After doing a regular bi-monthly literature review online I have come across a few neew studies and articles on religion and the Internet that look worth checking out.
First in Islam and the Internet, the journal Contemporary Islam has published a piece by Heather Marie Akou has written an article entitled Interpreting Islam through the Internet: making sense of hijab that focuses on how the Internet has emerged as a place where Muslims from diverse backgrounds can meet to debate ideas such as wearing the hijab.
In the study of Buddhism a Recent PhD from University of Queensland-Australia entitled Buddhist Meditation Through the Medium of the Internet investigates extent to which the rituals constitutive of the Buddhist practice of meditation have been achieved by Cybersanghas. Joanne Miller studies online mediation websites to look at the limitation of online religious experiences.
The journal of Asian Social Science has published a study on interface between religiosity and Internet use of Filipino migrants in Japan that creates long-distance ritual practice entitled Religiosity Online: Holy Connections with the Homeland by Filipino Migrants in Japan.
I highly recommend Sanderson & Cheong's study of how fans of deceased celebrities create and disseminate web-based memorials using new social media practices in Expanding Tweeting Prayers and Communicating Grief Over Michael Jackson Online in the journal the Bulletin of Science Technology Society.
And finally, I am looking forward to reading Bobkowski & Kalyanaraman's study on the Effects of Online Christian Self-Disclosure on Impression Formation in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion which looks at the extent to which Christian identity is assumed in social networking profiles by viewers.
Happy Reading!!
