Performative Digital Religiosity: Negotiating Religious Identity among Punjabi Youth on Social Media

Abstract

Social media has rapidly changed the experience of young people and shaped their religious identity in the online world. Religion plays an important role in the public values and social behavior in Pakistan. Digital platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube play a major role in religious education and moral discussion among young people. This study uses a qualitative method to understand how young people in Punjab experience religious identity through social media in the social and cultural environment of Punjab.This study uses the ideas of Erving Goffman and Michael Foucault and digital religion theory to understand how online visibility and reactions of audiences affect the religious lives of young people. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews of 15 young undergraduate students from universities and adults from major urban areas of Punjab. The data was analyzed by using the thematic analysis method given by Braun and Clarke.  These findings show that social media plays a very important role in the religious lives of young people. It acts as a place for learning about religion and observing the moral behavior that presents identity and manages emotions. Many participants shared their feelings that they feel stressed to maintain their socially acceptable online identities when they have to balance conflicts, interpretations of religion, and public judgment. This research introduces the ideas of performative digital religiosity and algorithmic religiosity to explain how people shape their religious identity on social media. It shows that online religious expressions are influenced by public interaction and digitally shaped moral expectations. This study makes an important contribution to research on digital religion and youth identity by showing the qualitative insights from a Muslim-majority South Asian society that has received limited attention in previous studies. It shows how social media is changing religious authority and online self-presentation in young people of Pakistan, especially in Punjab.