15th European Christian Internet Conference

Sigtuna, Sweden in June 13-16, 2010

The 15th European Christian Internet Conference will be held in Sigtuna, Sweden from June 13th to 16th, 2010. All webmasters, journalists, webkoordinators, webpastors, etc. of European Churches are invated to join in vital disscussions and interesting lectures.

In Year 2010 the conference and participants will be challanged by these themes

1. The Voice of the People versus the Voice of an Institution

• Is the focus of the Churches’ online Communication spreading Information or enabling dialogue

• Is the church an actor or an interactor on the web?

• Is the content sender-oriented or determined by the recipients

• How is community management organized?

• Does institutionalized religion become individualized religion in social networks?

2. Hyperlinks subvert hierarchies: Institutional changes needed to communicate in social networks

• Does the Church communicate as one entity or do individuals communicate on behalf of the church?

• How does an organization need to change if employees communicate as individuals on behalf of their employer?

• Do they e.g. update their profiles in social networks during their office time as part of their jobs or is this considered a private activity?

• What does this mean for their online identity? Is their identity as employee linked with their own private personality?

3. Do-it-Yourself or join existing platforms?

• What is the Church’s communication strategy towards social networks? - Build one’s own networks or participate in existing ones?

• Which strategy is more effective and more efficient?

• Should the Church join the existing marketplaces or try to get people from the marketplaces into virtual churches?

• Is this an either-or or both-and decision?N.B.: Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture could offer a paradigm to analyze this issue

• Digital Monopolies – Who are the modern day Gate Keepers?

• What is the churches’ response if commercial companies refuse to carry Christian content on their portals because they deem it is not “neutral”?

Call for papers

SteerComm has open mind for abstracts, which will open these themes. Please, email your abstract to SteerComm if you think it's relevant for next conference.

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