@article {1182,
	title = {Virtual togetherness: an everyday-life perspective},
	journal = {Media, Culture \& Society},
	volume = {25},
	year = {2003},
	chapter = {291},
	abstract = {The objective of this article is to explore some dimensions of the concept
of virtual community, which relates to empowering possibilities in the
appropriation of the Internet by domestic users. I contend that users{\textquoteright}
participation in what have been called {\textquoteleft}virtual communities{\textquoteright} (Rheingold,
1993) over the Internet constitutes a cultural trend of {\textquoteleft}immobile socialization{\textquoteright}, or in other words, socialization of private experience through the
invention of new forms of intersubjectivity and social organization online.},
	keywords = {Contemporary Religious Community, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, Religion and the Internet, religious engagement, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation},
	url = {http://learningspaces.org/irm/Bakardjieva_Togetherness.pdf},
	author = {Maria Bakardjieva}
}
@article {1191,
	title = {Religion and the Internet: A microcosm for studying Internet trends and implications},
	journal = {new media \& society},
	volume = {15},
	year = {2012},
	chapter = {680},
	abstract = {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{\textendash}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{\textquoteright} contribution in a wide range 
of contexts in our contemporary social world.},
	keywords = {Authority, community, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, identity, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, offline, Online, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, Ritual, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}Internet Studies{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}networked society{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious practice online{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://nms.sagepub.com/content/15/5/680.abstract},
	author = {Heidi A Campbell}
}
@article {1188,
	title = {The Use of Internet Communication by Catholic Congregations: A Quantitative Study},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {6},
	year = {2007},
	pages = {291-309},
	abstract = {This article presents a first attempt to measure the use of the internet by all 5,812 Catholic religious congregations and autonomous institutes worldwide (with 858,988 members). The research was conducted through a questionnaire sent by e-mail, hence first selecting those institutions which at least have an access to internet communication through an e-mail account (2,285: 39.3\% of the total), receiving 437 responses (19.1\% of the e-mail owners). The study shows great differences between centralized institutes and autonomous ones: the former ones make a higher use of the Internet than the latter ones; moreover, differences are also found among centralized institutes, namely between male and female ones. Two explanatory elements have been found, both depending on the own mission (charisma) of institutes: (1) first, the different approach to the external world: the institutes more devoted to contemplation and less active in the outside world make limited and basic use of the Internet, if any; (2) second, institutes whose aim is to assist poor and sick persons tend to use the internet less than the others, due to their different prioritization of resources.},
	keywords = {Catholic, Catholic religious congregations, Computer, congregations, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, email, internet, internet communication through an e-mail account, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348420701626797$\#$.Uinxtsasim5},
	author = {Cantoni, L and Zyga, S}
}
@inbook {2097,
	title = {Online Communication of the Catholic World Youth Days},
	booktitle = {Reflecting on Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage},
	year = {2012},
	pages = {130{\textendash}144},
	publisher = {ATLAS},
	organization = {ATLAS},
	address = {Arnhem},
	abstract = {This paper aims to explore the ways in which religious tourism in India fosters religious tolerance. Design/methodology/approach {\textendash} The paper uses a conceptual apparatus derived from the basic structure of religious tourism comprising motivation, journey and destination, to understand various aspects of tolerance. Tolerance, with the implicit meaning of diversity and pluralism, is examined at two levels {\textendash} intra-religion and inter-religion {\textendash} using field investigations from three Hindu pilgrimage sites, namely, Vrindavan, Tuljapur, Shegaon and review of one Muslim site called Ajmer Sharif. These sites exhibit a range of combinations, sectarian traditions within Hindu and their interactions with others, including Muslims and foreigners. Findings {\textendash} Each of the sites provides different sets of opportunities for the {\textquotedblleft}others{\textquotedblright} to get exposed to religious and cultural aspects. It is found that tolerance within the Hindu sects and with non-Hindus from other religious faiths is a function of their engagement with cultural performances and participation in the religious tourism economy in a pilgrimage site. Originality/value {\textendash} On a broader level, this paper argues that conceptualising tolerance within a social and cultural sphere helps in a better understanding of tolerance and identifying areas within religious tourism where it can be promoted. A conscious effort to promote tolerance through religious tourism will add value to religious tourism and help it thrive. 
