Social Media and Religious Minorities: Analyzing the Usage of Facebook Groups among Christian Minority to Highlight their Issues in Pakistan

Abstract

The issues of religious, ethnic and racial minorities are one of the major problems in modern democratic states where the majority governs. The article finds out the role of religious Facebook groups in highlighting the issues of the Christian minority. The objectives were to observe the reasons of participation, level of dependence and the nature of effects of online discussions of Facebook groups on the Christian community. Uses and gratification theory was applied to understand that how new technologies in media are used to gratify the needs of marginalized communities in a pluralist society. Data was collected through a survey method from the Christian minority, which was Facebook users and members of Facebook religion. The findings of the study revealed that usage of Facebook Groups is motivating the Christian community towards the solution of their problems; there is an association between usage of Facebook groups and awareness level regarding social issues among the Christian community.