Farewell to the Virtual: Social Media and Transforming Religiosity

With social media, the world is no longer the old world. The doors of a life we ​​have never experienced before are being opened. Today, the internet and social media environments are far beyond being fake, secondary and "virtual"; an indispensable reality of our daily life. If we don't have it. That's why it's time to say "goodbye to you". All the cultural, technological and economic processes experienced prove this.
This book is a digital sociology of religion research that tries to reveal the photograph of religiosity transformed with social media practices around many contexts such as surveillance, consumption, privacy, halal romance, fiqh binding of shares and religious authority. In this respect, it is the first and largest sociological investigation that examines the social media practices of conservative/religious circles and leading religious groups in Turkey, starting from the field. Moreover, it invites digital environments to rethink and question.
We live in a world where our individual and social identities are increasingly mediatized through social media. Of course, these identities also include our religious identities. Dereli's meticulous work promises to break new ground in understanding religiosity that has become visible with “non-virtual” digital environments.
Prof. Omid Safi / Duke University

In these days when the winds of biotechnology and artificial intelligence are blowing and the transformation of human characteristics is mentioned, this book, which tries to make room for "human" again, reminds us once again how important it is to hold on to identities.
Prof. Dr. Mete Camdereli / Istanbul Commerce University

Although it is difficult to say that academic studies on the relationship between social media and religiosity are sufficient in our country, the indicators point out that the subject will be one of the new academic research areas. Dereli's fieldwork demonstrates convincingly that researchers in the sociology of religion no longer have the luxury of neglecting the digital environment.
Prof. Dr. Kemal Ataman / Marmara University