},
	keywords = {Catholic, online communication, Youth},
	issn = { 978-90-75775-53-2},
	url = {http://www.atlas-webshop.org/Reflecting-on-Religious-Tourism-and-Pilgrimage},
	author = {Cantoni, L and Stefania, M and De Ascanis, S}
}
@article {1245,
	title = {Virtual Ritual, Real Faith : the Revirtualization of Religious Ritual in Cyberspace},
	journal = {Online {\textendash} Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet},
	volume = {02.1},
	year = {2006},
	chapter = {73},
	abstract = {Cheryl Anne Casey deals with Practicing Faith in Cyberspace: Conceptions and Functions of Religious Rituals on the Internet. She examines the emerging phenomenon of online religious rituals and their functions for participants in order to illuminate the relationship between changing technologies of communication and our changing conceptions of religion. Her case study considers an online Episcopalian church service within the framework of ritual theory.
Keys to the analysis are the particular design chosen for the service (given the multifarious forms which rituals can take in cyberspace) and the relationship between choice of design and the tenets of the particular faith group. The objective of this study is to shed light on the relationship between conceptions of religion, religious experience, and changing media environments by examining online rituals and the meanings and functions these rituals hold for those who access them},
	keywords = {Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, Episcopalian church, internet, media environments, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, religious experience, RELIGIOUS RITUAL},
	url = {http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/religions/article/view/377/353},
	author = {Cheryl Anne Casey}
}
@article {1186,
	title = {Digital Gravescapes: Digital Memorializing on Facebook},
	journal = {The Information Society: An International Journal},
	volume = {29},
	year = {2013},
	chapter = {184},
	abstract = {I conduct a textual analysis of a digital memorial to understand the ways in which the digital sphere has disrupted or altered material and aesthetic displays of death and the associated genre of discourses surrounding death. I first use Morris{\textquoteright}s history of traditional gravescapes to situate digital memorials within their broader historical context. I then draw on the functional genre of eulogies, in particular Jamieson and Campbell{\textquoteright}s systematic description of eulogies, as a textual analytic to understand Facebook{\textquoteright}s unique memorializing discourse. My analysis suggests that the affordances of the Internet allow for a peculiar dynamic wherein the bereaved engage in communication with the deceased instead of with each other and yet strengthen the communal experience, as their personal communications are visible to the entire community. While the digital memorials lack the permanence of traditional gravescapes, the ongoing conversation they foster sublimates death into the process of communication.},
	keywords = {Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, Death, digital media, digital memorials, discourse, eulogy, Facebook, gravescapes, memorializing, memorializing discourse, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, Religion and the Internet, religious engagement, rhetoric, social media, Sociology of religion, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01972243.2013.777309$\#$.UikZdDasim7},
	author = {Scott Church}
}
@article {1189,
	title = {The Divine Online: Civic Organizing, Identity Building, and Internet Fluency Among Different Religious Groups},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2011},
	chapter = {73},
	abstract = {The number of religious congregations with Web sites nearly tripled from 1998{\textendash}2006, and each year another 10,000 congregations launch a Web site (Chaves \& Anderson, 2008). Couple this with the fact that 79\% of attendees are now in a congregation with a Web site. Scholars of media and religion know very little, however, about the content of these Web sites or what they tell us about the culture of different religious groups. The aim of this article, therefore, is to examine how congregations are constructing Web sites to advertise their identity, organize their followers to get involved in civic and political issues, and provide an interactive space for online participation in actual ministries. Extensive qualitative data were gathered from 600 individual congregation Web sites from nine denominations in 53 different cities across the United States. The results of the descriptive analysis of these data suggest that there is a strong correlation between the {\textquotedblleft}off-line{\textquotedblright} characteristics of a particular congregation and the {\textquotedblleft}on-line{\textquotedblright} characteristics of the same congregation. Evangelical congregations tend to have more complex, attractive, and interactive Web sites and fall into the {\textquotedblleft}online religion{\textquotedblright} camp. Liberal-Protestant and Catholic congregations tend to create static {\textquotedblleft}brochure{\textquotedblright} style Web sites that emphasize their denominational identity and thus fall into Hadden and Cowan{\textquoteright}s (2000) {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright} camp. This study expands our theoretical knowledge about the proliferation of media into, and out of, religious congregations, and offers a broader understanding about how institutions negotiate their online identity in the digital age.
[Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher{\textquoteright}s online edition of the Journal of Media and Religion for the following free supplemental resource: Appendix II: Web Site Screen Shots.]},
	keywords = {Catholic, Catholic congregations, Catholics, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Mass media, media and religion, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, religious media research, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348423.2011.572438$\#$.Uin0bMasim4},
	author = {Justin Farrell}
}
@article {1198,
	title = {Mediated Martyrs of the Arab Spring: New Media, Civil Religion, and Narrative in Tunisia and Egypt},
	journal = {Journal of Communication},
	volume = {63},
	year = {2013},
	chapter = {312},
	abstract = {This article analyzes the emergence of nationalist martyr narratives and their dissemination via new media as forces for social mobilization and political change. Situating them in the religio-historical contexts of North Africa, we trace martyr narratives in Tunisia and Egypt back to pre-Islamic periods and compare them to the contemporary stories of Mohamed Bouazizi and Khaled Saeed. This reveals the impact of new media on the region, evident in {\textquotedblleft}virtual reliquaries,{\textquotedblright} and the role that martyr narratives play as catalysts in social mobilization. The trajectory of the martyr narrative from the traditional religious context to the state-driven concept of civil religion allows for the political dimension of narratives resident within the religious context to surface in the contemporary discursive moment.},
	keywords = {Arab Spring, Civil Religion, Contemporary Religious Community, Mediated Martyrs, Narrative, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication},
	doi = {10.1111/jcom.12017},
	url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcom.12017/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=\&userIsAuthenticated=false},
	author = {Jeffry R. Halverson and Scott W. Ruston and Angela Trethewey}
}
@article {1187,
	title = {The Relationship Between Religiosity and Internet Use},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {2},
	year = {2003},
	chapter = {129},
	abstract = {With the solidifying of the Internet as an influential form of mediated communication has come a surge of activity among media scholars looking into what leads individuals to use this emerging technology. This study focuses on religiosity as a potential predictor of Internet activity, and uses a combination of secularization theory and uses and gratifications theory as a foundation from which to posit a negative relation between these 2 variables. Religiosity is found to retain a significant negative relation with Internet use at the zero order, and remains a robust negative predictor of the criterion variable even after accounting for a host of demographic, contextual, and situational variables. Ramifications for these findings are discussed and an outline for future research building on our analyses is provided.},
	keywords = {Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, secularization theory, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, uses and gratifications, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S15328415JMR0203_01$\#$.UikaxDasim5},
	author = {Greg G. Armfield \& R. Lance Holbert}
}
@article {1224,
	title = {Authority in the Virtual Sangat : Sikhism, Ritual and Identity in the Twenty-First Century},
	journal = {Online {\textendash} Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet},
	volume = {02.1},
	year = {2006},
	chapter = {24},
	abstract = {In her paper Authority in the Virtual Sangat. Sikhism, Ritual and Identity in the Twenty-First Century, Doris Jakobsh analyses the change of authority based on her research on Sikhs on the Internet. She stresses the Web as a {\textquoteleft}third place{\textquoteright} of communication among the Sikhs as well as the phenomenon of new authorities online. However, this does not imply the replacement of the traditional seats of authority, the Akal Takht, SGPC, or gurdwara managements, but one can recognize a significant shift away from these traditional sites of authority toward the {\textquoteleft}new authorities{\textquoteright}, the intermediaries of cyberspace. Her analysis shows that this aspect of the Sikh experience brings with it the most profound challenges and, most importantly, a need to bridge the post-modern individual, i.e. {\textquoteleft}Sikh tradition{\textquoteright} intertwined and legitimated by the metanarrative, and the proliferation of new authorities who have become intermediaries of Sikhism online by virtue of their expertise within the digital domain.},
	keywords = {Akal Takht, Authority, Digital Religion, identity, online communication, Ritual, Sangat, Sikhism, Sociology of religion, third place},
	url = {http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/religions/article/view/374},
	author = {Jakobsh, Doris R}
}
@article {1192,
	title = {Media, religion and the marketplace in the information  economy: evidence from Singapore},
	journal = {Environment and Planning},
	volume = {44},
	year = {2012},
	chapter = {1969},
	abstract = {In this paper we suggest that the exchange of communication in a mediatized 
environment is transforming the nature of transactions in the religious marketplace. 
