Digital power: exploring the effects of social media on children’s spirituality

Abstract

Digital culture is a prominent factor in the formation of children’s identity and relational experiences, with high percentages of children in many countries participating in gaming and social networking activities. Yet little scholarly work has addressed the ways in which various patterns of engagement in digital culture call into question current assumptions about childhood identity formation and relationality and the repercussions of formational and relational shifts on children’s spirituality. This essay explores ways in which digital culture functions as a spiritually enriching force in children’s lives, paying particular attention to the potential value of social networking for children’s spiritual well-being and the ways in which the internet’s positive aspects may mask other, more corrosive, elements.

Keywords:

• spirituality
• digital culture
• social media
• children
• relational identity

Notes

1. There are significant cultural differences in defining the age ranges signified by the terms ‘children’ and ‘youth’, and studies of young people’s participation in digital culture use widely divergent age groupings. Therefore, this article uses ‘children’, ‘youth’ and ‘young people’ as interchangeable terms referring persons under the age of 20, in keeping with the international range of the various studies examined.