were making a concerted effort to spread atheism via the internet. As you you will soon see via the graphs below, it has been an abysmal failure! The atheist community flooded the internet with a lot of shallow, ill-reasoned fluff that many in the public quickly dismissed."[9]

For more information see: Internet atheism - post 2007 market share loss

In 2007, WorldNetDaily featured a column by Chuck Norris concerning atheism and the internet which declared:

Atheists are making a concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of websites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of theism from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation. While you think your kids are innocently surfing the Web, secular progressives are intentionally preying on their innocence and naïveté.

What's preposterous is that atheists are now advertising and soliciting on websites particularly created for teens...[1]

However, there is a now large body of data indicating now indicating that internet outreach efforts are very ineffective (See: Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world).

Decline of YouTube atheism

See also: YouTube atheism

In December 2015, a video entitled What Killed YouTube Atheism? was released giving a number of reasons YouTube atheism saw a big decline (see: What Killed YouTube atheism?).

Internet atheism and women

See also: Atheist websites appear to receive significantly less traffic from women

Atheist websites appear to receive significantly less traffic from women

As far as online atheism, atheist websites appear to receive significantly less traffic from women.

Atheist feminism related online schism

See also: Atheist factions and Atheists and antisocial behavior

Elevatorgate is a term commonly used to describe a 2011 controversy involving New Atheist Richard Dawkins' comments made to atheist Rebecca Watson which are perceived to have been inappropriate by a sizable portion of the atheist community and to the public at large.[10] Watson is a feminist.[11]

The forerunner of the feminist Atheism plus movement was the online Elevatorgate controversy involving new atheist Richard Dawkins and feminist Rebecca Watson.

The Guardian wrote about Atheism plus and the reaction of many atheists on the internet:

In the passionate world of American atheism, the venom usually directed at believers has now been turned against the wrong kind of atheists...

It took 700 years from Constantine renaming Byzantium in his own honour to papal legates circulating letters of anathema that split the Roman and Orthodox churches. Atheism, in its public, online life, has started exchanging internet anathemas – perhaps we should call them inathemas – in little more than a decade.[12]

Post Elevatorgate and Atheism plus, the conflict between atheist feminism and anti-feminism atheists continues. Two of the most anti-feminism atheists are YouTube atheists Thunderf00t and TheAmazingAtheist.

Percentage of atheists in the world is shrinking while world internet usage is expanding

Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world's population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020.[13] See: Global atheism

See also: Global atheism and Decline of atheism and Atheist Population and Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian

The internet is a global medium which growing rapidly in usage throughout the world.[14]

The percentage of people in the world who are atheists is shrinking (see: Global atheism statistics).

On July 24, 2013, CNS News reported: "Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world’s population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) in South Hamilton, Mass."[13]

Google Trends: January 2004 to January 2024 data for atheism/agnosticism related terms for the world and the United States

See also: Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms and Google trends - Global searches for atheism and agnosticism terms

Google Trends: From January 2004 to January 2024, the number of worldwide Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly down

According to Google Trends, as of January 2024, worldwide Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly below their levels in January 2024.

Google Trends: From January 2004 to January 2024, the number of USA Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly down

According to Google Trends, as of January 2024, in the United States, Google searches for the terms atheist, atheism, agnostic and agnosticism are significantly below their levels in January 2024.

Post sexual harassment allegations against Lawrence Krauss and David Silverman, searches for atheism related topics have dropped markedly

See also: Post sexual harassment allegations against Lawrence Krauss and David Silverman, searches for atheism related topics have dropped markedly

Post sexual harassment allegations against Lawrence Krauss and David Silverman, searches for atheism related topics have dropped markedly around in the world.

For more information, please see: Post sexual harassment allegations against Lawrence Krauss and David Silverman, searches for atheism related topics have dropped markedly and A shambolic atheist community faces some tough choices

Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic

Electron microscope scan of a coronavirus, so-called due to the crown-like filaments on the surface.

See: Atheism and the coronavirus pandemic

See also: Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic

Several atheist websites did very poorly during the coronavirus pandemic and lost a large amount of their traffic since the early part of 2020 (See: Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic).

Historically, religiosity increases during pandemics. Pew Research found people's religious faith grew during the pandemic - especially in the United States.[15] Nearly three-in-ten U.S. adults say the outbreak has boosted their faith; about four-in-ten say it has tightened family bonds.[16]

In addition, many atheist organizations have significant difficulty in getting their fellow atheist to financially support them (see: Atheist organizations and fundraising), so their web marketing budgets could have been low during the pandemic. In addition, many atheist organizations have poor fiscal management so they may not have had reserves built up before the pandemic (see: Atheist organizations and financial mismanagement).

On the other hand, there were major Christian websites that saw their web traffic substantially grow during the coronavirus pandemic (See: Christian websites and the coronavirus pandemic).

The atheist websites might never gain that traffic back again as the number of atheists in the world is expected to drop before mid-2022 according to the scholars at the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.[17] Currently, the global atheist population is losing market share in terms of the world's population (see: Global atheism statistics).

Google trends research suggesting that internet atheism preaches to the atheist choir and is not effective at atheist evangelism

See also: Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world and Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists and Atheism and groupthink and Atheist activist and Atheist apologetics and Christian apologetics

The abstract for the journal article Who is Not Afraid of Richard Dawkins? Using Google Trends to Assess the Reach of Influential Atheists across Canadian Secular Groups published in the journal Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses indicates:

Google Trends data on search volumes of high profile atheist public figures are used to assess their relative reach among different types of seculars in Canada. The user query data mined from Google Trends are complemented with an extensive set of information extracted from the Canadian General Social Surveys of 2005 to 2016. The analysis shows that the reach of high profile atheists is positively correlated with the presence of strictly-seculars, a proxy for the atheists. The investigation produces no statistically significant correlation between the presence of other types of seculars, namely the unchurched believers and the nominal affiliates, and the search volumes for high profile atheists. This exploratory finding suggests that the influential atheists likely “preach to the choir,” catering to like-minded individuals, at the exclusion of those with relatively close but differing views on religion and spirituality.[18]

For more information, please see: Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world

Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world

See: Internet atheism has a small audience and an insignificant influence on the world

Internet outreach and the Matthew effect: Atheist websites vs. religious websites

See also: Internet outreach and the Matthew effect: Atheist websites vs. religious websites

Study.com defines the Matthew effect thusly: "The Matthew Effect is a term that describes the concept in society of accumulated advantage. It argues that people who start from a place of advantage, like intelligence, fame, wealth, or skill, will have the opportunity to accrue more of that advantage compared to others. The Matthew Effect is often thought of by the phrase, "the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.""[19] The Matthew effect's etymology can be traced to Gospel of Matthew which declares: "For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away." (Matthew 25:29, RSV).

