Sosiale media en koinonia in gemeentes: ’n prakties teologiese studie

With the phenomenal growth of social media, this form of new media has become an active part of most people's daily lives. Many congregations took the opportunity to also make use of social media platforms, but at the same time also experienced the disappointment that they did not receive the expected response to their media posts. The research explores the development of social media, but especially the content of social media posts and people's expectations when visiting these platforms. The following research question emerged from the background of the content of social media posts and the users' expectations: Can social media promote koinonia in the local church? The research follows a hermeneutical process, seeking solutions through the course of four clear tasks, as originally described by Osmer. The first is the empirical descriptive task of hearing the voice of the users. It involves a content analysis of five congregations' Facebook entries, personal interviews with Facebook users, and a focus group conversation with users of a Whatsapp group. This is followed by the interpretive task. Reasons are sought through a literature study on why what was observed in the first task happened. Thirdly, there is a normative task to judge certain relevant concepts from Scripture and tradition. Lastly, there is the pragmatic task, where an attempt is made to repair the praxis problem. From the empirical work, as well as from the literature study, it become clear that users not only want to receive one-way communication on social media but have a need to socialize on these platforms and even experience mutual koinonia. Although a koinonia experience in a digital space may be less intense than in a physical environment, this medium can greatly contribute to people, who already have a connection to a physical congregation, experience of koinonia. Properly used, social media can definitely contribute to the experience of koinonia in the local congregation.