Announcing the Publication of

Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority Online

I am excited to announce the release of my fifth monograph, Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority in Digital Culture.

 

In recent years, I have studied the roles of religious digital creatives (or, RDCs) and what constitutes religious authority. The book examines both the relationship and interplay between religious authority and RDCs. In an interview regarding the release of the book. i became interested in writing this book after noticing how digital media was becoming an “integral part of a lot of religious communities and organizations.” As she describes in the book, this trend requires the use of many volunteers and employees for a variety of digital work. Consequently, the use of religious authority comes into question, which is often a misunderstood and even undefined concept. my goal for this book is to help scholars better understand and define what religious authority is, and by researching a group of religious digital creatives, in particular, to discover “how these people [RDCs], whether they work because they are passionate or for professional reasons, change the public’s idea of religious authority.” Inevitably, these RDCs alter the public’s perceptions of “who has influence, power, and the answers for what a religious group is, stands for, and who they are trying to be in society.”

 

The book offers historical interpretations of religious authority and a framework for understanding it, as well as suggests a more clarified definition. Through in-depth interviews with religious digital creatives, this work offers insight into who they are and what they do by identifying three categories of religious digital creatives: digital creatives, digital strategists, and digital spokespersons. These different roles perform a variety of tasks that inherently hold some level of religious authority.

 

RDCs are an often-understudied group of people whose motives and intentions are not well-understood. By taking a closer look at RDCs and their uses of authority, The goal of this research is to interrogate“if RDCs are challenging religious establishments intentionally or if they are finding themselves as unintentional influencers and authorities.” Social entrepreneurs and media influencers, have gone online to make an influence and create a persona. I wanted to see to what extent this trend was happening in religious communities. It is through these interviews I attempts to discover just this. Ultimately, “Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority in Digital Culture” provides a historical background of religious authority for readers and includes thorough research to better clarify the roles and motives of religious digital creatives. The book is now available to purchase through the publisher’s website: https://www.routledge.com/Digital-Creatives-and-the-Rethinking-of-Religious-Authority/Campbell/p/book/9781138370975, Google Books, and Amazon.