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Paper short abstract:

Using visual methedolgy, this study analyzes the Instagram culture of Iranian clreics and holy shrines. The findings suggest that Instagrammig has contributed the popularization and aestheticization of religious spaces and has fostered the superficiality and spectacular materiality of holy shrines.

Paper long abstract:

Following Iran’s supreme leader’s call on the clergy to embark on an online jihad to rescue youngsters trapped in the “killing ground” of the internet, a vast number of clerics and Islamic organizations have expanded their online activities particularly on Instagram. There is a tension in this context between the religious incentives of the employment of online platforms and the secularizing impact of the internet on religious practice in sacred spaces. To explore the tension, this study concentrates on the online visual culture of state-sponsored religious spaces constructed on Instagram. Employing a qualitative method of visual analysis based on social semiotics, the article investigates two categories of image-spaces: Firstly, images of the holy shrine of Imam Reza in the city of Mashhad shared by official accounts and citizen visitors, and secondly, images shared by pro-state clerics. The data has been collected selectively by searching pertinent Instagram profiles, hashtags, and locations. The findings suggest that the use of Instagram has contributed the popularization and aestheticization of religious spaces and has fostered the superficiality and spectacular materiality of holy shrines. The study offers insights into the mediatization of holy sites in Iran and provides understanding of digital practices promoted by the IRI’s cultural policies aimed at extending influence over the youth online culture in Iran.