| ID | 183685 |
| Title Proper | Religious Identification on Facebook Visuals and (Online) Out-group Intolerance |
| Other Title Information | Experimenting the Sri Lankan Case |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Hasangani, Sandunika |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Following several online and offline ethno-religious tensions in 2018 and 2019, social media (Facebook in particular) has become one of the scapegoats for instigating ethnic intolerance in Sri Lanka. Conjecture suggests that increased religious commitment and frequently shared religious expressions on social media are responsible for provoking ethnic intolerance. Against that backdrop, the present study investigates to what extent Facebook graphics expressing out-group intolerance are associated with in-group religious identification by analysing a sample of graphics posted on Facebook by a Sinhala-Buddhist community from 2011 to 2018. The findings reject the religious rationale and reveal that increased in-group religious identification does not necessarily characterize ethnically intolerant visual content on Facebook. Instead, online ethnic intolerance can be better attributed to threat perceptions and conspiracy theories. |
| `In' analytical Note | Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol. 57, No.2; Mar 2022: p.247-268 |
| Journal Source | Journal of Asian and African Studies 2022-02 57, 2 |
| Key Words | Ethnicity ; Sri Lanka ; Identity ; Facebook ; Social Media ; Intolerance ; Augmented Reality ; Digital Visuality |