Because the religious population is larger than the atheist/agnostic populations and raises more money for web marketing budgets than the atheist/agnostic populations, they greatly outperform atheist websites in terms of web traffic. In addition, Google tends to rank large websites with a lot of traffic higher at Google for various search terms - especially high volume searches. So large Christian websites with a lot of web traffic have a big competitive advantage over atheist websites. Furthermore, religious groups often have more evangelistic zeal and also have more international cooperation in terms of web outreach efforts.

As time has progressed the gap between the effectiveness of religious websites vs. atheist websites in terms of reaching larger audiences has widened and will most likely widen further. For example, Christian websites are greatly outperforming atheist websites in terms of their respective web outreaches (see: Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists).

For more information, please see: Internet outreach and the Matthew effect: Atheist websites vs. religious websites.

YouTube atheism

See also: YouTube atheism

In 2007, WorldNetDaily featured a column by the Christian Chuck Norris which declared:

Atheists are making a concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of websites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of theism from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation. While you think your kids are innocently surfing the Web, secular progressives are intentionally preying on their innocence and naivete.

What's preposterous is that atheists are now advertising and soliciting on websites particularly created for teens.

YouTube, the most popular video site on the Net for young people, is one of their primary avenues for passing off their secularist propaganda.[1]

Atheism internet outreach efforts, however, have been ineffective.

In October 2016, a video entitled What Killed YouTube Atheism? was released which gave a few reasons why YouTube atheism saw a big decline.[20]

In addition, a December 2015 video entitled How Feminism destroyed 'New Atheism', YouTube atheist/evolutionist Thunderf00t pointed out that merely 2 out of 7 YouTube atheist/evolutionist channels that he plugged in the past are now active.[21]

In 2017, YouTube atheist/skeptic videos began another period of significant decline in terms of views.[22][23]

YouTube videos with an atheistic, classical liberalism, political viewpoint see a decline starting in 2017

See: YouTube videos with an atheistic, classical liberalism, political viewpoint see a decline starting in 2017

YouTube atheist/skeptic videos which have a classical liberalism, political perspective see a decline in views from 2017 to present while conservative YouTube videos see a marked rise in views during this same period as can be seen above.[24]

According to the academic paper A Supply and Demand Framework for YouTube Politics by Kevin Munger & Joseph Phillips. Penn State Political Science, October 1, 2019:

The second segment of the AIN [(Alternative Influence Network, who belong politically to classicial liberalism)] include people in what we describe as the "Skeptic" community. These include people like Carl Benjamin ("Sargon of Akkad"), former candidate for European Parliament; Jordan Peterson, known for his opposition to a bill adding gender expression and identity as protected under the Canadian Human Rights Act; and Dave Rubin, a former affiliate of the progressive Young Turks. This segment of the AIN agrees, in principle, with most liberal values, and often "Skeptics" say they used to consider themselves part of the mainstream left. Where Skeptics define themselves in contrast to the mainstream left is through opposition to certain practices, namely explicit appeals to marginalized racial and gender identities and the use of no-platforming against far-right speakers. However, unlike further-right segments of the AIN, they also strongly criticize the far-right for its own use of identity politics to bolster white supremacy."[25][26]

Reddit atheism

Reddit's trademark

See also: Reddit atheism

Reddit atheism, also known as r/atheism, is one of the largest internet groups of atheists.[27]

In 2013 Reddit atheism lost its main page status

In 2013 it suffered a major setback as it lost its status as a default subreddit (default subreddits are the forums that all non-logged in users see when they visit the site. In other words, the atheism subreddit was removed from its homepage).[28]

In 2016, due to Reddit removing inactive "ghost accounts", Reddit reduced the amount of members in Reddit atheism by 10,000 user accounts.[29]

Reddit atheism has a bad reputation

A June 14, 2013 Mashable article declared: "In recent years, r/atheism has become known for memes, images, quote pictures and other content viewed by some as "low brow."[27]

According to the website Motherboard.com, "The term “reddit atheist” has evolved as a shorthand in recent years for a negative internet cliché, that of the rabid Richard Dawkins supporter, the mansplainer..." [29]

Historically, the atheist population has often used mockery as a substitution for reasonable discussion/debate and Reddit atheism is a continuation of this tradition (see: Atheism and mockery).

Reddit atheism and their reluctance to engage in offline atheist activism

See also: Atheism and cowardice and Evidence for Christianity

In May 2013, Policymic published an article on Reddit atheism which indicated that Reddit atheists are reluctant to share their atheism offline.[30]

The Policymic article declared:

Are we to make cowards out of Reddit’s atheists for the discrepancy between the prevalence of real life and internet proclamations of godlessness? Maybe, as the world’s loudest atheist, Richard Dawkins, first bemoaned in his TED talk, “Atheists do not want to be impolite … Can we stop being so damned polite?” Or, as R/atheist stalwart with the username “blackstar9000” explained in a very thoughtful post on the state of the atheist subreddit, “Many of the users are just recently converted, who fear being ostracized by people the religious people who make up their support system.”[30]

Atheists have a reputation for apathy and cowardice when it comes to sharing their atheism with others and defending atheism against valid criticism (See: Atheism and apathy and Atheism and cowardice).


Wikipedia's atheism page - monthly page views

See also: Wikipedia's atheism page - monthly page views and Conservapedia:Atheism articles statistics

Wikipedia was founded by the atheist Jimbo Wales and the agnostic Larry Sanger.

Wikipedia's atheism page has seen a major decline in page views since November 2015.

In November 2015, Wikipedia's atheism page received 118,015 page views. In July 2022, Wikipedia's atheism page received 68,836 page views.

