Religious Communication in Digital Culture: A Study on Islamic Memes on Reddit

Internet memes, a form of expression that has come along with digital culture, define content that is usually spread through social media platforms and often contains humour. Memes, which online communities use to express their opinions, thoughts, positive or negative approaches, are a unique commun...

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Main Author: İsmail Kaplan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hakan AYDIN 2024-11-01
Series:Medya ve Din Araştırmaları Dergisi
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Online Access:https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/4111901
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author İsmail Kaplan
author_facet İsmail Kaplan
author_sort İsmail Kaplan
collection DOAJ
description Internet memes, a form of expression that has come along with digital culture, define content that is usually spread through social media platforms and often contains humour. Memes, which online communities use to express their opinions, thoughts, positive or negative approaches, are a unique communication method of internet culture. Memes, especially those containing humor, spread to large masses in a short time and can explain complex issues with a single image. Internet memes offer religious communities a new tool to express their personal and social views on social media. This study analyses memes on religious channels on the Reddit platform. The study examines 166 memes shared in selected communities between 1 January and 15 April 2024 through content analysis and discusses how memes are designed in relation to which topics and how they shape their discourse and religious communication. The findings of the study show that religious memes on social media focus on perspectives, politics, cultural differences, and the transmission of religious knowledge. The study also discusses how memes contribute to the formation of online religious communities. According to this, people’s similar religious experiences are effective in creating a bond between them that transcends distances. The fact that the language of religion has started to include more humor is also among the findings of the study.
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series Medya ve Din Araştırmaları Dergisi
spelling doaj-art-50a8db4325fc471da44230667ae027d02025-08-20T02:32:14ZengHakan AYDINMedya ve Din Araştırmaları Dergisi2636-88112024-11-01Special Issue 1536810.47951/mediad.15256542403Religious Communication in Digital Culture: A Study on Islamic Memes on Redditİsmail Kaplan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2286-5190ANADOLU ÜNİVERSİTESİInternet memes, a form of expression that has come along with digital culture, define content that is usually spread through social media platforms and often contains humour. Memes, which online communities use to express their opinions, thoughts, positive or negative approaches, are a unique communication method of internet culture. Memes, especially those containing humor, spread to large masses in a short time and can explain complex issues with a single image. Internet memes offer religious communities a new tool to express their personal and social views on social media. This study analyses memes on religious channels on the Reddit platform. The study examines 166 memes shared in selected communities between 1 January and 15 April 2024 through content analysis and discusses how memes are designed in relation to which topics and how they shape their discourse and religious communication. The findings of the study show that religious memes on social media focus on perspectives, politics, cultural differences, and the transmission of religious knowledge. The study also discusses how memes contribute to the formation of online religious communities. According to this, people’s similar religious experiences are effective in creating a bond between them that transcends distances. The fact that the language of religion has started to include more humor is also among the findings of the study.https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/4111901digital cultureinternet culturereligious communicationmemesdijital kültüri̇nternet kültürüdini iletişimmemler
spellingShingle İsmail Kaplan
Religious Communication in Digital Culture: A Study on Islamic Memes on Reddit
Medya ve Din Araştırmaları Dergisi
digital culture
internet culture
religious communication
memes
dijital kültür
i̇nternet kültürü
dini iletişim
memler
title Religious Communication in Digital Culture: A Study on Islamic Memes on Reddit
title_full Religious Communication in Digital Culture: A Study on Islamic Memes on Reddit
title_fullStr Religious Communication in Digital Culture: A Study on Islamic Memes on Reddit
title_full_unstemmed Religious Communication in Digital Culture: A Study on Islamic Memes on Reddit
title_short Religious Communication in Digital Culture: A Study on Islamic Memes on Reddit
title_sort religious communication in digital culture a study on islamic memes on reddit
topic digital culture
internet culture
religious communication
memes
dijital kültür
i̇nternet kültürü
dini iletişim
memler
url https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/4111901
work_keys_str_mv AT ismailkaplan religiouscommunicationindigitalcultureastudyonislamicmemesonreddit