@article {1926, title = {Cheong, P. H. (2014). Tweet the Message? Religious Authority and Social Media Innovation. Journal of Religion, Media \& Digital Culture, 3(3), 2{\textendash}19.}, journal = {Religion, Media, and Digital Culture}, volume = {3}, year = {2014}, pages = {1-19}, abstract = {Religious believers have historically adapted Scripture into brief texts for wider dissemination through relatively inexpensive publications. The emergence of Twitter and other microblogging tools today afford clerics a platform for real time information sharing with its interface for short written texts, which includes providing links to graphics and sound recordings that can be forwarded and responded to by others. This paper discusses emergent practices in tweet authorship which embed and are inspired by sacred Scripture, in order to deepen understanding of the changing nature of sacred texts and of the constitution of religious authority as pastors engage microblogging and social media networks. Drawing upon a Twitter feed by a prominent Christian megachurch leader with global influence, this paper identifies multiple ways in which tweets have been encoded to quote, remix and interpret Scripture, and to serve as choice aphorisms that reflect or are inspired by Scripture. Implications for the changing nature of sacred digital texts and the reconstruction of religious authority are also discussed.}, keywords = {Bible, pastors, religious authority, Singapore, social media, Twitter}, url = {http://jrmdc.com/papers-archive/volume-3-issue-3-december-2014/}, author = {Cheong, Pauline Hope} } @article {150, title = {Technological modernization, the Internet, and religion in Singapore}, journal = {Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication}, year = {2007}, abstract = {This study critically examines the ways in which technological modernization and religion co-exist and mutually reinforce one another within the Singaporean context. Interviews with religious leaders of a diverse set of faiths in Singapore about how they understand the role of information technology in religious practice reveal a broad-based acceptance of the Internet and other information technologies and little sense of a danger to religious faith. Contrary to the proposals of secularization theory, these findings suggest that various religious communities have adopted and in some cases embrace the Internet as part of their contemporary religious mission and strategy for growth. The findings further contribute to historical research on the social construction of technology and lend support to emergent research on the spiritual shaping of Internet technology by religious communities seeking to integrate the Internet into their everyday social and religious practices in wired contexts such as Singapore. }, keywords = {Faith, Singapore, Technologies}, url = {http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/kluver.html}, author = {Kluver, Randy} } @inbook {1296, title = {Christian Evangelizing Across National Boundaries: Technology, Cultural Capital and the Intellectualization of Religio}, booktitle = {Religion and Place}, year = {2013}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, organization = {Springer Netherlands}, chapter = {pp 21-38}, abstract = {Christian evangelical work across national boundaries is often associated with missionary work. In this chapter, I focus on other strategies used in Christian evangelizing, particularly the widespread international dissemination and replication of courses about Christianity for the unconverted using standardized material and approaches. I examine how religious globalization (i.e. the convergence and conformity of religious practice across national boundaries) through such courses takes place, with the aid of technology, the tapping of shared cultural capital and the {\textquotedblleft}intellectualization{\textquotedblright} of religion. I argue that such forms of evangelization work for certain audiences better than for others. Using the case of the Alpha course, an evangelical Christian course originating in London and replicated in different parts of the world, and focusing on its dissemination and effects in Singapore, I demonstrate how the evangelical material works best with a transnational elite audience with a shared cultural and intellectual capital}, keywords = {Alpha course, audience, Christianity, cultural capital, evangelical, intellectual capital, intellectualization, London, religion, Singapore}, doi = {10.1007/978-94-007-4685-5_2}, url = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-4685-5_2}, author = {Lily Kong} } @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} }