Considering the religious-social shaping of technology

Abstract

The following text is a chapter from the book When Religion Meets New Media. The aim of the book is to develop a systematic exploration of how religious communities engage with a variety of new media technologies. This chapter provides a background to the guiding methodology of the book - the "religious social shaping of technology" approach. It is argued that previous studies of religious communities' relationship to new forms of media have often seen media as a "conduit," as a neutral tool, or as a "mode of knowing", suggesting media is all powerful and laden with a specific worldview that works independently of the moral and spiritual life of the community. These approaches often do not recognize that religious user communities are active participants negotiating and shaping their technologies in light of their values and desired outcomes. The religious social shaping of technology approach is offered as an alternative, suggesting four distinctive areas that should be explored and questioned in order to fully understand a religious community's relationship towards new forms of media.