Page - 195 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

Review: religion@home | 195www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 195–199 Baldassare Scolari Book Review Anna Neumaier, religion@home? Religionsbezogene Online-Plattformen und ihre Nutzung eine Untersuchung zu neuen formen gegenwärtiger religiosität, Würzburg: ergon 2016, 478 pages, isBN: 978-3-95650-141-8 in her dense and extensive book, Anna Neumaier examines new forms of con- temporary religiosity in German-speaking Christian online forums and asks about the conditions, forms and consequences of religious internet usage. On one hand, she examines forms of religiosity, the media properties that charac- terize communication and social exchange in online forums as well as the top- ics discussed and emerging forms of socialization. On the other hand, she ana- lyzes the relation of all that to contemporary religiosity as a whole. following a suggestion made by Mia Lövheim, Neumaier provides an innovative compari- son of online forums and alternative offline offerings in order to bring to light similarities and differences between “different places of religious exchange” (18). Neumaier’s investigation is located in the research context of the study of transformations of media and religion and deals in particular with questions of thresholds and flexibility, individualization and communitization, visibility and invisibility, and public and private spheres for religion and religiosity. thus, the author examines and links three research fields: systematic consideration of religious online offers, investigation of the connections between online and offline religious offerings and usage, and general theories on contemporary religious transformation. the methodological basis of the survey is presented in the second chapter and follows the principles of grounded theory. The research subjects were 20 online discussion forums, which were analyzed with regard to content and me- dia characteristics. these forums were used to contact and select interview partners, resulting in 34 qualitative interviews, 23 of which were evaluated; Neumaier also undertook a quantitative survey among forum users. the third chapter discusses continuities and discontinuities in the interaction of religion, society and media, as well as the relevance of research on religion on the in- ternet. the fourth chapter addresses the internet and, in particular, religious online forums as the concrete field of study, with the main results from the empirical investigation introduced.