Abstract: An outsiders' perspective of the Bahá'í approach to fluid, open networks in the face of its bounded social structure and its system of hierarchical gatekeepers. Includes overview of the Bahá'í Internet Agency. Notes: See also Seeking for Truth: Plausibility Alignment on a Bahá'í Email List.
Article extracted from complete book, which was posted by its editor to academia.edu.
Note: the following article is heavily informed by the writings and views of Juan Cole. While accurate, they are also somewhat one-sided, e.g. in Cole's and this article's perception that the Bahá'í Administration actively suppresses dissent. By contrast, in the 17 years since starting the Bahá'í Library Online, I've never been asked by the Administration to remove anything, and in fact have never received a single unsolicited communication. (-J.W., 2014) |
Bounded Religious Communities' Management of the Challenge of New Media:
Bahá'í Negotiation with the Internet
published in Social Media and Religious Change, ed. Marie Gillespie et al., pages 185-200 Walter de Gruyter & Co., 2012
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