Shiʿa Smartphone Communities: Trends of Continuity and Change

What is it about?

This article investigates trends of continuity and differentiability between primarily Italian Shi'a communities online and offline. Here, "online community" is adopted for groups formed on WhatsApp, Telegram, and Zoom, both before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. The similarity and differences between Shi'a activities in the online and offline spheres are investigated in three main areas: interreligious relations, gender roles, and relations with religious authorities. These fields have been selected because they are where Shi'as face significant life challenges in a non-Islamic context. Online ethnography and interviews with members of Shi'a communities were employed to gather data. The results confirm that women’s issues remain resistant to change, even in the online sphere, whereas relations with out-groups, as well as relations with Shi'a religious authorities, reveal elements of novelty.

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