In their research paper, Bobkowski and Pearce analyze data to discuss how people share their religious beliefs on social networks. The data was gathered from 2007, when MySpace was still a popular social network and a lot of young adults and adolescents were a part of it, but data gathered from Facebook has the most significance because Facebook is currently the most popular social network in the world. The study also measured the quantity of self-disclosure online, and one of the hypotheses stated that people who have stronger religious beliefs and practice will engage in more religious disclosure online. Other hypotheses suggested that certain groups will engage in more religious self-disclosure than others and that certain beliefs, such as the private nature of religion, may decrease religious self-disclosure online.
The researchers concluded that people chose to accurately express their religious views while those who believed religion was a private matter did not disclose it at all. They did not find any inaccurate depictions in terms of religion on people’s profiles for the sake of social integration. Furthermore, the study revealed that only 30 percent of the participants who revealed their religious affiliation on the profile description page will engage in debates and express religious opinions in other aspects of the social network.
There are various implications for religious discourse on social media platforms, but an unbiased approach by Bobkowski and Pearce explains both positive and negative implications (759). One scenario is that the social networks will contribute to the religious illiteracy because of limited religious discourses and contribute to the development of unfounded assumptions and religious stereotypes. Another scenario is that those who believe religion belongs in the public domain will be the only people invested into religious discussion online while other will not have a significant role in religious discourses in public, so rather than creating conflict, people will have the ability to interact better with other like-minded individuals and disclose religious opinions in ways they would not in the offline world.
In fact, the integration of religion into social media is the only way religion will be able to keep pace with future developments and adapt to the demands of the Digital Age. Various benefits for religion include the ability to reach more people, spread their views faster, and offer innovations into service that will attract more contemporary people.
Although there are several interesting implications for spreading religion across social media, there are several challenges along the way. First, it is possible that people will attempt to inaccurately express their religious beliefs for the sake of fitting a social group. However, the study by Bobkowski and Pearce (756) already proved that most people will not misrepresent their beliefs, but they would rather avoid disclosing them despite the opportunity to create an inaccurate profile.
A second challenge is the possibility that religious self-disclosure could be a threat to privacy. According to Brinton (“Are Social Media”), the meaning of religion could be lost if people fail to balance the private sphere and public discourse when it comes to religion. Religion used to be a method for leaving the external world and finding time to visit a sanctuary in which people would commune with God. Current trends suggest that the integration with social media could be harmful to religion if institutions do not maintain a balanced approach in delivering their teachings and opportunities for people to practice their religion.
There have been some changes in the landscape of social sites and their popularity since 2007, when data for the study by Bobkowski and Pearce (2011) was collected, but the other numbers remained similar. According to Alexa, Facebook is currently the most popular web site on the internet. Twitter is the second most popular social network, and it is in tenth place of the most popular web sites in the world. LinkedIn and Pinterest are further behind on the list, but they are also one of the few remaining popular social networks today. Most other networks, such as MySpace, have declined over the past few years and are insignificant compared to these four.
Furthermore, LinkedIn is a professional network that focuses on business and career rather than personal life and beliefs, so it is possible to exclude it from research as religion is not a common topic on that social network. Unlike other social networks, LinkedIn does not prompt user to disclose their religious beliefs or focus on those aspects of life, so it is possible to dismiss it as an irrelevant social network in religious contexts.
The most influential social networks that interact with religion and metanarratives today are Facebook and Twitter. Religious institutions have also adapted to the new social contexts and are currently involved in both networks. For example, more than 30 percent of people in the United States disclose their religious beliefs online, and Facebook Pages on religious contexts can surpass the popularity of pop idols on social media. For example, the Jesus Daily Facebook page counts approximately 8.5 million fans (Miller, “Social Media and Religion). Another interesting fact is that Jesus Daily is operated by a dietitian, so it is possible to notice that people outside of formal institutions have control over how religion will transform in the following years.
Religious institutions also use social media to plan and announce innovative events to their fans. Rather than relying on orthodox methods of practicing religion, they are coming up with interesting methods of promoting both social experiences and religious teachings. For example, Jon Anderson from Santa Fe introduced the event “Worship in the Wilderness” to combine the beautiful experience and health effects of field trips with a Sunday service (Drescher, “Social Media Rebooting Religion”). With the assistance of Twitter followers, the idea spread quickly and the religion did not neglect people who did not enjoy the traditional conduct of religious services.
Finally, the ability to reach people who are geographically secluded, promoting a liberal voice among religious people, and the ability to interact with like-minded people daily are the positive aspects of social media and its implication in religious contexts. Rather than reserving only one day for religion, people are now reminded about the teachings they follow daily through social media. Of course, some controversial topics are always expected and conflict will be inevitable if people do not show tolerance to others and respect the freedom of choice when it comes to personal beliefs. Otherwise, the integration of social media and religion will most likely result in positive effects for both religious people and religious institutions.
Works Cited
Bobkowski, Piotr S. and Lisa D. Pearce. “Baring Their Souls in Online Profiles or Not? Religious Self-Disclosure in Social Media.“ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 50.4 (2011): 744-762. Web.
Brinton, Henry G. “Are Social Media Changing Religion?” USA Today. USA Today, 21 June 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010- 06-21-column21_ST_N.htm>
Miller, Jason. “Social Media and Religion.” Huffington Post. Huff Post Religion, 19 Sep. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-jason-miller/social-media- and-religion_b_949686.html>
Drescher, Elizabeth. “Social Media Rebooting Religion.” SF Gate. San Francisco Chronicle, 5 June 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Social-media- rebooting-religion-2368715.php>
