Finding faith online: religions hit their 'TikTok era'

Religion is now in its TikTok era!

Hashtags ranging from #ChristianityTikTok, to #NunTok, #MediaNuns and #InstaImam are attracting billions of views worldwide.

A group of nuns in Boston, USA has amassed 3 million views since they began posting to TikTok in 2020.

But, The Daughters of St Paul - also known as the 'Media Nuns' - are not only producing faith-related content.

Instead, they're using their platforms to promote a brand of wholesome community with everything from pranks to reaction videos picking up the biggest views.

Speaking to Tamron Hall in 2022, Sister Orianne Pietra René said the convent order did not expect their meteoric rise to fame.

"It definitely took us by surprise. I think it wasn't necessarily something we were expecting or aiming for, but I think in one sense, there is kind of a novelty in the sense that people don't really see nuns around very often anymore. So there's a curiosity, and that's very natural."

Their content has also filled a niche, breaking faith stereotypes and giving online viewers a space to explore topics from a distance.

"I think that in one capacity, it does really demystify what might happen inside of a convent and what our lives look like as human beings who have dedicated their lives to God," Sister Orianne Pietra René said.

"I think there's a lot of stereotypes about nuns out there. Like all the rules, all you're giving up, people must therefore be miserable, and caught and constricted. So when we share those videos, we really want to show that we are human and we live.

"We see even in the Bible, Jesus has a really great sense of humour."

When the nuns began making their online content, Sister Danielle Victoria volunteered herself as prank tribute, saying she scared easily enough for it not to look fake.

She told Tamron Hall in 2022 "rather than giving a sister a heart attack, I said, you can scare me."

"This kind of all spun out of the fact that we do have a lot of fun together. We really like it, life can be kind of intense in some ways, but honestly, it's all in balance. And so we have a lot of great laughs," Sister Danielle Victoria said.

Meanwhile, Buddhist monks at the Shaolin Temple Yan Qin in China, have single-handedly boosted tourism after gaining such a large online following.

In December, 2021 the BBC linked the temple's posts on Douyin (a TikTok-style social media platform available in China) to a sudden rise in Chinese mainland tourism.

"These shortform media platforms can serve as wonderful attention-grabbers," said Dr Pauline Cheong from Arizona State University told the BBC in 2021.

"However, it's also personable that these platforms can support the kind of intricate theological debate or sustained religious reflection over time."

The ancient Shaolin Temple has enjoyed a long, long history shrouded in martial arts mystery, but since beginning to post short content, the order has established a million-strong online following.

On the otherside of the globe, in London, UK, Sabah Ahmed has also built an enormous online community around his 'The Young Imam' brand, and Cold Black Coffee podcast.

Mr Ahmed began studying to become one of Britain's youngest Muslim Imams when he was just 17.

Within a decade, he'd managed to establish himself as a 'faith influencer' on Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok using his 'InstaImam' hashtag.

"People still have a perception that an Imam has to be someone middle aged, they've got a long white beard, who has a lot of white robes, and hasn't got any banter," Mr Ahmed said.

"But hopefully [through my videos] people learn that an Imam can be someone who's young and relatable."