Joys in Online Religious Spaces: A Study of Hong Kong Local and Diasporic Online Christian Communities

Ann Gillian Chu; Rachel Siow Robertson

doi:10.54195/ef26128

Authors

Ann Gillian Chu Chinese University of Hong Kong https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2043-715X
Rachel Siow Robertson Hong Kong Baptist University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1075-9083

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54195/ef26128

Keywords:

Digital Humanities, Digital Ethnography, Hong Kong Studies

Abstract

Joy has been considered at best elusive and at worst inappropriate during difficult times, and simply not representative of the experiences of online religious communities. Nevertheless, joy is also an experience of well-being and a mark of spiritual encounter, which Christians are commanded to live out. We consider how to resolve these issues in the context of Hong Kong online Christian communities, shaped by colonial legacies, migration, and protest movements. We show how these communities create opportunities for joy by working with offline/online and local/diasporic hybridities, shifting away from traditional forms of church organization and practice in ways which support creativity, civic participation, and dynamic discussions of faith and doubt. This, in turn, demonstrates how faith and online interactions intersect in the development of identity and digital activism. We suggest that joy, in diversity and through adversity, is appropriate both as a descriptor and as a recommendation for online religious communities.

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Author Biographies

Ann Gillian Chu, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Ann Gillian Chu (gillianchu@hkbu.edu.hk), a sociologist of religion, is an Assistant Professor at the Academy of Chinese, History, Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University. She received her Doctor of Philosophy from the School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews. Dr Chu recently presented a paper titled “Hong Kong (Online) Christians: Social Media Engagement and Influence on Faith Identity” at the University of Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities 55th Anniversary Conference, and published an article in the Asian American Theological Forum titled “#deltaδmovement: Hong Kong’s Lay Theologies in the Making (Digitally).” She is also a co-investigator for a two-year, funded research project, “AI and Vulnerable Populations in Hong Kong.”
Rachel Siow Robertson, Hong Kong Baptist University

Rachel Siow Robertson (rsrobertson@hkbu.edu.hk), a philosopher of technology, is an Assistant Professor at the Academy of Chinese, History, Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University. She received her Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Philosophy, and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cambridge. Dr Robertson recently co-published an article in Zygon on joy in the uses of technology, titled “A Co-liberatory Framework for Big Data.” She is a co-investigator for a two-year, funded research project, “AI and Vulnerable Populations in Hong Kong."