What is Really Here?: #DalaiLama

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.