Paper short abstract:

Hindus in the French overseas department La Réunion have established Facebook as important site for religious negotiations. The acquisition of religious knowledge and the establishment of contacts with Hindus worldwide via Facebook seem reflective of aspirations for social distinction.

Paper long abstract:

Hindus in the French overseas department La Réunion have established Facebook as an important site for religious negotiations. With regards to this panel's proposition, this paper suggests a shift in focus from merely looking at how media impact religion, to also considering the religiously, culturally and socially informed ways in which people use social media. Reunionese of Indian descent acquire religious knowledge and establish contacts with Hindus in India and numerous places in the diaspora via Facebook, which needs to be seen in the context of a recent reorientation towards India after a long phase of sparse contact. Access to religious knowledge and contact with Hindus in India and worldwide can serve as a means for social distinction and for the creation of a diasporic consciousness. The use of Facebook by Reunionese Hindus seems reflective of aspirations for social distinction in the offline world, and activities in online and offline contexts need to be regarded as continuous spheres of interaction. At the same time, Facebook can provide an alternative space for the negotiation of religious content and authority. The paper argues that Facebook is not only used for religious mediation, but actions on religious Facebook pages are used for mediation between the aspired to and the achieved in terms of knowledge, gender roles and social status. The paper is based on participant observation conducted during 12 months' anthropological field work in La Réunion (2014-2015) in the context of a PhD research project.