In the early part of the 21st century, atheists were very active on the internet.[1] However, by 2008 there began a marked decline in internet atheism (see: Internet atheism web traffic volume).[2]

The Satanic Temple website

See also: The Satanic Temple and Nontheist Jex Blackmore on The Satanic Temple and sexual harassment and Jex Blackmore on The Satanic Temple and financial transparency

In November of 2022, The Satanic Temple experienced a loss of Google referral web traffic according to the web marketing related website SEMRUsh.com.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Sam Harris' website

See also: Sam Harris

According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, Sam Harris' website lost a significant amount of its referral traffic from Google as and as of December 22, 2022 it was merely receiving 85,500 monthly web visits via Google referral traffic which is a big drop from its peak.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Sam Harris' website and its drop in global ranking to leading web marketing company SimilarWeb.com

See also: Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists

According to the leading web marketing website SimilarWeb.com, the website SamHarris.org was losing its current SimilarWeb.com ranking. In September of 2022, Similarweb.com indicated that SamHarris.org was the 105,639th most popular website in the world.

On August 19, 2019, according to Alexa, the website of Samharris.org was the 66,776th most popular website in the world and its global market share was dropping.

RationalWiki

See also: RationalWiki and web traffic

RationalWiki is a politically left leaning website that skews towards atheism/agnosticism in terms of its worldview.

The RationalWiki website lost a huge amount of web traffic in the latter part of 2019 and throughout most the first half of 2020 (See: RationalWiki and web traffic).

1,300+ websites delinked from RationalWiki.org from May of 2021 to July 15, 2021 according to the website Semrush.com. See: 1,300+ websites delinked from RationalWiki.org from May of 2021 to July 15, 2021.

RationalWiki has a history of having poor leadership (see: RationalWiki and its poor leadership). On July 14, 2022, during the election process for the RationalMedia Foundation board of directors, RationalWiki users admitted that RationalWikians were offering weak candidates so far.[31]

On May 29, 2022, one of the founders of the RationalWiki website indicated "Currently the donations we get are sparse... We have not done a donation drive in a long time and have not been self-supporting for over a year....".[32] A global fundraising scam, Rationalwiki has not complied with non-profit reporting requirements for 7 consecutive years.[33] See also: Atheism and charity and Atheist organizations and fundraising and Atheist fundraising vs. religious fundraising

In June of 2022, the RationalWiki admin GrammarCommie said that RationalWiki was "half dead".[34] In reply, the RationalWiki user 2friedeggs said: "This site is dying for a reason" and he indicated that GrammarCommie was chasing good faith editors away. In addition, in June of 2022, RationalWiki user Neiltyson1fan called RationalWiki a "zombie wiki".[35] The RationalWiki user KarmaPolice is a British socialist. On August 15, 2022, KarmaPolice wrote concerning RationalWiki: "...it's quite possible that by say, 2030 the RW 'TimeCube' page may be *only* surviving record of it's existence."[36]On November 6, 2022, RationalWiki user Rairyu75 wrote: "See, what I'm trying to ask, in a really roundabout sort of way is... are you all confident this website will continue to exist? Not like into next week, or next month but like, next year, or 5 years from now? Cause I would kinda like to edit this place... and I just can't tell if it would be futile or not. Like fixing the engine of a car that's destined for the scrapheap. I just can't f@cking tell if one day, in the near future, I will type the URL into my search bar and I'll get nothing in response."[37]

RationalWiki and its large drop in Google referral traffic

See also: RationalWiki and web traffic

According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, RationalWiki has experienced a huge drop in Google referral traffic in the latter part of 2019 and as of June 30, 2023 it receives 136,000 monthly visits via Google referral traffic.

In addition, according to SEMRush, RationalWiki dropped from a 66 domain authority score on October 21, 2023 to a 43 domain authority score on June 30, 2023. Domains with low domain scores typically have less traffic, less authoritative websites linking to them and more lower quality websites linking to them.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Ahrefs.com data on RationalWiki and Google referral traffic

See also: Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic

According to the leading web marketing website Ahrefs.com, the website RationalWiki has lost a huge amount of Google referral traffic since the latter part of 2019. As of December 22, 2022, Ahefs.com reported that RationalWiki.org was merely receiving 111,000 Google visits per month.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

SimilarWeb data for RationalWiki as of January 9, 2021: On January 9, 2022, SimilarWeb indicated that RationalWiki.org was losing its ranking relative to other websites when it comes to web traffic.

On January 9, 2022, SimilarWeb indicated that RationalWiki.org was in decline relative to other websites in terms of web traffic.

Web marketing is often a relative strength game. Just because a website is gaining content or links does not mean that its competitors are not moving faster.

RationalWiki lost a significant amount of its popularity from August 2020 to January 2023 according to the Mangools SEO tool

According to search engine optimization tool produced by the company Mangools, RationalWiki lost a significant amount of its popularity from August 2020 to January 2023.

Google searches for the term "RationalWiki" from 2007 to February 6, 2022 in the world and in the United States

See also: Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms

Worldwide Google searches for the search term "RationalWiki"

See also: RationalWiki and its branding problems

According to the leading SEO and web marketing website MOZ.com, the number of brand searches for a domain is significantly correlated with a website's Google referral traffic - even more so than a website's domain strength (Domain strength is the quality and quantity of inbound links to a website.).

As can be seen below, the number of brand searches for the term "RationalWiki" is on a downward trend.
Google Trends worldwide data for the keyword "RationalWiki".

RationalWiki has less than 40 active editors

In December of 2022, RationalWiki had elections for a site moderators. The screeshot taken above shows that the vote tally revealed that RationalWiki is a wiki website with less than 40 active editors.

RationalWiki and its web visitor interest in pornography

See also: RationalWiki and its web visitor interest in pornography

RationalWiki.org is a politically left leaning website that skews towards atheism/agnosticism in terms of its worldview.

The editors of the website RationalWiki try to portray the website as a thinking person's wiki where the editors carefully analyze various matters.

But SimilarWeb.com data shows a significant portion of RationalWiki's web audience is interested in "adult" material as can be seen by the "adult" audience interests in the above graphic.



Atheists have played a significant role in both the production and consumption of pornographic material (See: Atheism and pornography and Atheism and child pornography).

