Netnography of Construction of ''Banal Religion'' Concept on Instagram (Case Study: Jaafar Ghafoori, Hamidreza Namdari and Sajjad Shahidi pages)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tehran University, Iran

2 PhD Candidate Social Communication Science at the University of Tehran

10.22059/ijar.2024.375735.459866

Abstract

Purpose-With the increasing access to social media, the relationship between religion and media has taken on new and important dimensions. One of these dimensions is the presence of official and unofficial religious figures. In Iran, most Shiites extend their religion through their Instagram activities; clerics, Maddahan, religious celebrities, and religious bloggers, as well as anonymous users who are seeking to construct their religious identity on this platform. This study aims to investigate the activities of these anonymous users based on the concept of "banal religion".
Methodology-Therefore, using the netnography method, a sample of 90 days was examined. To collect data, online participant observation has been used, and to analyze data, thematic analysis has been used.
Finding-Finding are sorted into two parts. The first part is about Components of banal religion construction; this part has two main themes: religious duty feelings and Spectacular Religious actions. A religious subject considers himself obliged to propagate Islam in appropriate situations. One of the main sources of the formation of such a sense of responsibility is the accessibility of social networks (especially Instagram) and their simplicity. In this way, Instagram, which is a two-way and interactive media, has given users the possibility to create content and has become a platform for the expression of their religious duties. Spectacular religious actions are the most important component of the research sample to construct banal religiosity. This form of religiosity has features such as hypocrisy, abnormality, exaggeration, revealing inauthenticity, and imitativeness, which has not represented the religious matter at a common and customary level in society but has represented it in a place that causes surprise and ridicule of the public.
Conclusions-By using such components, they have been able to turn religion into an Instagram genre, which, like other genres of this media, has specific components to be seen, attract attention, and succeed. Furthermore, the method of constructing banal (part two) religion is "technological contradiction" and "false influence". The studied samples consider technology as a tool and sometimes it is associated with the accessibility and progress of these tools to achieve their religious or personal goals, and on the other hand, they do not know how to use it. Instrumentalization of media technologies has been a common approach in the connection between religion and media. The studied samples consider themselves influencers on Instagram; While it does not have most of the influential components of Instagram, including many followers. Therefore, he has a wrong schema of himself and is trying to adjust his media activities accordingly. They imply that they are important characters, But we don't see any evidence or argument about the importance of the subject on Instagram. However, this schema can be found in their representation. In general, the simple study seeks to attract attention and fame on Instagram with regard to religious affairs such as ”Maddahi”, Nazri”, and Pilgrimage

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References

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Iranian Journal of Anthropological Research
Volume 14, Issue 1
Indexing Databases
June 2024
Pages 115-142

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