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Community Lecture Series: "TikTok Evangelism"

Presenter: Dr. Walter Iriarte
Reception: 5:30 p.m.
Presentation: 6:00 p.m.

 

The online presence of Christian churches has grown tremendously since 2020. To what degree has this online format altered the nature of religious services? Has the medium affected the message? More specifically, has TikTok changed the way Christians evangelize? Not as much as you may think. Walter Iriarte’s presentation explores how various Christian TikTokers resist the distractions of TikTok’s special effects/features and avoid self-promotion or monetary gain. Christian TikTokers use the platform to express their faith in creative ways without their messages becoming determined by TikTok’s technologies. In other words, TikTok adapts to Christian creativity and not the other way around.

Dr. Iriarte is an Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at Lander University. He earned his Ph.D. in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design from Clemson University. Dr. Iriarte’s research interests include studying the behavioral visual patterns of drone video and pilots as well as communication practices in social media. Dr. Iriarte has also produced films for national film competitions and continues to create experimental projects using emerging media technologies.