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Religions
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Religion Impacting Social Media
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Religion Impacting Social Media

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 26448

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Miriam Diez Bosch

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Blanquerna Observatory on Media Religion and Culture, Ramon Llull University, 08022 Barcelona, Spain
2. Research and International Relations, Blanquerna School on Comunication and International Relations, Ramon Llull University, 08022 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: religion and media; digital religion; online communities; gender issues and religious communities; religion and literature; youth and influencers; spirituality and leadership

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Religions are no longer isolated, but now have impacts on social media. The faithful have become an important source of social media production and consumption, meaning that religious leaders are no longer the main source of information and authority on religion. Therefore, digitalization is changing the importance of interaction and conversation and providing a new sense of belonging for religions.

The latest research on the relationship between the internet and religion has sought to theorize the ways in which religions, including new spiritual movements, have adapted to new formats and ways of being. Lived religion continues in the offline world but is sometimes lived digitally at the same time. Further, in some individuals, digital religion almost substitutes lived religion. Scholars have analyzed whether the bonds among members of religions are more solid thanks to technology or whether they have become more superficial and weaker.  The association between happiness and adopting altruistic values that religions often provide is also a key element that increases the understanding of the dynamics of religion and media in the present time.

This Special Issue seeks to reflect on this changing face of religion. We invite contributions from the fields of religious studies, international political science, sociology, anthropology, theology, technology, media studies, marketing, visual arts, and history which depict, from both comparative and international perspectives, how religions impact and play a role in social media. Themes may include theoretical perspectives on digital religion; online responses for ecological emergencies, leadership, and populism; youth influencers; and how communities are bound according to spiritual needs. New insights on the interactions among gender studies, digital religion, and the construction of communities as well as studies on religious iconography and visual religion are welcome.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Social media and organized religions;
  • Youth and influencers;
  • Gender religion goes digital;
  • Ecologic emergency and digital activism among religious groups;
  • Religious information and its influence in today’s trending topics;
  • The populist mindset from religious leaders in Internet.

Prof. Miriam Diez Bosch
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • online religion
  • spirituality and consumption
  • digital youth
  • gender and religion
  • populism and religion
  • new religious movements
  • religious information

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 2638 KiB  
Article
Crisis and Continuation: The Digital Relocation of Jain Socio-Religious Praxis during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Tine Vekemans
Religions 2021, 12(5), 342; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050342 - 13 May 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3493
Abstract
In early 2020, Jain diaspora communities and organizations that had been painstakingly built over the past decades were faced with the far-reaching consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its concomitant restrictions. With the possibility of regular face-to-face contact and participation in recurring events—praying, [...] Read more.
In early 2020, Jain diaspora communities and organizations that had been painstakingly built over the past decades were faced with the far-reaching consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its concomitant restrictions. With the possibility of regular face-to-face contact and participation in recurring events—praying, eating, learning, and meditating together—severely limited in most places, organizations were compelled to make a choice. They either had to suspend their activities, leaving members to organize their religious activities on an individual or household basis, or pursue the continuation of some of their habitual activities in an online format, relying on their members’ motivation and technical skills. This study will explore how many Jain organizations in London took to digital media in its different forms to continue to engage with their members throughout 2020. Looking at a selection of websites and social media channels, it will examine online discourses that reveal the social and mental impact of the pandemic on Jains and the broader community, explore the relocation of activities to the digital realm, and assess participation in these activities. In doing so, this article will open a discussion on the long-term effects of this crisis-induced digital turn in Jain religious praxis, and in socio-cultural life in general. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion Impacting Social Media)
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16 pages, 3166 KiB  
Article
Crowdfunding Salafism. Crowdfunding as a Salafi Missionising Method
by Simon Sorgenfrei
Religions 2021, 12(3), 209; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12030209 - 19 Mar 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4685
Abstract
As is also the case in other parts of the world, Salafi interpretations of Islam appear to be on the rise in Sweden, especially among young people turning to Islam. One of the most active and visible missionising Salafi organisations in Sweden is [...] Read more.
As is also the case in other parts of the world, Salafi interpretations of Islam appear to be on the rise in Sweden, especially among young people turning to Islam. One of the most active and visible missionising Salafi organisations in Sweden is called islam.nu. It is based in Stockholm but has a national outreach programme and a very active online presence. This article focuses on islam.nu and a dawa campaign called #karavanen (the Caravan) and how it was advertised and developed on the social media platform Instagram from March 2018 to March 2020. By using market and consumer value theories to analyse the Instagram content related to the #karavanen, the article is an explorative attempt to approach contemporary Salafi missionising and growth from a new perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion Impacting Social Media)
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13 pages, 245 KiB  
Article
The Absence of Presence and the Presence of Absence: Social Distancing, Sacraments, and the Virtual Religious Community during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Helen Parish
Religions 2020, 11(6), 276; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11060276 - 3 Jun 2020
Cited by 70 | Viewed by 15076
Abstract
The response of churches to the challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic invites a closer examination of the relationships between virtual and embodied religious communities during a time of social distancing. The speed and the scale of the closure of church buildings [...] Read more.
The response of churches to the challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic invites a closer examination of the relationships between virtual and embodied religious communities during a time of social distancing. The speed and the scale of the closure of church buildings during Easter 2020 sheds light upon the multiplicity of practical, emotional, and spiritual responses to a relationship between church and people that is increasingly dominated by online interactions. Such a seismic shift in social culture opens up the possibility and challenges of a new understanding of belonging and participation in a religious community. Given its liturgical, pastoral, and sacramental significance, Easter 2020 was a highly charged moment for the relationship between the Christian churches and the faithful, and between religious worship and social media. In the shift from embodied community to virtual congregation that followed, the material absence of physical presence in collective worship was striking, as was the psychological presence of that absence. This paper analyses different understandings of religion, church, and community in the period of a pandemic, and argues for the value of an approach that situates the debates spawned in the context of historical precedent, personal experience, and theoretical approaches to networks, communities, religion, and social media. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion Impacting Social Media)
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