In~this economy of religious informational exchanges, digitalization facilitates a process of 
mediatization that converts religious performance into forms suitable for commodifi cation 
and commoditization. The intersection of digital media, religion, and the marketplace is 
demonstrated in the context of mega Protestant and Buddhist organizations in Singapore. 
We show how these large organizations embed media relations in their sacred spaces 
through a process of hybridization. In turn, hybrid spaces are converted into material 
outputs that may be readily transacted in real and virtual spaces. Hybridization attends to 
a postmodern audience and consumers who value experience and sensorial stimulations. 
It integrates retail, entertainment, and the aesthetics into a space of ascetic performance 
that is digitally transportable. Digital transactional spaces thrive on the abundance of 
information, and information multiplies when communication is unfettered by the absence 
of proprietary safeguards. The religious marketplace may therefore be understood as a 
medially driven performance space where points of interaction are digitally},
	keywords = {Buddhism, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, digital media, hybridization, information economy, internet, Mass media, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, Protestantism, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, Singapore, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}Internet Studies{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}networked society{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious practice online{\textquotedblright}},
	doi = {10.1068/a44272},
	url = {http://paulinehopecheong.com/media/8eb82a57db78bb75ffff839dffffe41e.pdf},
	author = {Jessie Poon and Shirlena Huang and Pauline Hope Cheong}
}
@article {1243,
	title = {Ethnic Revival, and the Reappearance of Indigenous Religions in the ROC : the Use of the Internet in the Construction of Taiwanese Identities},
	journal = {Online {\textendash} Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet},
	volume = {02.1},
	year = {2006},
	chapter = {41},
	abstract = {Michael Rudolph{\textquoteright}s article Nativism, Ethnic Revival, and the Reappearance of Indigenous Religions in the ROC: The Use of the Internet in the Construction of Taiwanese Identities deals with rituals presented on Taiwanese Websites in the context of identity construction. Since the mid-nineties, long abandoned and very un-Chinese ritual practices suddenly seemed to become popular again in China{\textquoteright}s runaway-province Taiwan: in spite of the fact that most of the island{\textquoteright}s 2\% of indigenous population had been Christianized for half a century, intellectual elites of different aboriginal groups now referred to ancestor-gods, tattooing and even headhunting again as essential parts of their own traditional repertoire, often making abundant use of the Internet in order to propagate these convictions to a broader Chinese speaking public. This contribution not only scrutinises the political context that made such a development possible, but also assesses this practice in terms of the identity construction of the specific ethnic groups.},
	keywords = {aboriginal groups, Digital Religion, Ethnic, identity, Indigenous Religions, internet, online communication, religion online, Ritual, Taiwan},
	url = {http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/religions/article/view/375/351},
	author = {Michael Rudolph}
}
@article {1190,
	title = {A Study of Church/Ministry Internet Usage},
	journal = {Journal of Ministry Marketing \& Management},
	volume = {7},
	year = {2002},
	chapter = {23},
	abstract = {This manuscript reports the results of a national survey of Internet use by churches and ministries. The mail survey to a random sample of 500 churches and ministries sought to determine the proportion of churches/ministries with Internet access, how the Internet was being used by their organization, and organizational characteristics. A total of 448 questionnaires were delivered and 113 were returned resulting in a response rate of 25.2\%.

About 93 percent of the respondents surveyed reported using a computer. Of that 93 percent, about 70 percent reported they had Internet access. When asked about how the Internet has helped their church, respondents reported communications with others as the most important benefit, followed by staying better informed on products and services, and as a research tool for sermons and Bible studies.

Among respondent churches who had Internet access, about 37 percent had a webpage. Of those who did not have a webpage, 58 percent plan on having one within a year. The most common ways churches use their website were found to be (1) describing features of the church such as service times or scheduled events, (2) creating a way to communicate with others about the church, (3) providing a way for people to contact the church by e-mail, and (4) image creation.

Respondents cited several benefits of having a website: (1) improved communication, (2) increased member knowledge about church programs and (3) increased attendance at church services or activities.},
	keywords = {Church, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Internet access, Internet use by churches and ministries, Mass media, national survey, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online activities, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, religious organizations, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}digital religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media and religion{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J093v07n01_03$\#$.Uin3-Masim5},
	author = {Robert E. Stevens and Paul Dunn and David L. Loudon and Henry S. Cole}
}
