Social media as third spaces? Exploring Muslim identity and connection in Tumblr

Abstract

Third spaces have been imagined as sites of resistance, where hegemonic and normative understandings of the world may be challenged. New media are often imagined to have this liberatory potential as well, particularly for those individuals who experience social, cultural, or political marginalization. This research considers whether social media might help facilitate third spaces. It takes as a case for exploring this topic the experience of 188 Muslim bloggers in social networking site Tumblr. Many of these individuals live in non-Muslim majority countries and say they sometimes feel stuck between identities. The qualitative analysis of their blogs, as well as interviews with 30 of the bloggers, seeks to understand how Tumblr can facilitate third spaces where these bloggers can explore the hybrid nature of their identities while connecting to others who share that experience.

“But in the Thunder, I Still Hear Thor”: The Character Athelstan as a Narrative Focal Point in the Series Vikings

“…Moreover, while Hoover and Echchaibi (2014) relate digital religion to places on the Internet, the series shows that digital religion can also take place via other media, such as a television series. When we think of the digital, it is easy to immediately think of places on the Internet such as message boards, as Hoover and Echchaibi (2014) and Pennington (2018) have shown. However, with the advent of websites such as Netflix, this distinction has become less easy to make, as television series have become digital as well and can be and are enjoyed online.…”

“…Therefore, although Pennington (2018) states that digital media offer a place where reflection can take place away from the scrutiny of, for instance, friends and family, this leaves out the portrayals of religion offered up on these media, which can also influence the direction one's reflections might take. Digital media are not neutral sites without meaning-rather, they are filled to the brim with it.…”

Commerce, piety and politics: Indonesian young Muslim women’s groups as religious influencers

“…Media blur the boundaries between Muslims’ political and non-political expressions (Bunt, 2003) and enable a new ‘knowledge and prosetylizing economy’ that fuses old and new resources with multiple frames of references (Bunt, 2009). For young Muslim women, mobile and social media create a sense of new public spaces (Pennington, 2018a, 2018b) and help them navigate their presence in urban settings (Waltorp, 2013). In different parts of the world, social media enable young women to negotiate piety with fashion and reconstruct their identity (Kavakci and Kraeplin, 2017).…”

“…Media blur the boundaries between Muslims' political and non-political expressions (Bunt, 2003) and enable a new 'knowledge and prosetylizing economy' that fuses old and new resources with multiple frames of references (Bunt, 2009). For young Muslim women, mobile and social media create a sense of new public spaces (Pennington, 2018a(Pennington, , 2018b and help them navigate their Figure 4. Ayu, the founder of Ukhti Sally, is seen here with their peers promoting #MuslimVoteMuslim on her Instagram account.…”

A hyper differential counterpublic: Muslim social media users and Islamophobia during the 2016 US presidential election

“…Really.’ I made him comfortable asking questions.” Within that moment, she decided to create a counternarrative to potential negative associations her classmate may hold regarding hearing an Arabic phrase. Online, educating often meant creating content rather than reacting to situations, for instance portraying Muslims as “regular” people as a 20-year-old Bangladeshi woman did on Snapchat and Instagram: “If I post something publicly it’s going to be like our traditional stuff, what Muslims do, prayers and stuff like that, and what everyday life is like for us.” Similarly, Muslim bloggers on Tumblr have described their efforts to authentically display who they are and what it means to be a “good Muslim” to help educate others (Pennington, 2018b). Participants also referenced “pristine” sources and common practices in Islam to check people’s claims online about Islam, as a 20-year-old Lebanese woman with headscarf described about her brother’s Facebook posts: “[He would write] ‘check your sources, buddy.’ Like, ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about’.” In Islam, the concept of striving for a best self and a better world is known as jihad (Streusand, 1997) and includes correcting erroneous views of Islam.…”