Organizing on the internet: Semiological analysis of a digital apparatus of the Online Candles

Abstract

Religion is massively present on Internet, and for two decades scholars have studied this presence essentially to understand the effects of Internet on religious practices. In this article we conduct a semiological analysis of a digital apparatus called Online candles in order to show how an apparatus for asynchronous cyber rituals has been developed for the benefit of a religious organization: the Sanctuary of Lourdes. In so doing, this article contributes new findings that advance our understanding of how religious practices on the Internet reveal a new age religious organization strategy.