Reflecting on our jigsaw activity from the last class session I began to think about the technological impacts that it would have on religion. With the statistics from Chaves in mind, I believe that technology can play an important role in creating another medium for church attendance. By this, I argue that with the ability to use live streaming services like YouTube, churches can reach out to more people who may not be comfortable walking into a new church or those who are unable to attend. This is much like TV Mass except that these live streams can be archived and accessed at any time. This brings me to my next point, the idea of creating content for online video platforms. According to Business Insider, YouTube has about 1.8 users per month which caters content to viewers using an algorithm. This algorithm starts showing up on people’s recommended videos depending on the subject and watch-time of the videos. What I am trying to say is that if churches had dedicated content creators, they would be able to spread their influence out more since there is no limit to the internet. This system would also create a source for instant explanations and discussions on various topics. Saddleback Church, for example, has a YouTube channel that is regularly updated with content that has thousands of views. The videos are informative and I can see why they get many views (albeit Saddleback is a megachurch). Arguably, this would promote more individualism and possibly foster sectarianism but the implications are still large.
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Agreed, the internet has many resources for people who would much rather learn online. Would you say this aspect of the technological convenience also undermines the sense of community people normally get when attending an actual church setting?