Many feminists contend that pornography exploits women.[38] RationalWiki is a pro-feminism website.[39]

Trustworthiness of websites linking to RationalWiki

According to the leading search engine optimization website Search Engine Land: "Citation Flow is a number of predicting how influential a URL might be based on how many sites link to it. Trust Flow is a number predicting how trustworthy a page is based on how trustworthy sites tend to link to trustworthy neighbors."[40]

As far as a website's domain, high authority and trustworthy websites commonly have their trustflow metric higher than their citation flow metric. As can been above, RationalWiki has the exact opposite. Perhaps its web visitors who visit adult websites link to RationalWiki from low quality websites that are untrusted.

American Humanist Association's website

See also: American Humanist Association

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, the American Humanist Association's website lost a large portion of its monthly Google referral web traffic from its peak. As of April 28, 2023, the American Humanist Association website was merely receiving 57,700 monthly Google refferal traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

American Atheists website

See also: American Atheists

On August 9, 2019, the American Atheists website was ranked the 338,824th most popular website in the world by the web trafic tracking company Alexa.

American Atheists website and its loss of Google referral traffic

See also: Internet atheism and the coronavirus pandemic

According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, the American Atheists' website has lost a large proportion of it Google referral traffic. As of April 28, 2023, according to SEMRush, the website was receiving 43,400 monthly web visits via Google referral traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Embarrassing incidents concerning the website of the American Atheists

See: Embarrassing incidents concerning the website of the American Atheists

American Atheists website SEMRush.png
According to the leading web marketing organization SEMRush, one of the top ways that people find the American Atheists organization's website via Google searches is by misspelling the word atheist. About 18,100 Google searches a month are done for the keyword "athiest".


Freedom From Religion Foundation

See also: Freedom From Religion Foundation and Dan Barker and Freedom From Religion Foundation: BBB Wise Giving Alliance - Failure to meet standards for a nonprofit

In 2023, the Freedom From Atheism website saw a large drop in Google referral traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Atheist Dan Barker (Co-Founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation): Google trends data from 2004 to 2020

See also: Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms

Dan Barker is the co-founder and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "Dan Barker" in the United States.

National Secular Society (UK website)

See also: National Secular Society

The National Secular Society, which is a United Kingdom (UK) website, has lost a significant portion of its Google refferal traffic as as its peak Google traffic according to leading web marketing website SEMRush.com.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Flying Spaghetti Monster website

See also: Flying Spaghetti Monster

Google referral visits per month

According to the web marketing website SEMRush.com, the website Spaghettimonster.org is receiving 29,400 monthly Google referral visits per month as of 12-28-2022.

Google Trends: Google searches for the term Flying Spaghetti Monster is dramatically down

According to Google Trends, Google searches for the term "Flying Spaghetti Monster" is dramatically down.

Center for Inquiry

Paul Kurtz was the founder of the Center for Inquiry.

See also: Center for Inquiry

The Center for Inquiry's website lost a large majority of its Google referral web traffic from its peak Google referral traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

OnlySky

See also: OnlySky

OnlySky is a website for atheists, agnostics and nones. It features news and commentary.

OnlySky's loss of Google referral traffic from August 24, 2022 to September 24, 2022

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.com, the website OnlySky.media lost Google referral traffic from August 24, 2022 to September 24, 2022. Specifically, it went from 26,680 visitors in a day on August 24, 2022 to 18,097 visitors in a day September 24, 2022.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Patheos nonbelief blogging channel sees an exodus of atheists/agnostics subsequent to its new editorial policy of not allowing atheists/agnostics to criticize religion

The Religion News Service reported:

Visitors to Patheos, the multifaith media platform that hosts commentary from writers in many of the world’s religions, may have noticed some changes lately.

Its nonreligious channel has become an empty hulk, bereft of most of the familiar names that once occupied the space, including its most popular blogger, Hemant Mehta, the “Friendly Atheist.”

Mehta and 14 other nonreligious bloggers, along with the channel manager, have decamped to a new site, OnlySky Media, set to launch later this month...

Efforts to reach Patheos’ management team were unsuccessful, but the departing bloggers and their channel manager, Dale McGowan, said that about a year ago, Patheos decided to change its editorial direction. Bloggers were advised they could stay at Patheos so long as they stopped writing negative or critical posts on religion or politics and instead focused on how to live a good life within their own worldview.[42]

Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij website

See also: Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij

Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK; English: "Association against Quackery") is the oldest skeptical organization in the world, having been founded in 1880 in the Netherlands. In the 1950s, it expanded its focus on alternative medicine.

The influence of this skeptical organization has greatly waned as evidenced by the latter 20th century and 21st century seeing a resurgence of religion and religious fundamentalism (See: Desecularization and Growth of global desecularization and Growth of religious fundamentalism) and the 21st century seeing an explosion in the popularity of alternative medicine and complementary medicine.[43]

The large decline of web traffic going to the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij since its peak

Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij's website experiencing a large loss of Google referral traffic

According to the leading web marketing tool websites SEMRush.com, since its peak of Google referral traffic in August 2018 of 47,524 monthly web visitors, the website is now merely receiving 14,696 monthly Google referral visits.

Internet atheism as a whole has seen a big loss of web traffic while leading Christian websites have seen substantial gains in web traffic (See: Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists).

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij's website website experiencing a large loss in its global popularity according to SimilarWeb.com

In September of 2022, the leading web marketing website Similarweb.com ranked Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij's website the 1,285,506th most popular website in the world. It also indicated that the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij website recently saw a 367,171 drop in its global ranking in terms of its global popularity.

Freethought Blogs

See also: Freethought Blogs and The Orbit and PZ Myers' loss of influence

Freethought Blogs is a spinoff of ScienceBlogs launched by PZ Myers and Ed Brayton.

Freethought Blogs - Similarweb.com global ranking

In May of 2022, Freethought Blogs was the 148,972th most popular website in the world according to the web marketing website SimilarWeb.com.

In 2011, the atheist and evolutionist PZ Myers said that he had greater blog traffic than the Answers in Genesis website and that the Answers in Genesis (AIG) website had "pathetic" web traffic.[44] As of May of 2022, the Answers in Genesis website receives more web traffic than Freethought Blogs according to Similarweb.com.[45] According to Similarweb.com, the Answers in Genesis website is the 56,730th most popular website in the world.[46]

Freethought Blogs has lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic

Freethought Blogs has lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.com.

Freethought Blogs dramatically loses it global market share according to Alexa

See: Freethought Blogs dramatically loses it global market share according to Alexa

The web traffic of Freethought Blogs saw a dramatic decline from June 2019 to September 2019 according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa.

On June 23, 2019, Freethought Blogs was the 90,953th most popular website in the world according to Alexa, but by September 23, 2019 Freethought Blogs was merely the 170,112th most popular website in the world according to Alexa.

Freethought Blogs appear to receive significantly less traffic from women

See also: Atheism and women

The website Freethought Blogs has significantly less women visiting their website than men according to the web traffic tracking company Quantcast.[47] According to the website tracking firm Quantcast, women frequent Richard Dawkins' website significantly less than men.[48]

Skeptoid

See also: Skeptoid

Skeptoid.com is website that focuses on philosophical skepticism and science. It also has a podcast.

Skeptoid.com's Loss of Google referral web traffic

Since December of 2018, the website Skeptoid has lost a high proportion of its Google referral traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Humanist International website

According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush.com, the Humanist International website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic relative to its peak Google referral traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Free Inquiry website

According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush.com, the Free Inquiry website, which is run by the Center for Inquiry, lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Humanists UK website

See also: Humanists UK

The Humanists.UK website lost a large proportion of its monthly Google referral traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Elevatorgate and Richard Dawkins' loss of online influence

See also: Elevatorgate and Richard Dawkins and social media and Atheist movement

Richard Dawkins is still widely criticized for causing embarrassment to his fellow atheists via his Elevatorgate controversy and for igniting deep fractures in the atheist movement.[49]

For example, on November 26, 2013, the atheist activist and blogger Jen McCreight posted at Twitter the message: "Did anyone on Dawkins AMA ask how he feels about singlehandedly destroying the atheist movement with the Dear Muslima yet?"[50] In December 2013, atheist Jack Vance at Atheist Revolution called July 2, 2011, which is the day that Elevatorgate occurred, "The day the atheist movement died."[51]

Graph showing Richard Dawkins' loss of influence post Elevatatorgate

See also: Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science website

As can be seen by the graph below, by means of embedded code on his website from Quantcast, Quantcast directly measured the web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website. Traffic to Dawkins website is significantly down post-Elevatorgate scandal.

Although his following of Dawkian atheist has significantly waned post-Elevatorgate and due to his generally abrasive manner, he does retain a small cult following (See: Richard Dawkins' loss of influence and Richard Dawkins' cult of personality and Atheist cults).

According to the web traffic tracking company Quantcast, the web traffic of Richard Dawkins' website fell in 2012.[52] By October 2014, the web traffic for his website fell to a lower level according to Quantcast.[53]



The web traffic was measured via Quantcast which directly measured Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.[54]

Recent web traffic according to Quantcast which directly measured Dawkins' website traffic

The above graph shows the monthly website traffic to Richard Dawkins' website as of June 22, 2015 in terms of unique monthly web visitors.[55] As you can see above, in 2012, Richard Dawkins saw a very large decrease in web traffic. The website traffic is measured via Quantcast which directly measures Dawkins' website traffic via embedded code on his website.[54]

Richard Dawkins' website and loss of Google referral traffic

The Richard Dawkins website has lost a large portion on its monthly Google referral traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Alexa ranking of Richard Dawkins' website

See also: Alexa rankings of Richard Dawkins' website

Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins has seen a large decline

See: Google trends: Searches for the term Richard Dawkins has seen a marked decline


ReligiousTolerance.org (Has a significant amount of atheism/skepticism content)

ReligiousTolerance.org contains a large archive of articles and essays on subjects relating to atheism, religion and skepticism. According to the Religioustolerance.org website, they do have an atheist and agnostic on staff, but no religious conservatives on staff.[56] In addition, one of the website's core beliefs is the separation of church and state.[57]

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, ReligiousTolerance.org has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Atheist Alliance International

See also: Atheist Alliance International

The Atheist Alliance International website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

EvilBible.com website

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.com, EvilBible.com has lost a very large portion of it monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Atheist Community of Austin website

The Atheist Community of Austin website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic. According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, on May 5, 2020 the website received 6,698 Google referral visits in the previous 30 days. On August 5, 2022, the website received 3,519 Google referral visits in the previous 30 days.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Freethought-trail.org website

The Freethought-trail.org website lost a significant proportion of its Google referral web traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Skepchick

See also: Skepchick

Skepchick is an atheist website founded by Rebecca Watson which discusses atheism, feminism, science, and pseudoscience. Being an atheist website, Skepchick advocates evolutionary pseudoscience.

Global market share of Skepchick website

See also: Skepchick and Atheist feminism

According to the website traffic tracking company Similarweb, the Skepchick.org website was the 688,855th most popular website in the world in May 2022 and the website was experiencing a big drop in its global popularity.
According to the website traffic tracking company Alexa, the Skepchick website saw a large decrease in its global market share from October 2015 to September 2016.
According to Alexa, the Skepchick website continued to lose global market share in the latter part of 2016.
According to Alexa, on September 4, 2017, the Skepchick website was the 448,390th most popular website in the world in terms of its web traffic.
According to Alexa, on October 27, 2017, the Skepchick website was the 587,446th most popular website in the world in terms of its web traffic.

On August 8, 2019, Skepchick was ranked the 376,336th most popular website in the world according to Alexa.

Google referral traffic to the Skepchick.org website

Since May of 2014, the Skepchick.org website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Secular Student Alliance's website

See also: Secular Student Alliance

The Secular Student Alliance's website lost a large majority of its Google referral web traffic from its peak Google referral traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

The Orbit

See also: The Orbit

In 2016, The Orbit website lost a considerable amount of its global market share according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa. On September 4, 2017 it was the 357,369th most popular website in the world according to Alexa.

The atheist blogger Hemant Mehta reported about the atheist blog network The Orbit:

Nearly two dozen atheist bloggers — many from Freethought Blogs, along with a few others from Patheos, Skepchick, and independent sites — are about to launch a new website called The Orbit. (The site isn’t functional just yet, but it should come online soon.)

