Faith Tweets: Building Sacred Communities

This week I read ‘Faith Tweets: Ambient Religious Communication and Micro blogging Rituals’ by Pauline Hope Cheong. Cheong discusses the increasing use of interactive communication devices such as blogging and micro blogs like tweets to communicate religious ideas. The act of tweeting enhances religious interactions and builds stronger religious communities (2010: p.1).

 Faith tweeting has been found to enhance religious practice through a sense of connected religious presence. A religious community is created through the use of faith blogging, which in turn creates a sense of commonality between religious parishioners. Faith tweeting also creates a religious community outside the walls of the church strengthening bonds amongst religious parishioners. Cheong argues that some Christian groups are very aware of the power of tweeting for creating a closer religious community and use it for this purpose (2010: p.2).

Furthermore faith tweeting is another way to incorporate religious scriptures into the religious believers everyday life (2010: p.2).  They bring a sense of the sacred to everyday activities. Faith tweeting can be anything from religious scriptures, to prayers to inspirational quotes.  Cheong argues that faith tweeting has helped to

“Build a portable church where fellow believers can connect” (2010: p.3).

Importantly the religious practice of faith tweeting any time anyplace helps to reconnect believers to the sacred in the everyday (2010: p.4).

Many encourage Faith tweeting; religious leader Cardinal Brady head of the Irish Catholic Church encourages churchgoers to use twitter

“To spread the gift of prayer” (2010:  p.2).

Indeed many pastors are being encouraged to adopt the practice of faith tweeting to become more accessible and build stronger communities (2010: p.3). Faith tweeting has also allowed deeper understanding of religious members wants and needs and pastors have been able to respond to this consequently building closer communities (2010: p.3).

Cheong argues that the strength of faith tweeting is that it encourages a sense of connected community anytime or anyplace. Faith tweeting Cheong argues is a

“Communication strategy to maintain relational connectedness beyond the boundaries of established institutional practices” (2010: p.2).

That faith tweeting is a ritual that creates a sense of the sacred and develops spirituality and stronger communities (2010: p.3). Indeed Cheong asserts that

“Twitter functions as the context for contemporary, mediated ritual practices to help believers construct a connected presence and affirm their religious identities” (2010:p.3).

References:

Cheong, P. 2010. Faith Tweets: ambient Religious Communication and Microblogging Rituals. M/C Journal, Vol.13, No.2. pp.1-7.

Wkki Commons Images:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twitschervogel01_derived_from_twitter-t.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faith_chalice.jpg