Online Religious Identity

Does digital media strengthen or weaken an individuals ability to construct or perform his or her religious identity?

This weeks reading, written by Mia Lovheim, focuses on how social interaction and self-presentation in Internet based communication can shape one's identity or the formation of identity. 

To begin, Lovheim generally defines identity as "the process where an individual develops the capacity to grasp the meaning of situations in everyday life and their own position in relation to them" (p. 2).  In this process, self identity is formed, referring to individual experiences that separate a person, making him or her unique. Social interactions, and even communication online, create avenues for those individuals to announce what position they assume on any given subject.

For example, the online chat forum www.Islam.com, poses many different questions from users and gives others the opportunity to answer according to personal opinion. One question reads, "Should I convert to Islam?" The answers are all unique, which means each person responding states a position they hold as true. Each position, though somehow leading back to foundational Islamic beliefs, is posed differently because of individual experiences in everyday life. 

Through this example and research from other scholars, I conclude that digital media, specifically online chat rooms or forums, strengthen an individuals ability to construct his or her religious identity. The internet is such an integral part of everyday life, and becomes imbedded into our "self-identity." However, some scholars argued that online identity is not authentic, or not as authentic as real life because some people involved are not representing themselves and their beliefs in an honest way. 

In the case of online chat rooms, communication is a form of self expression and a place to voice individual beliefs.  It is also a place to connect with believers across different contexts with different tensions.  As a result, the one who visits and participates in these discussions, is adding to their own knowledge and developing their own position in relation to what others say. This is what Lovheim describes as identity. Thus, digital media can strengthen online religious identity and the construction of the self.