Analysis Of The Study Faith And Facebook In A Pluralistic Age By Paul K. McClure

This is the study based on the rise of social media uses as the issue background, they want to understand how the religion people emerge the other generation as young adult to have an effective belief through the social networking site. There are two base research questions:

RQ1: Does using SNS affect young adults’ propensity to believe that many religion maybe true simultaneous?

RQ2: Does using SNS emerging adult more likely to accept religious syncretism, measured by the respondent’s approval of picking and choosing religious beliefs that run contrary to what their or someone else’s religious tradition dictates and practicing multiple religious?

This study uses the panel secondary data from National Study of Youths and Religion (NSYR) among wave 1, 3, and 4. Which also merge with the in depth interviews with targets respondents. Since that NSYR data conducted by telephone interview then, this study use those telephone interview of data with thousands of respondent both English and Spanish speakers then they also merge with the primary data which have to make in depth interview those first 2 waves of the study.

The first wave was conducted by interview 13 years old to 17 years old teenagers and their parents, when the third wave was interview adult in age 17 years to 24 years, and the wave fourth they interview in ages 22 years to 29 years old. The study found out that most of them are about their relative openness to religion. The influences on the religion somehow not impacts by practice in daily activity. McClure papers also mentioned about the comparison those who use and not use social networking site.

The most SNS users are highly influence my social interaction through technology and internet related to the religion purposes on emergence, while nonusers seems influence by relatives or so ever. Since, they found out the way to make more religious propaganda more effective convenience while everyone can access to smart phone or technology devices in their hands. McClure mentioned that, “I although my argument assert that social technology has syncretizing effects, an important qualification of this assertion is needed. Namely the technology platform support the social networking site are in and themselves powerless to produce syncretism without human users”.

For this study, they do recommend about the future research which can ask about the habits or behaviors with the frequency uses SNS of religious people, members, or participants. He stated in his conclusion part that, “what the previous work amounts to an assessment of the role SNS play in the religious and spiritual lives of young Americans”.