A Mediated Religion: Historical Perspectives on Christianity and the Internet

Horsfield, Peter; Teusner, Paul.

doi:10.1353/swc.2007.0032

Cited by 5 publications

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“…Horsfield and Teusner (2007) documented trends among religious organizations worldwide that virtual communication was on an uptick. Blogging was one of the newest avenues that religious organizations were exploring as a method of interacting with their parishioners.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marketing churches on the Internet: an analysis of the dialogic potential of Christian web sites

Waters

Tindall

2010

J of Philanthropy and Mktg

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The Internet has affected every aspect of society, and religion is no exception. Nearly 28 million Americans use the Internet to supplement their spiritual life by visiting Web sites to communicate with their churches and other congregation members. Online communication with religious organizations can be enhanced by the incorporation of five dialogic loop principles that foster relationship growth. Through a content analysis of randomly sampled Church Web sites from a national database, this study found that Christian churches were laggards in terms of creating an interactive environment for church-goers.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marketing churches on the Internet: an analysis of the dialogic potential of Christian web sites

Waters

Tindall

2010

J of Philanthropy and Mktg

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“…Campbell's (2010) characterization of the Internet as a 'sacramental space' refers to how the cyberspace is used as 'a space for personal spiritual pursuits and a social spiritual support sphere'. Christian groups facilitate their group activities, form networks with the international Christian community, and share diverse views about beliefs in social media (Horsfield & Teusner, 2007). In this regard, the notion of fellowship underpins the Christian perspective on community.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media, religion and shifting boundaries in globalizing China

Lim

Sng

2020

Global Media and China

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This article examines how Chinese Christians utilize social media to forge online communities and how religion is integrated into believers’ daily lives using the concept of intercontextuality. The intercontextuality of online communication enables Chinese Christian users to communicate about their daily routines and Christian values on a regular basis, thus allowing them to align their Christian concerns with wider social issues. At the same time, Christian users of social media are cognizant and wary of the highly restrictive political context of China. They often maintain a boundary between the ‘religious’ and the ‘political’, thus avoiding attracting the unwanted attention of the authorities. The article concludes with some reflections on the political implication of the study’s findings.

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“…However, the move away from forms of communication that "push" information out to people and toward communication that people "pull" toward themselves means knowledge "becomes proletarianzed and deprofessionalized" (p. 944) so that authority now becomes more merit based rather than epistemic. Horsfield & Teusner (2007) 'demographic,' but you will have individuals in mind, actual people you will be trying to connect with" (pp. 9, 11).…”

Section: Religious Leaders Have To Have a Real Credibility In Order Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Latin began to be replaced by vernacular languages. The focus of the faith began to change too, from deference to the imperatives of authority to more practical and personal concerns, such as homilies that spoke to the needs of the local church gathering (Horsfield & Teusner, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fear Not: Facebook, Information and Extensions of Local Church Ministry

Underation¹

2012

asir

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There are many concerns that the use of social media disconnects people from one another. Conventional wisdom holds that the use of social media causes people to disregard or value less their interpersonal relationships. As a result many groups-and in particular the local churchhave tended to shy away from social media as a way to impart information and build relationships within their community. This paper is a survey of current research that provides clarity about how and why people use social media. There are several important findings in this survey that have salience for the local church and how it connects with people in their community and how information spreads. The findings indicate that instead of competing with and diminishing interpersonal relationships, the use of social media among youth and adults amplifies those relationships. Of special note is the finding that the use of social media may open up information and interaction to those who are introverted or in some way reticent in asserting themselves in face-to-face interactions. and Religion 197 FEAR NOT (Hilliker, 2003), and from the Robertsons during the era when television was taking root in homes (Boerl & Perkins, 2011). So to what can we credit this ambivalence by segments of the church in standing apart from social media, which Leslie Ciesielski (2009) calls our new universal medium of communication? The reason seems to be the so-called conventional wisdom about social media and the acceptance of an anecdotal understanding about how people are actually using social media at this point in its development. The purpose of this study is to examine the conventional wisdom, particularly worries that the online communication paradigm may not be in the best interest of the church because of its tendency toward individualism instead of communalism. This concern will be compared with recent research that shows how people appear to actually use online communication tools, and how disseminating information online can extend the reach of the local church. Conventional Wisdom and the Unconventional Reality Over the last several years, the literature in the area of online communication and social networking has grown immensely. The picture that is beginning to appear challenges a number of the widely accepted opinions about life within the social media sphere, including the foundational belief that online communication is creating a fragmentation or disregard for interpersonal relationships. Mark Bauerlein (2009) and Nicholas Carr (2010) are among the more trenchant thinkers in this area, and what they say appears to connect with common sense. It seems correct that a medium that forces one to send a message or post an idea to his or her friends must come at the expense of building and maintaining face-to-face relationships. It makes sense that this sort of Advances in the Study of Information and Religion 199 FEAR NOT communication (read: "communication" with the scare quotes) might tend to be shallow and self-centered. But this, according to recent rese...

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A Mediated Religion: Historical Perspectives on Christianity and the Internet

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Marketing churches on the Internet: an analysis of the dialogic potential of Christian web sites

Marketing churches on the Internet: an analysis of the dialogic potential of Christian web sites

Social media, religion and shifting boundaries in globalizing China

Fear Not: Facebook, Information and Extensions of Local Church Ministry

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