CathNews New Zealand

Religion has always been one of those domains where people are inherently social.

Just as people discuss the happenings of the day in their local bar or pub, worshippers socialize in their temple of choice, using religious philosophies as a framework for their views.

Prior to the social network bug that recently plagued the entire population, religion was an entity that prided itself on tradition and conventional wisdom. Of all of the other institutions that have jumped aboard the social media train, it would seem unlikely that religion would follow suit. But indeed, that is the case. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and many other faiths have established themselves in the digital world, using Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter as platforms to spread the word of their deities to believers and non-believers alike.

It seems as though most congregations have already developed their own websites and are now cultivating relationships with their following via social networks and mobile phone apps.

I stumbled upon a few that I felt were noteworthy, and frankly, a bit comical. There’s an app on the iPhone called iRosary, where you can pray the rosary on the go. It displays a full set of rosary beads on the screen along with the appropriate prayers.

iBlessing is an app that helps you keep track of the various blessings you need to keep kosher. And there’s also iQuran, which offers users with the complete Quran along with verse by verse translation.

Part of the appeal of blurring the lines between cyberspace and holy space is that it allows worshippers to easily access the necessary components (prayers, blessings, etc.) needed to build a sustainable relationship with God. Relationships are a core theme in religion, and many have picked up on that parallel in relation to social media.

Who’s to say that Jesus wouldn’t have composed a tweet or two to reach out to his followers if he were here today? Religion and social media seem naturally aligned.

Read more of Religion and social media: A growing relationship

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News category: Features.