Social media and pop culture

If Guttenberg's printing press was key to the spread of the Protestant message during the Reformation, for contemporary megachurches, social media has set their message on virtual fire. Rapidly developing technology and high-speed internet has facilitated the exchange of unfathomable volumes of information and global connections across social media platforms. This is no different for religious communities. Megachurches have the resources to capitalize on these virtual tools with savvy marketing teams, sleek social media consultants, and tech competent pastors. For congregants, social media is a powerful means to connect with each other, their church, and their God. Just as social media has become an important everyday part of adherents' religious practice, it is also important in producing and shaping religious popular culture. In this chapter, we argue that how megachurches engage with social media and popular culture illuminates some of the ways that they negotiate religiosity and secularity.