Hannover (ots) – “Digital communities are ecclesial places where we reach target groups that otherwise we often miss a lot in the life of the church: young adults and the middle age group”, says the member of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany ( EKD) Josephine Teske at today’s presentation of the results of the midi study “Digital communities. A pilot study on the followers of Christian influencers on Instagram”.
More than 3,000 followers on Instagram took part in the study, carried out by the “Evangelical Office for the development of the missionary Church and the construction of the diaconal profile (midi)”.
“We are dealing with a high-level church affiliation clientele among Christian influencer followers on Instagram, who are particularly interested in whether influencers are authentic in their faith,” said Hamburg pastor Teske, who she herself is an active Christian Influencer. In addition, there is also digital potential for member orientation in digital communities. “For the future of the church, digital communities are essential bridges for members and those interested in the church.” The desire for support and guidance, expressed in the study results, inspires confidence, as digital communities obviously manage to communicate the gospel in an authentic and accurate way.
In addition to the potential for digital member retention and care, a distinctive missionary potential can also be identified, according to Daniel Hörsch, who led the study as a social science manager at midi.
“Essentially, followers are about being equipped with influencers’ content, be it spiritual-religious, intellectual or everyday-oriented,” says Hörsch.
With the pilot study, substantial empirical results on the followers of Christian influencers on Instagram are available for the first time in German-speaking countries. The study was conducted in close collaboration with the Yeet evangelical network and the digitization department of the EKD church office. The followers of the influencers ja.und.amen, pynk_pastor, pastor.engel, Wynschkind, Pfarrerausplastik, Faithpwr, Wasistdermensch, Riegeros, Einschpunk, koerper.poesie, Sara3klang, pastor_vanniekaap and theresaliebt were interviewed
The study is available online at www.ekd.de/digitale-communities.
Hanover, October 26, 2022
EKD Press Office
Carsten Split
Press contact:
Carsten Splitt Evangelical Church in Germany Press Office Communications Herrenhäuser Strasse 12 D-30419 Hannover Telephone: 0511 – 2796 – 269 E-mail: [email protected]
Original content from: EKD – Evangelical Church in Germany, broadcast by news aktuell
Press-Editorial Portal: updated news GmbH
