The Facebook Obsession: When Logging in becomes Ritual

When considering the definition of "ritual", I think of those habitual actions done consistently throughout our daily lives to fulfill personal as well as interpersonal goals. With the advent of the internet, Facebook, the increasingly popular social networking site has become an intricate part of people's daily lives. I will venture to say that it has even become a ritual for a large portion of the world. For example, some people check Facebook first thing in the morning, making it a ritual for them to "connect" with the outside world via the internet in order to fully orient themselves into a world where being present online is almost mandatory in order to be "in the loop". Facebook is the new way to stay connected to friends, family, and acquaintances. You can see and talk to your friends (via Facebook chat) without having to leave the comfort of your own home. Now that socializing has become more convenient, is there any need to socialize offline? There are people on Facebook that I talk to consistently, but never actually see. Facebook has created a larger online community, while significantly reducing the need for a consistent offline community. Has the convenience of performing rituals online (e.g. Facebook) changed the way we interact with one another permanently?

The World Wide Facebook Obsession
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJXOavGwAW8

Religion and Digital Culture Q&A

Although there were a number of interesting remarks made by the three guest speakers (Chris, Nabil, and Pauline), the main issues addressed where the idea of digital religion and where the future lies for both religious institutions and well as their individual constituents. It is fair to say that all the guest speakers were cautious when defining “digital religion”. Chris stated that religion in itself is hard to define, and those who study religion know this best. Religion is different for many people. For example, one might say that they come from a religious family. Does this mean that they heritage follows one religion, or simply that their family attends church regularly? And so, the word religion truly complicates the definition of digital religion. Chris also said that since the word digital encompasses so many forms of media, the easiest way to define digital is to describe it as a computer-mediated communication. Nabil also wanted to emphasize that this idea of “digital religion”, is only a new form of ancient practice. Although the medium itself is novel, the practices behind it are not. Pauline touched on the subject of religion 2.0 (as well as religion 3.0), that enables religion to be highly accessible through use of new mediums, such as the internet. From her perspective, she was more closely interested in the social and technical affordances that a “digital religion” would cause. She added that although it provides the means for new social opportunities, it would also present challenges for parties involved.

My Take on Digital Religion

For most of my life, going to church on Sundays was a mandatory thing. My parents would explain (after much struggle) that being there physically was something that united me with other believers. With the innovation of televised sermons, and the more current online religious communities, does that principle still stand?

Is watching a televised sermon, or attending an online service the equivalent to physically being there?