Sightings Articles

Nixon Kennedy debate

political religion | Community | Technology

Common Sense and the 2020 Election

How do screens change our sense of national community?...

October 12, 2020
iPhone eucharist

Coronavirus | Technology

Tools for Studying Pandemic Religion

What can we learn from the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) about sighting and understanding religion during and after the pandemic? ...

July 13, 2020
Kanye

hip-hop | Augustine of Hippo | Kanye West | pop culture | Media | Technology

Hip Hop and Christian Conversion Narratives

What do Kanye and Hip Hop have to do with Augustine of Hippo?...

January 30, 2020
Dopamine

Technology | Social Media

Dopamine Fasting: Silicon Valley’s Not-So-New Trend

Does the new practice of dopamine fasting have religious roots?...

December 11, 2019

Technology | Spirituality | Rituals

Theologizing Virtual Reality

Considering VR...

July 25, 2019

Technology | Martin Luther | Social Media

Mr. Zuckerberg, Meet Martin Luther

“Move fast and break things.” Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, used to rally his developers with these words. ...

February 4, 2019

Social Media | Twitter

Twitter’s “Like” Problem

Breaking up is always hard. But breaking off a decade-long relationship is especially difficult.  So if you have Twitter thumbs, you may need to brace yourself because rumors are circulating that Twitter may soon be breaking up with the “Like” but...

November 15, 2018

How Facebook Is Transforming Religion

Editor’s Note: Sightings is pleased to bring you this follow-up to a previous column by the same author, “Social Media and Sin” (April 5), which was one of our best-received pieces of the past academic year. It addresses topics that are discussed in ...

July 12, 2018

Augustine of Hippo | Martin Luther | sin | Technology

Social Media and Sin

Facebook has come under fire of late for its actions (or inaction) surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But the problems with the social media network, and other platforms like it, run much deeper. Indeed, Sean ...

April 5, 2018