ABSTRACT

The implications of digital media for the formation and presentation of identity have been a significant issue since the beginning of research into social and cultural implications of new media (cf. Kitchin 1998). Religion has been considered a core dimension of individual and collective identity through the transmission of religious narratives, enacting of rituals and framing of individual belief and practice since pre-modern societies (Durkheim 1995). The social and cultural processes shaping modern society, including the increasing mediation of self-representation and social interaction, challenge the traditional role of religion in the formation of identity. Thus, the question of how identity has been conceptualized and studied in research on religion and the Internet highlights crucial issues for understanding how new media technology transforms religion in contemporary society.