From Sunday School to #SundayFunday: Social Media and the Semi-Public Performance of the Weekend

Abstract

The paper focuses on the role of internet technologies in the mediation of weekend activities in social networks, arguing that internet technologies facilitate and shape the social activities once occupied by more traditional institutions, namely religious communities. It compares three contemporary weekend events that have serve as identity-constructing performances in ways that religious communities have in the past. The three events are social drinking, exercise/fitness, and Sunday brunch. These three activities bear striking resemblance to the structure (such as ritual and symbols) and aims (such as community building) of religious communities. Moreover, social media facilitate the semi-public performance of these weekend activities, creating a new space for the construction of personal identity relative to the American weekend.

Keywords

• identity
• Internet
• Religion
• social media