Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Social Sciences, Humanities and Education
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Social Media and Rise of Spirituality in India: A McLuhan’s Approach
Hrnoor Bhatia
ABSTRACT:
This paper critically analyses social media’s impact on spirituality in India, using Marshall McLuhan’s media theories as a framework. It explores how platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have transformed the dissemination of spiritual teachings, enabling spiritual leaders to reach a global audience and create interactive communities that transcend geographic boundaries. Drawing on McLuhan’s concepts of “the medium is the message” and the “global village,” the study delves into how digital media technologies mediate spiritual practices, commodify religious experiences, and give rise to a form of “spiritual branding” that merges tradition with contemporary consumer culture. Additionally, the paper investigates subcategories such as spiritual consumerism, digital spirituality, spiritual marketing strategies, and the commercialization of spirituality, highlighting how Indian spiritual leaders leverage social media to promote their teachings and products associated with their practices. This fusion of spiritual messages with marketing strategies underscores the evolving landscape of spirituality in the digital era, positioning spiritual content as a consumable product and a vehicle for socio-cultural influence in a globalized, interconnected world.
keywords: Global village, Media interconnectedness, Consumerism, Digital marketing strategies, Medium is the message, socio-cultural influence