Online religion and social media - The Church of Facebook

The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community by Jesse Rice, David C. Cook; (2009)


Strength:

Overall it is very well researched and offers good insights that show whats-up in terms of the emotional and spiritual dynamics of Facebook (albeit, limited to Christian perspectives):

CPA - Continuous Partial Attention - This is the impulse to constantly check Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. It's motivated by the desire to not miss anything. It creates an artificial sense of crisis. It can cause a person to become over stimulated and unable to focus on what's right in front of him. (P 102)


"In affect the hyperconnection of Facebook changes the nature of our relationships by turning our friends into audiences and us into performances... Our actions are often based on what we think our invisible entourage might like best." (P 112)

People can become dependent on Facebook for their identity, self-worth, and decision making. (P 145, paraphrase)

"[Genuine] community is less about `best-friendship' and more about intentional engagement with the people in our lives... maybe it's not the increasingly online nature of our relationships that is affecting our relationships most. Perhaps it is our `relational consumerism' that needs changing." (P 172 & 173)

"Life can all to often feel like little more than a knee-jerk reaction to urgent emails, phone calls, meetings, and decisions." (P 190) -- extracts courtesy: Paul Steinbrueck "LiveIntentionally.org" (Safety Harbor, FL)

It shows the how Facebook is also allowing the open society to turn closer to God (this book is not about evils of Facebook)

Weakness:

Misleading title: For those who want to see the vertical religious resources (such as, Online Access to God, Online Temple, they have to go elsewhere); See my book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives and then go to the cited links for an online Temple, For a Online Ritual),

The book is simply about communitas (borrowing a title of scholarly book on online religion); but here communitas is just about the horizontal connection between the people (not necessarily faithful; and not necessarily congregational get-to-gether-ness)

On the same shelf:

The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition]

When Religion Meets New Media

Social Media and Religion @ Facebook

Pope Blesses Social Networking

Thy Kingdom Connected: What the Church Can Learn from Facebook, the Internet, and Other Networks (mersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith)
Dwight J. Friesen

GOD's FACE IN FACEBOOK - A Fascinating True Encounter, Joseph Rubbens

Who's In Your Orbit?: Beyond Facebook Creating Relationships That Matter, Mike Muhney

Vatican bans confession by iPhone / Vatican bans iPhone 'God app'