While many Instagram users vary slightly in the
way they use this social media platform to convey their thoughts, beliefs, and
experiences, overall users tend to use this site in a similar fashion. This
trend shows to be true for Instagram users whom are inspired by and practice
the teaching of the leader of the Tibetan Buddhist faith, the Dalai Lama. The
focus of this research was to discover how the users on the social media site
Instagram lived out religion on post hash tagged with the words Dalai Lama.
After looking at many posts over a four-week period a trend among these posts
was observed. Over these four weeks, nine users’ post were sampled and analyzed,
all which vary in the way they use this social media platform to convey their
thoughts, beliefs, and experiences surrounding the teaching of the leader of
the Buddhist faith, the Dalai Lama. These users follow a trend of using
Instagram not only to post quotes and written interpretations of religious
texts and teachings, but also to share visual expressions of religious beliefs
and practices by use of personal images. The principal common message
alluded to by each user is that a person cannot profit from religion by only
reading or hearing religious knowledge; but that a person must also apply the
acquired religious knowledge to their everyday life. These users used
commentary of a religious leader on their post to help better their personal
lives and to serve as a teaching medium and inspiration source for others that
happen to view their pages. The users of the posts on Instagram containing a
hash tag of Dalai Lama perform religion by documenting themselves acting out
the teachings of the Dalai Lama in their lives through religious acts, studying
religious texts, and promoting the practice of lived out religion to others.
