research-article

Holy Tweets: Exploring the Sharing of the Quran on Twitter

Authors:

Norah Abokhodair,

AbdelRahim Elmadany,

Walid MagdyAuthors Info & Claims

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Volume 4, Issue CSCW2

Article No.: 159, Pages 1 - 32

https://doi.org/10.1145/3415230

Published: 15 October 2020 Publication History

Abstract

While social media offer users a platform for self-expression, identity exploration, and community management, among other functions, they also offer space for religious practice and expression. In this paper, we explore social media spaces as they subtend new forms of religious experiences and rituals. We present a mixed-method study to understand the practice of sharing Quran verses on Arabic Twitter in their cultural context by combining a quantitative analysis of the most shared Quran verses, the topics covered by these verses, and the modalities of sharing, with a qualitative study of users' goals. This analysis of a set of 2.6 million tweets containing Quran verses demonstrates that online religious expression in the form of sharing Quran verses both extends offline religious life and supports new forms of religious expression including goals such as doing good deeds, giving charity, holding memorials, and showing solidarity. By analysing the responses on a survey, we found that our Arab Muslim respondents conceptualize social media platforms as everlasting, at least beyond their lifetimes, where they consider them to be effective for certain religious practices, such as reciting Quran, supplication (dua), and ceaseless charity. Our quantitative analysis of the most shared verses of the Quran underlines this commitment to religious expression as an act of worship, highlighting topics such as the hereafter, God's mercy, and sharia law. We note that verses on topics such as jihad are shared much less often, contradicting some media representation of Muslim social media use and practice.

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Cited By

Caidi NNangia PSamson HEkmekcioglu COlsson M(2025)Spiritual and religious information experiences: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paperJournal of the Association for Information Science and Technology10.1002/asi.24983Online publication date: 29-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24983
Maram SPfau JKasar MSeif El-Nasr M(2024)A Topic Modeling Approach Towards Understanding the Discourse between Religion and Videogames on RedditProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36770548:CHI PLAY(1-44)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677054
Wolf SFriedrich PHurtienne J(2024)Still Not a Lot of Research? Re-Examining HCI Research on Religion and SpiritualityExtended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3651058(1-15)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613905.3651058
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Holy Tweets: Exploring the Sharing of the Quran on Twitter
1. Computing methodologies
  1. Artificial intelligence
    1. Natural language processing
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
  2. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Empirical studies in HCI

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Volume 4, Issue CSCW2

CSCW

October 2020

2310 pages

EISSN:2573-0142

DOI:10.1145/3430143

Editor:
Jeff Nichols
Apple Inc.

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Published: 15 October 2020

Published in PACMHCI Volume 4, Issue CSCW2

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Cited By

Caidi NNangia PSamson HEkmekcioglu COlsson M(2025)Spiritual and religious information experiences: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paperJournal of the Association for Information Science and Technology10.1002/asi.24983Online publication date: 29-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24983
Maram SPfau JKasar MSeif El-Nasr M(2024)A Topic Modeling Approach Towards Understanding the Discourse between Religion and Videogames on RedditProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36770548:CHI PLAY(1-44)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677054
Wolf SFriedrich PHurtienne J(2024)Still Not a Lot of Research? Re-Examining HCI Research on Religion and SpiritualityExtended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3651058(1-15)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613905.3651058
Ibrahim ZNurain NClawson J(2024)Tracking During Ramadan: Examining the Intersection of Menstrual and Religious Tracking Practices Among Muslim Women in the United StatesProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642374(1-19)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642374
Wahid S(2024)Exploring the intersection of Islam and digital technology: A bibliometric analysisSocial Sciences & Humanities Open10.1016/j.ssaho.2024.10108510(101085)Online publication date: 2024
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Rifat MAmin MAhmed S(2022)Situating Public Speaking: The Politics and Poetics of the Digital Islamic Sermons in BangladeshProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35129116:CSCW1(1-28)Online publication date: 7-Apr-2022
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Alanezi KAlbadi NHammad OKurdi MMishra S(2022)Understanding the Impact of Culture in Assessing Helpfulness of Online Reviews2022 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM)10.1109/ASONAM55673.2022.10068664(308-315)Online publication date: 10-Nov-2022
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Showail A(2022)Solving Hajj and Umrah Challenges Using Information and Communication Technology: A SurveyIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2022.319085310(75404-75427)Online publication date: 2022
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Al Hariri YMagdy WWolters M(2021)Atheists versus Theists: Religious Polarisation in Arab Online CommunitiesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34795055:CSCW2(1-28)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2021
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