Mediating Relationships: Social Media, Lay Catholics, and Church Hierarchy

This study represents one of the first forays into how the Catholic Church is using social media for organizational purposes. Through the lens of Jenkins's (2006) theory of convergence culture, Fisher's (1985; 1999) narrative paradigm, the public relations strategies surrounding relationship maintenance (Ledingham and Bruning, 1998), and Turner's (1969) liminality, this study examined how lay Catholics and members of Church hierarchy within the Diocese of Browntown use social media space for religious dialogue and for connecting with one another. The findings suggest that there is desire for connectivity among lay Catholics and parish priests and that social media space does provide a great avenue to foster these connections, but the connections are very slow to be made at this time.;In light of the Social Age (Azua, 2010), religious institutions, and most notably the Catholic Church, have been making efforts to use social media to harness the faith of their flock. This study found that lay Catholics and priests surveyed in the Diocese of Browntown do report that social media spaces can provide a platform for religious expression and growth. However, few participants reported actually engaging with one another and having relationships in these spaces: While some lay Catholics and some priests report that they engage with one another in social media space, they are the minority. This results in the Church, at least in the Diocese of Browntown, finding Herself in a liminal space. However, this may not be as bad as it seems: As Turner (1969) suggests, structural and social bonds are tightened within liminal spaces, which means that on the whole, those who engage in these spaces are likely experiencing several dimensions of relationship maintenance that Ledingham and Bruning (1998) outline as positive public relations practices, including increased investment, trust, interdependence/power imbalance, shared technology, structural bonds, and social bonds. For the Church to be on board with this kind connectivity between Her own priests and parishioners is the first step that can be taken toward interreligious and ecumenical discussions which are a necessary component to the rapidly changing religiocultural landscape of the world today.