According to a now-deleted post, though the same information has been hinted at in several other places, the collective will be focused on atheism and social justice.

Interestingly enough, PZ Myers is not on the list of those moving. He’ll remain at Freethought Blogs, where he’s been recruiting new bloggers to the site over the past month.

I’m speculating here, but I suspect at least some of the Orbit writers are heading to the new site in part to get out from under his shadow and away from his burn-all-bridges. Maybe I’m wrong.[58]

The Orbit: Loss of Google referral traffic

Since March 2017, The Orbit website lost a large portion of its Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.


In 2018, The Orbit lost a considerable amount of its global market share

In 2018, The Orbit website lost a considerable amount of its global market share according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa. On December 24, 2018, Alexa ranked The Orbit the 661,244th most popular website in the world.

Secular Web's website

See also: Secular Web and Growth of global desecularization

Loss of Google referral traffic to the Secular Web's website

Since 2011, the Secular Web's website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

2023: Secular Web's drop in global ranking according to SimilarWeb.com

According to SimilarWeb.com, the Secular Web experienced a very large drop in its website popularity ranking.

According to SimilarWeb.com, in January 2023, the Secular Web website went from being the 627,509th most popular website to being the 1,234,759th popular website.

2021: Secular Web's drop in global market share

The Secular Web experienced a large drop in its global market from February 21, 2021 to May 21, 2021 according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa.

Specifically, the Secular Web went from being the 315,077th most popular website in the world to being the 577,111th most popular website during this period according to Alexa.

2019: Secular Web's drop in global market share

The Secular Web experienced a large drop in its global market from November 29, 2019 to December 29, 2019 according to the web traffic tracking company Alexa. Specifically, the Secular Web went from being the 315,077th most popular website in the world to being the 577,111th most popular website during this period according to Alexa.

Secular Web's previous drop in web traffic and global market share

According to the web traffic tracking company Quantcast, the Secular Web lost a significant amount of web traffic from the period of 6/2/07 to 7/30/11.[59]

According to Alexa, the Secular Web experienced a drop in online global market share in 2017 and 2018.[60][61]

On August 19, 2019, Alexa ranked the Secular Web the 285,436th most popular website in the world in web traffic and it was dropping in global market share at the time.


John W. Loftus' Debunking Christianity website

See also: John W. Loftus

John W. Loftus' Debunking Christianity website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

The AtheistForums.org website's loss of Google referral traffic

AtheistForums.org website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Landover Baptist website

See also: Landover Baptist Church

Landover Baptist Church is an atheist website that mocks Christianity. It was founded by a satirist named Chris Harper. He regularly speaks in atheist gatherings as Pastor Deacon Fred Smith.


According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush, theThe Landover Baptist Church website has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referrral traffic.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Atheist Ireland website

See also: Atheist Ireland and Michael Nugent

The Atheist Ireland website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

The Atheist Revolution

See also: Atheist Revolution

The Atheist Revolution website lost a very large proportion of its Google referral traffic since its peak amount of Google referral web traffic according to the leading web marketing website SEMRush.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

The atheist Shelly Segal's website

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, the atheist Shelly Segal's website has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Atheist Universe website

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, the AtheistUniverse.net website has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Atheism and the City website

See also: Atheism and the City

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, the Atheismandthecity.com website has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

AtheistScholar.org website

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, AtheistScholar.org has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Testreligion.com atheist website: Loss of Google referral traffic

The Testreligion.com has lost a tremendous portion of its Google referral traffic that was meager to begin with.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Positive atheism website

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, PositiveAtheism.org has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

AskTheAtheist.com website

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, RationalResponders.com has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

SecularWoman.org website

According to the leading web marketing website SEMRush, RationalResponders.com has lost a very large portion of its monthly Google referral traffic visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

The Atheist Experience Show website

Matt Dillahunty is a former host of the Atheist Experience Show.
According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush.com, the Atheist Experience website lost a high proportion of its Google referral web traffic. SEMRush is not registering any Google referral traffic going to the Atheist Experience Show website which means it is receiving little to no Google referral traffic monthly visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Atheists.net website. Owned by the atheist David Bedford

The atheist Darwin Bedford, who legally changed his first name to Darwin and owns the website Atheists.net, was featured on CBC's News Day Special and also appeared in English journalist Rod Liddle's documentary The Trouble with Atheism.[62][63]

In 2016, Beford indicated: "I’m not retired yet, but when I am, I promise to expand my efforts regarding my web sites."[64]

According to the leading web marketing company SEMRush.com, as of February 17, 2023, Atheists.net is not registering any Google referral traffic which means it is receiving little to no Google referral traffic monthly visits.

Google uses over 200 factors to evaluate the quality and the relevance of a website to various topics.

Atheist PZ Myers says atheists are largely a population of internet nerds and geeks

See also: Atheism and marriage and Atheism and women

In 2013, the atheist PZ Myers declared:

If we're going to expand our base and we're going to draw in more people to recognize the virtues of living in a secular world, we need to appeal to more than just that geek and nerd subset of the population. We need to have a wider base. ...I seriously believe that we're on the cusp of a crisis. We're not there yet but it's looming in front of us. Will we adapt and thrive and change the world? Or will we remain an avocation for a prosperous and largely irrelevant subset of the population? Will we become something more than a scattered society of internet nerds? That's what we have to do.[65]

In response, Evolution News and Views wrote:

A crisis looms, in Myers's view, because he looks around himself and sees a not very promising basis for a mass movement. He's right. There is indeed a quality of geeky isolation from reality, common sense, and the fullness of life that I see as a motif in atheist and Darwin activism alike.[65]

Christian websites with a large focus on the topic of atheism

Four of the more notable defense of Christianity websites which have a large focus on the topic of atheism are: Shadow To Light blog, True Freethinker, the Creation Ministries International resources on atheism and the Fixed Point Foundation website.

True Freethinker is a Christian apologetics Facebook page run by Ken Ammi which offers many refutations of atheism.

Website with a main focus on criticizing atheism by not a Christian website

Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists

See: Internet evangelism: Christians vs. atheists

Atheist trolls

See: Atheist trolls

YouTube atheist TheAmazingAtheist on rape

When told that Red Army soldiers sexually assaulted German refugees, Joseph Stalin reportedly declared: "We lecture our soldiers too much; let them have their initiative."[66] See: Atheism and rape

See also: Atheism and rape and Atheism and women and Elevatorgate

TheAmazingAtheist is YouTube's most subscribed to YouTube channel produced by an atheist and as of February 2012 it had over 280,000 subscribers. In 2012, he viciously told a rape victim "you deserved it" and told her that her rapist "deserved a medal". He also told her that she should try to relive the rape in her mind.

Christian apologist Marian Grinbank wrote concerning TheAmazingAtheist's comments directed towards a rape victim:

A frightening consideration is that it may very well be this personage’s worldview which leads him to such depths of malice...

He also told another woman:

"You’re lucky it wasn’t me. I’d have busted your ******* nose and raped you."

And has also offered a graphic descriptions of how he would rape a rape victim again.

This is in keeping with his modis operandi which, sadly, is a manner whereby some people get and keep a lot of attention. Of course, it is pathetic that some people are so very desperate for attention that they seek it regardless of whether it is good, bad or ugly.

This particular Atheist is the organizer of a group, aptly, called The Atheist Scum United and refers to himself as “God of the Godless,” “subhuman,” and “scumbag.” Could not have said it better ourselves.

But the belligerence does not stop at his victimization of rape victims but he also takes aim at the dead. He has referred to people who committed suicide due to bullying as having been "weak."

What such a person needs, truly needs, is love and prayer because they are obviously hurting very, very badly.[67]

Atheism websites and polyamory

The atheist Richard Carrier divorced his wife and now practices polyamory.[68] Before divorcing his wife, he was involved in adulterous affairs.[68]

See also: Internet atheism and polyamory

Polyamory is a general term to denote relationships involving a group of men and women. In polyamorous relationships, often one man is “dating” several women and each of the women is in turn dating several men.[69]

Polyskeptic.com and polyamory

The website Polyskeptic.com has an Alexa traffic rank of 2,276,133 as of June 14, 2012.[70]

Atheist Nexus and polyamory

The website Atheist Nexus bills itself as "The World’s Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities."[71] As of June 14, 2012, the website Atheist Nexus had an entire group devoted to polyamory.[72]

Wikipedia on polyamory

The website Wikipedia was co-founded by the atheist Jimmy Wales and the agnostic Larry Sanger. Wikipedia has a pro-atheism/evolution slant.

For example, the current Wikipedia article on atheism is very flattering to atheism. As of June 14, 2012 the Wikipedia atheism article does not explicitly mention the tens of millions who died under atheist communist regimes although it does allude to it. Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, is the scholar who first coined the term "democide" (death by government). Dr. R. J. Rummel's mid estimate regarding the loss of life due to communism is that communism caused the death of approximately 110,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987.[73] Starting on February 20, 2007, Wikipedia had a hotly-debated article on militant atheism that was deleted on February 18, 2012.[74][75]

As of June 14, 2012 Wikipedia had this flattering description of polyamory: "Polyamory, often abbreviated as poly, is often described as consensual, ethical, or responsible non-monogamy. The word is sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to sexual or romantic relationships that are not sexually exclusive, though there is disagreement on how broadly it applies; an emphasis on ethics, honesty, and transparency all around is widely regarded as the crucial defining characteristic."[76]

See also: Atheism, polyamory and other immoral relationships

Internet atheism and profanity

See: Atheism and profanity

Internet atheism and quarrelsome atheists

See also: Atheist factions

In 2010, the Christian apologetics website True Free Thinker wrote: "Scienceblogger Chad Orzel described the commentators on PZ Myers ' Scienceblogs.com site Pharyngula, and other Scienceblogs.com commentators, as "screechy monkeys."[77]

Richard Dawkins' battle with online fans

See also: Atheism and profanity

In February 2010, the news organization The Telegraph reported Richard Dawkins was "embroiled in a bitter online battle over plans to rid his popular internet forum for atheists of foul language, insults and 'frivolous gossip'."[78] Given that atheists often have poor social skills and are often contentious, it is not surprising the online dispute was bitter (See: Atheism and social skills and Atheist factions). In addition, Richard Dawkins has a reputation for being abrasive.

Internet atheism and obesity

The 20% of overweight people who are able to achieve permanent weight loss typically report doing it through engaging in high levels of physical activity, eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet, eating breakfast regularly, self-monitoring weight, and maintaining a consistent eating pattern across weekdays and weekends.[79] Overweight individuals may need to decrease their computer and internet usage.[80]

See also: Atheism and obesity and Bariatric science

A significant portion of the world's atheists are overweight (see: Atheism and obesity).

In an essay entitled How the Atheist Movement Failed Me, an atheist woman noted that participation in the atheist community is often expensive due to the cost of attending atheist conferences and even local atheist meetings in restaurants and bars challenged her modest budget.[3] As a result of the challenges that atheists commonly have in terms of socializing in person, many atheists turn to the internet in terms of communicating with other atheists.[81]

In 2009, an Australian university study was done concerning the association between leisure time internet and computer use with being overweight and/or obese and also sedentary.[80] The study concluded: "These findings suggest that, apart from nutritional and physical activity interventions, it may also be necessary to decrease time spent in sedentary behaviors, such as leisure-time Internet and computer use, in order to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity."[80] See also: Bariatric science

As noted above, in 2013, the prominent atheist PZ Myers declared:

If we're going to expand our base and we're going to draw in more people to recognize the virtues of living in a secular world, we need to appeal to more than just that geek and nerd subset of the population. We need to have a wider base. ...I seriously believe that we're on the cusp of a crisis. We're not there yet but it's looming in front of us. Will we adapt and thrive and change the world? Or will we remain an avocation for a prosperous and largely irrelevant subset of the population? Will we become something more than a scattered society of internet nerds? That's what we have to do.[65]

Internet nerds are typically less active in sports. Also, atheists are not as active in sports as theists (See: Sports performance: Religious faith vs. atheism ). And inactivity is a major risk factor for obesity.[82] See also: Atheist nerds

Atheist Christopher Hitchens: Google trends data

See also: Christopher Hitchens

According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "Christopher Hitchens".

James Randi: Google trends data from 2004 to 2020

See also: Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms

According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "James Randi" in the United States.

