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We are witnessing the growth of a distinct sub-field focusing on new media and religion as the relationship between the two is not just important, it is vital. I discuss in this article how this vitality is both figurative and literal in multiple dimensions. Mediated communication brings forth and constitutes the (re)production of spiritual realities and collectivities, as well as co-enacts religious authority. In this way, new mediations grounded within older communication practices serve as the lifeblood for the evolving nature of religious authority and forms of spiritual organizing. Further research to identify diverse online and embodied religious communication practices will illuminate a richer understanding of digital religion, especially as a globally distributed phenomenon.

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online.

In light of the recent rise of Chinese nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and the significant roles that they are playing to advance nonprofit and voluntary activities, this article explores the network dynamics of emerging NGOs in China, known as NGO incubators. NGO incubators were birthed to provide services to civil society actors, including capacity-building training, fundraising, information support, and network formation guidance. This study examines the evolution of the organizational network of the largest Chinese NGO incubator over its 6-year formative period and provides fresh empirical evidence to illustrate how NGO incubators can powerfully bridge structural holes and build cross-sectoral alliance networks in a nascent civil society. Theoretical and practical implications for NGO development are discussed.

Terrorism is a mounting global threat for national security, yet the rise of social media facilitates prosumption and the spread of alternative grassroots stories in response to civic militarization and state propaganda. This article discusses the structural and cultural conditions underlying the production and spread of online user-generated content as radical media tactics. By presenting a case study on the escape and man-hunting of a key terrorist in Southeast Asia, the article examines prosumption and transmediation practices whereby official stories of the terrorist escape are appropriated, remediated, and virally disseminated across different social media–blogs, vlogs, and digital games–to help clarify how new media supports critical citizen engagement. The identification of online activities exhibiting middle-ground resistance, including rumors, political parodies, and infotaining play, illustrates counter narrative responses to mainstream media representations. Findings have implications for the management of tensions in wired global insurgency and strategic communication performances.

AbstractThe Internet of Things (IoT) has potential to deliver important benefits for IoT users, society and public good. How do citizens feel about sharing data from personal devices compared with "smart city" data collection in public spaces, with government and nongovernmental organizations, and across different situations? What predicts willingness to share their data with government? Through a nationally representative survey of over 2000 US respondents as well as interviews, we explore the willingness of citizens to share their data in various circumstances, using the contextual integrity framework, the literature on the "publicness" of organizations, and public value creation. Across different contexts, from half to 2/3 of survey respondents were willing to share data from their own IoT devices for public benefits, and 80%−93% supported the use of sensors in public places for a variety of collective purposes. Trust in government was significantly related to data sharing and support for smart city data collection. Yet government in the United States is less trusted with this data than other organizations with public purposes, such as nonprofits. Cultivating trust through transparent and responsible data stewardship will be important for future use of IoT data for public good.

This study investigates the relationship between Taiwanese adolescents' depressive mood and their self-reported online and offline activities. The results indicate that adolescents who reported higher depressive mood were more likely to use the internet to make friends and express feelings compared to those who were lower in depressive mood. Teens higher in depressive mood reported to have fewer individuals in their immediate social network to speak with, either online or offline, when feeling blue. Hierarchical linear regression analysis shows that adolescents higher in depressive mood reported to engage in more online activities in the areas of communication, entertainment and information seeking. Further, a positive relationship between depressive mood and participation in risk behaviors is identified. These findings shed light on earlier studies that focus predominantly on US internet users, suggesting that the role that the internet plays for youths with depressive mood may vary by cultural context.

In recent years, there has been an intense public and policy debate about ethnic diversity, community cohesion, and immigration in Britain and other societies worldwide. In addition, there has been a growing preoccupation with the possible dangers to social cohesion represented by growing immigration flows and ethnic diversity. This paper proposes a critical framework for assessing the links between immigration, social cohesion, and social capital. It argues that the concept of social capital is episodic, socially constructed and value-based, depending on the prevailing ideological climate. Considerations of social capital as a public policy tool to achieve social cohesion need to incorporate an appreciation of alternative conceptions of social capital rooted in a textured under-standing of immigrant processes and migration contexts.

This anthology collects some of the most current research and reflection on the complex interactions between religion and computer-mediated communications (CMC). The contributions cohere around the central question: how will core religious understanding of identity, community and authority shape and be (re)shaped by the communicative possibilities of Web. 2.0? The authors address these questions in three distinct ways: through contemporary empirical research on how diverse traditions across the globe seek to take up the technologies and affordances of contemporary CDC; through investigations that place these contemporary developments in larger historical and theological contexts; and through careful reflection on the theoretical dimensions of research on religion and CMC.--From cover, p. [4]