Mediatizing the Holy Community—Ultra-Orthodoxy Negotiation and Presentation on Public Social-Media

Abstract

In recent years, media theorists stress macroscopic relations between digital communications and religion, through the framing of mediatization theory. In these discussions, media is conceptualized as a social institution, which influences religious establishments and discourse. Mediatization scholars have emphasized the transmission of meanings and outreach to individuals, and the religious-social shaping of technology. Less attention has been devoted to the mediatization of the religious community and identity. Accordingly, we asked how members of bounded religious communities negotiate and perform their identity via public social media. This study focuses on public performances of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, rhetorically and symbolically expressed in groups operating over WhatsApp, a mobile instant messaging and social media platform. While a systematic study of instant messaging has yet to be conducted on insular-religious communities, this study draws upon an extensive exploration of over 2000 posts and 20 interviews conducted between 2016–2019. The findings uncover how, through mediatization, members work towards reconstructing the holy community online, yet renegotiate enclave boundaries. The findings illuminate a democratizing impact of mediatization as growing masses of ultra-Orthodox participants are given a voice, restructure power relations and modify fundamentalist proclivities towards this-worldly activity, to influence society beyond the enclave’s online and offline boundaries.

Inclusion of Ultra-Orthodox Students in Higher Education: A Case Study about Women Seminary in the Engineering College of Jerusalem

“…For many ultra-orthodox students who received little or no exposure to the outside world, such as external media outlets (TV, radio, etc. ), and are filtered or entirely blocked by their community since childhood to prevent non-conforming behavior, enrolling in college signifies a milestone to adulthood, where they are confronted with debates about their real purpose in life, which has the potential to become a turning point in their faith development [37]. As an illustrative example, it is common practice for people belonging to an ultra-orthodox community to own a kosher phone, a cellular device with limited internet access in order to avoid Bitul Torah-the negligence of Bible study [38].…”

Oppositional Mirror on the Wall: Discursive Practices of Humorous Pashkevilim in Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Community

“…It is possible that the parodic practices found in the current study, which exaggerate the formal characteristics of the genre and mock them, reflect the infiltration of new technologies into the Haredi community. Findings from recent years indicate that while religious leaders' ban of television gained large-scale compliance, restrictions on smartphone and Internet use proved less effective, with a penetration rate of 64% in 2020 (Cahaner and Malach 2021;Mishol-Shauli and Golan 2019). These studies suggest that the Internet offers a new religious and spiritual environment, providing a valuable prism for observation of numerous processes in the networked society (Okun and Nimrod 2017).…”

Shia Clerics, Holy Sites, and the Online Visual Culture of the Revolutionary Youth in Iran

“…The vast and ubiquitous use of social media in all social and cultural spheres have channeled researchers' attention towards the consequences of online media on religious deeds, belief communities, and faith authorities. Within the growing literature on religion, media and culture, the theoretical framework of mediatization, to frame media spaces as agents of religious change (Hjarvard 2008), has gained substantial recognition (Lövheim and Lynch 2011;Couldry and Hepp 2013;Hjarvard 2016;Mishol-Shauli and Golan 2019;Rota and Krüger 2019). Following Latour (2007), however, the way in which processes of mediatization restructures the social is viewed as a field with a variety of potential agents for action (Krotz and Hepp 2011).…”