Is the magazine medium doomed to extinction as some media pundits predict? Not according to a brand audience report published in April by MPA-The Association of Magazine Media (MPA). “Magazine media brands continue to deliver meaningful growth across platforms, engaging consumers in all formats, including social media,” the report declared.

American magazine brands were growing at a 7.6 percent increase each year, they reported. And, they were engaging their readers across a variety of social media platforms with remarkable results. According to data collected by MPA’s Social Flow platform, “likes” and “followers” of social media totaled 900 million at the end of the first quarter, a 4 percent increase over the previous quarter.

In fact, both television and magazine data show that the top 10 magazines reach nearly twice as many people on social media as the top 10 television programs. According to data from Shareablee, magazines generate more social engagement than TV, radio, online media, and newspapers.

“Consumers of all ages have deep and passionate relationships with magazine media,” says MPA CEO Linda Thomas Brooks. Readers engage with magazines on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

While MPA collects data primarily from secular magazines, Christian magazines can find encouragement in the data. Certainly some magazines struggle and over the last five or six years a number of prominent American magazines have closed their print operations and switched to digital format. Many of these are engaging their readers through social media more than ever before.

In fact, the global digital magazine market is projected to grow from 14 percent in 2015 to 35 percent in 2020, according to Business Wire in London. The bold prediction is based on analysis by Technavio, a technology research company. The company explains that the growth of the global digital magazine publishing market is predicated on the increased penetration of the Internet and extensive use of mobile devices.

The lesson for Christian magazines? If you’re publishing the kind of content people want to read and if you’re engaging them across a variety of social media platforms, you have significant potential to grow your audience.