A new form of online spirituality gaining popularity on Roblox is the topic of the first DELab podcast with our renowned guest Prof. Kerstin Radde-Antweiler, a religious studies expert whose research focuses on the topics of religion in times of deep mediatization, religion, and gaming. The episode is hosted by Dr. Marta Kolodziejska, a sociologist of religion and the media and DELab analyst. The themes discussed in the podcast include:- the boundary between role-playing – what Roblox users do – and actual forms of religious practice and meaning-making,- participation in this type of practice, juxtaposed with research findings that concern mediatisation and secularization processes among young people,- the phenomenon of individualisation in contrast to organised forms of religion,- the popularity of religious practices mediated by the web,- the process of ‘privatisation’ of religion,- conclusions of expert research on the process of mediatisation and gamification of religion,- the reasons why the Roblox mass phenomenon has been a success.
The podcast includes a short excerpt from a Roblox mass organized by the 'Archdiocese of Gniezno' and transmitted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/gIxdPdVMCoM?feature=share