WeChat together about the buddha: The construction of sacred space and religious community in Shanghai through social media

Abstract

Spaces can be physical, mental and social, so it is important to ask what kinds of space are occupied and employed by religions when they or their members use (and express themselves through) the media in their practices. Urban spaces and the practice of religion are highly transnational, and many of their related processes are conceptualized as parts or consequences of the phenomenon of globalization, especially as they are linked to international migration. In this chapter, I am interested in looking at the way in which the Tzu Chi organization and its members use social media to construct a sacred virtual space that connects them globally.