Oxford Digital Ethnography Group Seminar Series

The Facebook of Revelation: social media and pentecostalism’s effects on violence amongst low income Brazilians

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Social media is frequently discussed in relation to its effects regarding politics – how it has transformed and/or diluted the impact of political activism, or how it has enhanced the possibilities of coordination to confront the powerful. This paper analyses social media in relation to how low income Brazilians that are not directly related deal with conflicts of interests. Crime and Protestantism are frequent elements interconnecting with the cases presented. The two cases discussed are related to violent events, to how the police deals with the people involved in these crimes, and especially how these occurrences are debated in a working class settlement in the Northeast region of Brazil. In particular, the paper will consider what kind of information about specific episodes appears openly on social media and what is reserved to the exchanges with trusted contacts. The analysis is part of a broader research project that examines how low income Brazilians are reshaping their social identities – coming from a historical position of segregation – via social media.

The hashtag to use for tweeting about this event is: OxDeg