Memes are a part of everyday life for many young people, including Christians, who are using them to take control of the religious message they want to project. With church attendances dropping, what role do memes play in modern religious life, and how can tech be used to reach the faithful?
Dr. Bex Lewis is a senior lecturer in digital marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. She has a particular interest in the intersection between digital culture and faith organisations, and has worked to help the Church to engage with digital technologies.
Dr. Heidi A. Campbell is a professor of communication, affiliate faculty in religious studies, and Presidential Impact Fellow at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on how religion is affected and transformed by digital culture, with an emphasis on Jewish, Muslim, and Christian media negotiation. She directs the Network for New Media, Religion & Digital Culture Studies, is co-editor of Routledge’s Religion & Digital Culture book series, and president of the International Society of Media Religion and Culture. She is the author of over 100 articles and 12 books, including When Religion Meets New Media, Digital Religion, and Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority.
Gavin Feller is an assistant professor of media studies at Southern Utah University. His research interests include the social and cultural implications of communication technology for institutional authority. He has been published in the Journal of Media and Religion, the Journal of Communication Inquiry, and Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal.
Mansoor Iqbal is a writer with a background in consumer and education journalism. He is fascinated by the way brands convey their personalities and the relationships we have with them. When not writing, he can be found doodling, baking or playing the bass guitar (badly).