Spirituality in the Selfie Culture of Instagram

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. In this original study the author highlights how Instagram is indeed a vehicle for spirituality both secular and religious. She also gives many fine suggestions for further research as well as for how Instagram and social media in general can serve both spiritual seekers and those offering spirituality resources. Public space is now being defined by the smart phone which can make it a site of spiritual communication with the whole world in our hands. --Michael OSullivan SJ Director of the Spirituality Institute for Research and Education Ireland I have known Petra Pajdakovic Sebek since her earliest journalistic and ecumenical ventures in our native Croatia. She has always been an original thinker and creative communicator. This short but splendid book is about bridging sacred and secular with a focus on our (post)modern era of cyberculture. Technology is increasingly intertwined with religion and Sebek intimates that with the use of Instagram we are witnessing the most dramatic changes in the growing field of cyberspirituality. --Peter Kuzmic Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Petra P. Sebek is originally from Croatia where she worked as a television journalist for more than fifteen years. She was a longtime producer and author of a weekly ecumenical and interreligious television magazine Spiritual Challenges. She and her family now live in Ireland where she graduated with a masters in applied spirituality and continues to work as a researcher. This is her first book combining her interests in the modern digital world and spirituality.