Religious identity in the modern digital world

Abstract

The subject of this research is the religious identity of Russian youth in the conditions of modern digital society. The author analyzes the factors of transformation of identification processes, examines the characteristics of religious identity, as well as defines the specificity of religious discourse within the Internet environment. The author believes that the main cause of the changes in religious consciousness and identity becomes rapid digitalization of all spheres of social life. This problematic gains relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic, forced self-isolation and transition towards remote work using the information and communication technologies. The author assumes that religious identity should be viewed from the perspective of its inclusion into a broader phenomenon – cyberidentity. An original definition of cyberidentity is proposed. The key factors of its formation, such as social networks and messengers, computer gamed, Internet memes, etc. are determined. The article leans on the analysis of information from websites of religious organizations, different groups in social networks, messengers and video hosting. The main source form empirical data became the results of large-scale research of dynamics of value orientations of youth of Nizhny Novgorod Region that was carried out from 2006 to 2019. The author concludes that currently it may appear that secular trends are growing, while the interest of youth in religion declines. This is conferment by the data acquired from mass surveying, interviewing, and analyzing the content of social networks. However, secularization processes have contradictory, nonlinear and unpredictable character. Within the Internet space, the dialects of religion and secular not just being retained, but reflected in the categories of digital society. In the digital post-secular society, religious identity becomes a part of the more global identification processes. It sets particular goals for the traditional religions, which are forced to adapt to civilizational challenges.