Social Media Utilization, Perceptions and Experience among Vowed Religious Men and Women in the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, Kenya
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Date
2023-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Daystar University, School of Communication
Abstract
Despite the encouragement by the Roman Pontiff to use social media for evangelization, the vowed religious people whose special role in the church is to evangelize seem reluctant to use these platforms for evangelization. Instead, some have resorted to using social media anonymously, while others have quit completely (Soter, 2020). Such conduct may slow down the evangelization mission of the church. A quick scroll through social media reveals several vowed religious people using social media. However, there is limited empirical research showing the extent to which vowed religious people especially in the global south are utilizing the platforms. This study therefore sought to fill this research gap. The main objectives of the study were: to assess the perceptions of vowed religious people towards social media; to explore the uses to which vowed religious people put social media; to find out the experiences of vowed religious people regarding their social media utilization. The study employed mixed method – explanatory sequential research design. Data was collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews, and analyzed through descriptive and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that, although 98.4% of the respondents had embraced social media use, only 49.2% were open to using social media for evangelization. However, there is a willingness and with sensitization, they can maximally utilize social media for evangelization. It was also evident that, the positive experiences on social media outweigh the negative ones, hence, social media is a viable channel for evangelization. The study recommended that vowed religious people be sensitized to embrace social media for evangelization purposes. The study also recommended that the Catholic Church should periodically train religious people on the ethical use of social media platforms
Description
MASTER OF ARTS
in Communication
Keywords
Social Media Utilization, Religious Men and Women, Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi
Citation
Okang’a, L. M., (2023). Social Media Utilization, Perceptions and Experience among Vowed Religious Men and Women in the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, Kenya: Daystar University, School of Communication