Research project This project explores the interplay between religion and the new digital technologies of our time. Focusing on Swedish free churches, it examines how local congregations make use of social media platforms and how the content they publish is negotiated and produced within these institutions. Particular attention is directed toward the churches’ visual communication and identity formation, as well as the role that digital religious creatives play in these processes.
The purpose of this study is to examine how Swedish free churches use social media and how the content published in these channels is produced. In other words, the study will contribute knowledge about how churches navigate and adapt to an increasingly digitalized society, with a particular focus on new forms of communication strategies.
The increased digitalization of recent decades has radically transformed our society, particularly in terms of how we communicate and interact with one another. This transformation has also affected religious institutions, and today it is common for religious groups to use digital tools and platforms to communicate with members as well as potential members.
The project consists of two parts, the first of which focuses on how the Instagram platform is used. Here, I will investigate what types of posts are published and what strategies are employed to reach and engage members. Furthermore, I will examine the visual representation of the church as a place, a community, and an organization, as well as how employees and members are depicted in images.
In the second sub-study, I will conduct interviews with individuals who create content for social media channels in free churches. Media scholar Heidi Campbell has highlighted how digital religious creatives are becoming increasingly important to religious institutions in today’s digital landscape. She further argues that these individuals have had a significant impact on the internal operations and structures of many religious institutions, and that their expertise in various ways challenges (but can also reinforce) traditional religious authorities. In addition to examining how digital content is negotiated and produced within the churches, I will therefore also investigate the dynamics between digital religious creatives and traditional religious authorities.
