Authors: Susan P. Wyche, Paul M Aoki, and Rebecca E. Grinter
Comments: Patrick
Summary:
This study talked about a six month design project that examined the use of technology for different religious purposes. They focused on understanding the U.S. "megachurches" and got a sense for how parishioners were using technology. Then they did some fieldwork in Nairobi, Kenya. Below are the lists of percentages of religions based on if they lived in the U.S. or Kenya.
Interviews of the participants were conducted in middle and upper-middle class homes. The interviews lasted for about one to one-and-a-half hours and there was a tour of each home or office. Some technology that was used by the participants included SMS text messages for daily bible versus as well as calendar software in order to plan their days around different religious activities. Note-taking was also prominent amongst the different religions. There were still differences amongst the U.S. and Kenya participants in how they took notes as well. The U.S. used the internet in order to supplement their note-taking activities and their churches also had websites with outlines of the sermons. America seemed to be more technology oriented than Kenya was. Discussion:
I thought that this paper was rather interesting even though I personally don't see the need for technology for my own religious beliefs. Emails and websites seem to be very popular with the church scene now so I understand people wanting to be able to see what is going on in their church without having to drive up there. It will also help people plan ahead when thinking about going to a certain church function.
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