Do you find there's more young people becoming veggies because of the internet?

[Cute1]

Because of the ease of emails, google and yahoo, and videos such as "meet you meat" etc. don't you think that it's easy to spread the veggie word to all your friends, and that more and more people are becoming veggies because of that?

What do you think, is the internet helping?
I'm asking is the internet... helping?

Many thanks.

[Puddydoo]

Interesting theory, but how do you quantify it. They blitz young people on here and in the media to stop or not to start smoking, or not to drink or drink excessively, but neither seem to work.
If you create a situation that appals some people, eventually people get used to it and just switch off. Obviously there will be some that have great concerns, but Yahoo Answers has such a very small audience out of the population as a whole. However, you made a good point.

[sianXcore]

That is an unjustifiable theory.

There are many reasons why young people are becoming vegetarians or even vegan for that matter.

Some would say that they are vegetarian because they don't find killing animals moral, others would say that they don't like eating meat and those (like myself) are vegetarian due to health purposes and find that having a vegetarian diet is beneficial towards your health.

Yes, there may be SOME influence towards becoming a vegetarian via the Internet but it should not be considered the reason why young people are becoming vegetarian. That's like saying that people are puppets on a string waiting to be manipulated by the mass media and have no brain or decision of their own.

[CheekyCherub]

Not just internet, media. There would be like 50 Vegans in the US if there was no media.

[LadyJanee]

I always wanted to be vegan but put it in the too hard basket.

Until I discovered forums like this which are great for getting meal ideas/inspiration etc.. Its helping people become healthier too, everyone here is very insistant on getting enough protein & veggies etc that I never thought about much before. I just ate what tasted good.

Now veganism is easy. =]

[katzy]

Oh yes all the various means that we all have to communicate are helping people make more serious choices about what goes into our bodies. All the info on preservatives and toxins and hormones, well, it is so bad that more people are becoming veggies and eating pesticide free vegetables. You can really taste the difference too.

[phoenix]

Yes. A lot of my internet friends have gone veg*n because of the videos I post on YouTube.

[HannibaltheCannibal]

This is an interesting theory. It would stand to reason that because information and videos (like Meet Your Meat) are now available for free worldwide, that more people would become better informed and choose a veggie diet. I don't know if there's any way you can prove this, but it certainly seems to hold water.

Just for the record, I became vegan after becoming disabled in the Marine Corps and reading in a regular ol' ink-and-paper book that a vegan diet was best to manage my untreatable condition.

[Skylar]

I think it is helping a lot. I personally am very new to the concept and am hoping to make my lifestyle as vegan as possible.

The internet helps with my questions and to get more information when I am unsure or curious about certain things.

[saje388]

Absolutely, I have been a vegetarian for 10 yrs because I had to do a paper on animal rights and I came across PETA's website and watched the videos. The internet definitely helps get the word out to more people. Thank goodness.