God’s Influencers: How Social Media Users Shape Religion and Pious Self-Fashioning

Abstract Drawing on the contributions presented in the special issue “God’s Influencers: How Social Media Users Shape Religion and Pious Self-Fashioning”, this introduction explores resonances and dissonances between the six articles: First, I reconsider the online/offline connection in relation to the religious actors examined. Then, I articulate a post techno-utopian vision of religion online, identifying digital media as a social space where inequalities, prejudices and power structures offline can be both reinforced and challenged. Third, I shed light on the subjective turn in the way online religious actors understand and impart “authenticity”, a heatedly debated concept in the context of both religion and social media. Fourth, I present some of the communicative strategies that the religious social media users examined in this special issue employ. And, finally, I conclude by sketching future research directions in the study of how social media users shape religion and pious self-fashioning.