%0 Journal Article %J new media & society %D 2012 %T Religion and the Internet: A microcosm for studying Internet trends and implications %A Heidi A Campbell %K Authority %K community %K Computer %K Contemporary Religious Community %K cyberspace %K identity %K internet %K Mass media %K network %K New Media and Society %K new media engagement %K New Technology and Society %K offline %K Online %K online communication %K Online community %K religion %K religion and internet %K Religion and the Internet %K religiosity %K religious engagement %K religious identity %K Religious Internet Communication %K Religious Internet Communities %K Ritual %K sociability unbound %K Sociology of religion %K users’ participation %K virtual community %K virtual public sphere %K “digital religion” %K “Internet Studies” %K “media and religion” %K “media research” %K “networked society” %K “online identity” %K “religion online” %K “religious congregations” %K “religious media research” %K “religious practice online” %X This article argues that paying close attention to key findings within the study of religion and the Internet, a subfield of Internet Studies, can enhance our understanding and discussion of the larger social and cultural shifts at work within networked society. Through a critical overview of research on religion online, five central research areas emerge related to social practices, online–offline connections, community, identity, and authority online. It is also argued that observations about these themes not only point to specific trends within religious practice online, but also mirror concerns and findings within other areas of Internet Studies. Thus, studying religion on the Internet provides an important microcosm for investigating Internet Studies’ contribution in a wide range of contexts in our contemporary social world. %B new media & society %V 15 %G eng %U http://nms.sagepub.com/content/15/5/680.abstract %N 5 %& 680 %0 Journal Article %J Information, Community & Society %D 2011 %T Rethinking the online-offline connection in religion online %A Heidi Campbell %A Lövheim, Mia %K internet and religion %K offline %K Online %K religion %X This special issue of Information, Communication and Society aims to present current research on the connection between online and offline religion and map out significant questions and themes concerning how this relationship takes shape among different religious traditions and contexts. By bringing together a collection of studies that explore these issues, we seek to investigate both how the Internet informs religious cultures in everyday life, and how the Internet is being shaped by offline religious traditions and communities. In order to contextualize the articles in the special issue, we offer a brief overview of how religion online has been studied over the past two decades with attention given to how the intersection of online-offline religion has been approached. This is followed by a discussion of key questions in the recent study of the relationship between online and offline religion and significant themes that emerge in contemporary research on religious uses of the Internet. These questions and themes help contextualize the unique contributions this special issue offers to the current discourse in this area, as well as how it might inform the wider field of Internet studies. We end by suggesting where future research on religion and the Internet might be headed, especially in relation to how we understand and approach the overlap between online and offline religion as a space of hybridity and social interdependence. %B Information, Community & Society %V 18 %8 11/2011 %G eng %U http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2011.597416 %N 4 %& 1083-1086 %R 10.1080/1369118X.2011.597416 %0 Journal Article %J Church, Communication & Culture %D 2016 %T Accessing Changes in the Study of Religious Communities in Digital Religion Studies %A Campbell, H %A Virtullo, A %K Community online %K Digital Religion %K internet %K offline %K Online %K religious communities %X This article provides a focused review of researches undertaken within Digital religion studies in the last three decades, specifically highlighting how religious communities have been studied and approached within this area. It highlights the dominant theoretical and methodological approaches employed by scholars during what is being described as the four stages of research on religious communities emerging over this period of time. Thus, this article presents the findings of key studies emerging during these stages to illuminate how the study of religious communities online has evolved over time. It also offers insights into how this evolution specifically relates to the study of Catholic community online. Finally, a theoretical analysis is given, assessing current research on religious communities within Digital Religion studies, and approaches for future research are proposed. %B Church, Communication & Culture %V 1 %P 73-89 %G eng %U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23753234.2016.1181301 %N 1 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of the American Academy of Religion %D 2012 %T Understanding the relationship between religious practice online and offline in a networked society %A Heidi Campbell %K network %K offline %K Online %K religion %K society %X This article suggests that religious practice online, rather than simply transforming religion, highlights shifts occurring within broader Western culture. The concept of “networked religion” is introduced as a way to encapsulate how religion functions online and suggests that online religion exemplifies several key social and cultural changes at work in religion in general society. Networked religion is defined by five key traits—networked community, storied identities, shifting authority, convergent practice, and a multisite reality—that highlight central research topics and questions explored within the study of religion and the internet. Studying religion on the internet provides insights not only into the common attributes of religious practice online, but helps explain current trends within the practice of religion and even social interactions in networked society. %B Journal of the American Academy of Religion %V 80 %P 64-93 %G English %U http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/content/80/1/64.short %N 1 %0 Journal Article %J Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion %D 2013 %T Close Ties, Intercessory Prayer, and Optimism Among American Adults: Locating God in the Social Support Network %A Markus H. Schafer %K intercession %K offline %K optimism %K Prayer %K religion %K social networks %K social support %K well-being %X Prayer is often an interpersonal phenomenon. It represents not only a form of social support shared between or among people, but also a means of embedding an unobservable actor (God) within a conventionally observable social network. This study considers whether the receipt of intercessory prayer from close network ties is associated with future-oriented well-being. Analyses use social network module data from the Portraits of American Life Study (PALS), a nationally representative study of American adults containing a breadth of information not available in prior studies of networks, prayer, and well-being. Despite experiencing more instances of recent adversity (mental or physical health problem, financial trouble, and unemployment), prayed-for PALS respondents report the highest levels of optimism. Furthermore, the association between network prayer and optimism is robust to inclusion of individual-level indicators of religiosity. Finally, other forms of social support that an individual receives from his or her close ties do not explain the benefits of intercessory prayer. %B Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion %V 52 %G eng %U http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12010/abstract %N 1 %& 35 %0 Book Section %B Cyberculture Now: Social and Communication Behaviour on the Web %D 2013 %T Malaysian Christians Online: Online/Offline Interactions and Integration %A Meng Yoe Tan %K everyday %K helland %K malaysia %K offline %K Online %K religion %X There has been a vibrant discussion in recent years since Christopher Helland’s novel definitions and differentiation of online-religion/religion-online came to the fore of cyber-religious research. Much of the discussion since then has dealt primarily with certain features of particular religious websites, such as its level of user interactivity. My chapter is an attempt to side-step what a ‘religious’ website is or is not, and to locate specific Christian individuals in Malaysia and their online habits within the larger context of what they consider to be their Christian life - be it online/offline. In short, this chapter explores the ways in which online Christianity, in its varied forms, as practiced by its users, play a part in engaging an individual’s faith. Drawing two case studies from my ethnographic fieldwork, this paper constructs and establishes the multiple contexts and environments that shape some Malaysian Christians’ online expressions of their faith, as well as how their current practice of blogging contributes back to their personal spirituality, contexts, and environments. Rather than dwelling on whether a website allows for physical or practical interactivity, this chapter explores the possibility that the Internet is yet another incorporated extension to the already diverse repertoire of Christian expression of spirituality. %B Cyberculture Now: Social and Communication Behaviour on the Web %I Inter-Disciplinary Press %C Oxfordshire %P 115-125 %G eng %1 Anna Maj %& 9