Spirituality in the Selfie Culture of Instagram

Book excerpt: This explorative study of personal spiritual expressions on Instagram generated important data in relation to the emerging field of cyberspirituality and showed the need for further development and research. The book reveals several forms of spirituality present on Instagram, mainly belonging to secular spirituality. Many spiritual practices emerged in posts from all over the world, demonstrated through photography as spiritual practice. The Internet—and social media in particular—present an opportunity for individuals and communities to develop spiritual narrative when communicating online, especially with young people who are more likely to express themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” Spiritual authenticity on social media, as a part of building spiritual capital, is an important step.