Online activity of mosques and Muslims in the Netherlands: A study of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

ABSTRACT: Research on Muslim minorities in western societies has mainly focused on offline behavior, such as mosque attendance, whereas little is known about their presence in the online world. This study explores the online visibility and activities of all (478) mosques in the Netherlands. We collected data on personal websites and four social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube). The majority of mosques have a website (52%) and an account on Facebook (61%). Less often used are Twitter (17%), Instagram (17%) and YouTube (19%). On social media platforms, mosques strongly differ in their activity and number of followers. We find evidence to suggest that Salafist mosques, which tend to have a strict ideology, are more active on Twitter and YouTube, and also attract a larger share

SUBMITTER: van Tubergen F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8297904 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature