Social Media and Religious Change

Part 1 examines the interaction between mass and social media in the construction of discourses on religion and spirituality. This includes a longitudinal study of British newspaper and TV coverage of Christianity, secularism, and religious diversity (Knott et al.); an analysis of audiences’ and critics’ responses to the BBC’s documentaries The Monastery and The Convent (Thomas); an evaluation of the theorization of the sacred in studies of religion and media within the ‘strong program’ in cultural sociology in the US (Lynch); and a study of the consequences of mass and social media synergies for public perceptions of Islam in the Netherlands (Herbert). Part 2 examines the role of the social media in the construction of contrasting forms of contemporary martyrs – media celebrities (e.g., Michael Jackson) explored through fan sites (Bennett and Campbell) and jihadi websites and YouTube posts (Nauta). Part 3 examines how bounded communities negotiate the challenges of social media, including Judaism in Second Life (Abrams & Baker); Bah’ai policing of members’ web use (Campbell & Fulton); YouTube evangelists (Pihlaja); and public expressions of bereavement (Greenhill & Fletcher).