ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study which examines the use of a single new media platform the Roman Catholic new media platform Busted Halo especially in its early days. Theological consideration of new media focuses on the individualistic nature of its use, even suggesting that new media use promotes a solipsistic, churchless Christianity. Christian new media necessarily involve concrete communities and networks of faith. Some Catholic feminist theologians have described sacra mentality as part of the very theological grammar of Catholicism, that is, the embedded ways in which Catholics should and do construct our faith tradition. Any responsible theological exploration of the practice of using new media requires placing that practice in its proper social and ecclesial context. Little in contemporary Roman Catholic ecclesiology helps to orient one to the place of new media like Busted Halo in the contemporary church. Finally, the new media boom with its focus on branded platforms, interlocking media, social networking, podcasting, and Internet video.