Videos on atheism

Social media and social ostracism of atheists in religious societies

See: Social media and social ostracism of atheists

Atheist deconversion stories and the internet

See also: Atheist deconversion stories

Michael J. Kruger, President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, wrote about atheist deconversion stories:

Of course, there have always been de-conversion stories available throughout the history of the church—if one would only take the time to dig them up and listen to them. Christianity has never had a shortage of people who were once in the fold and then left.

But in recent years these de-conversion stories seem to have taken on a higher profile. Part of this is due, no doubt, to the technology that makes these de-conversion stories more available whether through podcasts, blogs, or other forms of media.[83]

See also

Humor:

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55789
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 How the Atheist Movement Failed Me – Part 1: Cost
  4. Atheists Online: -How Atheists Grew An Active Internet Community, Conatus News
  5. The ghost of atheist past, Freethought Blogs
  6. 2015 was a terrible year for internet atheism
  7. Freethoughtblog.com uses Quantcast to measure their web traffic and the demograghhics of their web visitors - Click to see report
  8. Internet atheism and skepticism: The thrill is gone!
  9. Rebecca Watson (July 5, 2011). "The Privilege Delusion". Skepchick
  10. Is American atheism heading for a schism? by Peter McGrath, The Guardian
  11. 13.0 13.1 Global Study: Atheists in Decline, Only 1.8% of World Population by 2020
  12. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
  13. More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say COVID-19 Has Strengthened Religious Faith, Pew Research, 2021
  14. More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say COVID-19 Has Strengthened Religious Faith, Pew Forum
  15. Status of Global Christianity, 2022, in the Context of 1900–2050
  16. Who is Not Afraid of Richard Dawkins? Using Google Trends to Assess the Reach of Influential Atheists across Canadian Secular Groups by Maryam Dilmaghani, Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, First Published December 13, 2019 Research Article https://doi.org/10.1177/0008429819854353
  17. What is the Matthew effect
  18. What Killed YouTube Atheism?
  19. How Feminism destroyed 'New Atheism'
  20. A Supply and Demand Framework for YouTube Politics by Kevin Munger & Joseph Phillips. Penn State Political Science, October 1, 2019, See page 23
  21. You Tube atheist/skeptic videos see a decline in views from 2017 to present
  22. YouTube atheist/skeptic videos with a classical liberalism perspective see a decline in views from 2017 to present
  23. A Supply and Demand Framework for YouTube Politics by Kevin Munger & Joseph Phillips. Penn State Political Science, October 1, 2019, See page 23
  24. You Tube atheist/skeptic videos with a classical liberalism political perspective see a decline in views from 2017 to present
  25. 27.0 27.1 Reddit Atheists Have New Leadership After Turbulent Coup
  26. Reddit dumps r/atheism and r/politics from its default homepage
  27. 29.0 29.1 Reddit Rapture: How r/atheism Suddenly Lost 10,000 Users
  28. 30.0 30.1 Reddit Users: Why Atheist Redditors Are Stuck On the Internet
  29. RationalWiki users admit the election for its Board of Trustees is offering weak candidates so far, Examining Atheism blog, July 14, 2022
  30. Difference between revisions of "RationalWiki talk:Site support", Revision as of 17:15, 29 May 2022 (edit) (undo)
  31. Is the Foundation Defunct?, RationalWiki talk:RationalMedia Foundation/Archive2, 22:50, 26 August 2021‎. Rationalwiki.org.
  32. [https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:2friedeggs&diff=prev&oldid=2460941 Revision as of 03:49, 10 June 2022 (edit) (undo) GrammarCommie (talk | contribs)
  33. Latest revision as of 10:07, 21 June 2022 (view source), Neiltyson1fan (talk | contribs)
  34. Latest revision as of 19:08, 15 August 2022 (edit) (undo) KarmaPolice (talk | contribs)(→‎Rationalwiki should tone down on the snark.)
  35. Revision as of 00:56, 6 November 2022 (edit) (undo) Rairyu75 (talk | contribs) (→‎You guys doing okay?: new section)
  36. Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, October 6, 2020
  37. RationalWiki - Feminism
  38. Majestic SEO Announces New Link Metrics: Trust Flow & Citation Flow
  39. http://lifewithoutfaith.com/?p=183
  40. What happened to the nonbelief channel at Patheos?
  41. The Alternative Fix, PBS
  42. Ken Ham brags about his websites
  43. Answersingenes.org - Similarweb.com
  44. Answersingenes.org - Similarweb.com
  45. Multiple references:
  46. Quantcast data - Richarddawkins.net - demographics
  47. Jennifer McCreight on the Twitter about the Elevatorgate scandal
  48. The Day the Atheist Movement Died by Jack Vance at Atheist Revolution
  49. 2012 has been a very BAD year for Richard Dawkins's website according to Quantcast
  50. Richard Dawkins' loss of influence
  51. 54.0 54.1 Quantcast - Quantcast Measure
  52. Web traffic of Richard Dawkins' main website
  53. About this web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (OCRT)
  54. About this web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (OCRT)
  55. reputation Several Atheist Bloggers Are Moving to “The Orbit” by Hemant Mehta
  56. Internet atheism: The thrill is gone!
  57. Secular Web lost global market share in the first half of 2017 according to Alexa
  58. 5 atheist websites that lost global market share in 2018 according to Alexa, Examining Atheism, October 22, 2018
  59. Atheist.net main page
  60. The Trouble with Atheism (Religious Documentary)
  61. If Jesus Comes Back, This Guy Will Kill Him: Interview with Darwin Bedford, the atheist who wants God dead., Medium.com website
  62. 65.0 65.1 65.2 in Seattle, PZ Myers Reflects Candidly on His Constituency
  63. Roberts, Andrew. "Stalin's army of rapists: The brutal war crime that Russia and Germany tried to ignore", Daily Mail, 24 October 2008. 
  64. Atheist victimizes rape victim
  65. 68.0 68.1 Coming Out Poly + A Change of Life Venue
  66. Atheist leaders and immoral relationships
  67. Atheist leaders and immoral relationships
  68. Atheist leaders and immoral relationships
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  80. The Power of De-Conversion Stories: How Jen Hatmaker is Trying to Change Minds About the Bible by Michael J. Kruger