Official religious bodies have long been making the most of technology. Last Easter, the Church of England encouraged followers to share “photos of baptisms, dawn services, church celebrations and more using the hashtag #EasterJoy” on all forms of social media. On Facebook, the page ‘Ask a Catholic Nun’ has almost 270,000 followers, while a Christian-based ad agency found more than 30% of churches said they updated Facebook each day. The Dalai Lama is arguably the leader in this field; he has had a Twitter account since 2008, now with 17.3 million followers.
Now, ordinary individuals are following suit. In the same way as people interested in particular diets or exercise regimes use social media to promote the lifestyles they espouse, social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are providing a platform for spiritual influencers to spread the word. These individuals can have virtual congregations of thousands, who often follow them with passionate loyalty. In many ways, they’re the digital successors to American TV preachers who used to reach their audiences in their living rooms.
In the UK and America, Christian believers appear to be those accruing the largest fanbases. One of the most prominent Christian influencers in the UK is the fashion and textiles student Dephne Madyara, with 100k subscribers on YouTube and 20k followers on Instagram. In America, influencers such as Sadie Robertson (5m followers, across Instagram and Twitter), Heather Lindsey (350,000 followers) and Emma Mae Jenkins (130,000 followers) amass thousands of likes on their videos extolling the benefits of their faith.