Using the Internet for ‘Religious Purposes’ Continues to Grow

Sources: Fellowship of European Broadcasters, Quadrant
Internet use for religious purposes is growing. The phrase “Web 2.0” has been coined to describe the more interactive features of the Internet. In his 2005 paper, “The Mediahood of All Receivers,” author Bryan Murley, an assistant journalism professor at Eastern Illinois University, likens the arrival of Web 2.0 with the Protestant theological belief in the priesthood of all believers. As a result, information “no longer needs the intermediary of the press or journalist.” Murley said this contextualizes theology through the language of online communications such as the use of “G-d” [God] or describing a church’s mission statement as its “DNA.” This also means that Web 2.0 religious contacts “form intimate and strong connections with a relatively few people rather than more superficial contact with a large number in local churches,” Murley explained. In addition, “religion online offers a global perspective to religion offline so that the local structure of a denomination seems less relevant,” he said.

The Mediahood of All Receivers: Blogging as an extension of the Reformation concept of the Priesthood of All Believers, Conference on Communication and Faith, Campbell University, Buies Creek, N.C., 2005.