[Air-L] religious uses of social media

[Laura Busch]

Hi Charles,

I have come across a number of Buddhist uses of social media that fit within the contemplative/monastic traditions.
Probably the most famous is the work at Zen Mountain Monastery, which hosts its own communications center: http://www.dharma.net/. They have an online radio station, store, and working on a "cybermonastery" where, last I heard, they would put up teachings and have a question and answer service.

There is a Buddhist monk on Twitter who sends out daily messages: http://twitter.com/buddhistmonk
You can also find a list of other Buddhist twitter users here: http://lodenjinpa.com/buddhists-on-twitter/

I have also observed monastics on Web forums discussing guided meditation practices with other forum members via chat using texts and images from the Web (there are a great deal of Buddhist texts online in multiple languages) to guide the practice.

Hope that helps!
-Laura Busch


**************************
Laura Busch
PhD Candidate
Department of Communication
University of Washington
lbusch at u.washington.edu
http://staff.washington.edu/lbusch 


--------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 06:22:16 -0500
From: Charles Ess <charles.ess at gmail.com>
Reply-To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
To: "air-l at listserv.aoir.org" <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
Subject: [Air-L] religious uses of social media?

Dear AoIR-ists,

On behalf of a colleague who is seeking to help a monastic community - I'm
trying to develop an inventory of (possible/actual) uses of social media
such as SNS's, Twitter, etc. that either
(a) fit within - rather than disrupt or distort - the disciplines and
practices defining / constituting monastic life and contemplation, and/or
(b) might foster one or more of those practices, e.g. _lectio divina_ and
other forms of guided/disciplined contemplation of sacred texts, community
prayer, etc.

I have some interesting examples from my previous (very modest) work in
these domains - but all of which emerged prior to the explosion of social
media such as SNS's, Twitter, etc.

So ... any suggestions for more contemporary examples, resources, contacts,
etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance,
- charles ess

President, Association of Internet Researchers
Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies
Drury University, Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA

Professor MSO (med særlige opgaver),
Department of Information and Media Studies
Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Co-editor, International Journal of Internet Research Ethics
<http://ijire.net/>
Co-chair, CATaC conferences <www.catacconference.org>

Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23


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