A Digital Theological Investigation of Identity among Ghanaian Youth

研究概述自我作为人格的一个方面的概念是神学反思的一个长期主题。越来越多的社会科学学术机构正在研究数字文化中人格的变化模式和理论理解。然而，数字文化对人格的影响尚未得到神学的应有关注。这是一个真正的问题，因为学者们普遍认为，当代社会形态的一个重要方面是对自我认同的离线和在线态度的持续融合。这似乎在加纳社会得到了证实，在那里，数字化和基督教自我理解之间的相互作用具有多重矛盾的特点。这也是由于对数字化的强烈沉浸：2019年，加纳在社交媒体上花费的时间在全球排名第九。因此，目前的研究提出了一个经验和神学的调查，即年轻的加纳基督徒在数字空间中谈判个人身份的建设与基督教宗教领导和权威的期望。这种协商的参数是个人代理的数字化推广，个人身份的表演性，以及通过在线自我叙事的反思性策展来寻求真实性。它的重点是年轻的基督徒，年龄在18至35岁，最活跃的年龄组，当谈到互联网和社交媒体的使用在加纳。基于通过在线内容分析，半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论的混合获得的数据，该研究旨在回答这个问题加纳青年如何协商他们的建设和描绘的个人身份和基督教信仰在数字文化？在这样做的时候，它将提供一个神学分析和重新概念化的个人身份，协调个人的真实自我的网上追求与神学关注真正的基督教社区在当代加纳基督教。最后，它将主张一个数字神学框架来讨论人格，这有助于防止与数字技术的设计和传播相关的不平等现象的巩固。在这样做的过程中，它将推进正在进行的关于人的尊严和解放，性别平等和数字和离线空间中的自我实现的神学话语，所有这些都是基于真实自我认同的概念。

Research SummaryThe notion of the self as an aspect of person hood is a longstanding subject of theological reflection.A growing body of social-scientific scholarship is investigating the changing modes and theoretical understandings of personhood as it is transformed within digital culture.Yet, the ramifications of digital culture for personhood have not received due theological attention. This is areal problem considering scholars widely agree that a significant aspect of contemporary social formations is an ongoing fusion of offline and online attitudes to self-identity. This seems to be borne out in Ghanaian society, where the interaction between digitality and Christian self-understanding is characterised by multiple ambivalences. It is also driven by intense immersion in digitality: in 2019,Ghana ranked 9th globally for time spent on social media.The current study therefore proposes an empirical and theological investigation of the strategies by which young Ghanaian Christians negotiate the construction of personal identity in digital space in relation to the expectations of Christian religious leadership and authority. The parameters of this negotiation are the digital promotion of individual agency,the performativity of personal identity, and the quest for authenticity through the reflective curation of self-narratives online. It focuses on young Christians, aged 18 to 35 years, the most active age group when it comes to Internet and social media use in Ghana.Based on data obtained through a blend of online content analysis,semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions,the study aims to answer the question How do Ghanaian youth negotiate their construction and portrayal of personal identity and Christian faith within digital culture?In doing so, it will offer a theological analysis and reconceptualization of personal identity that harmonises the individual's online quest for authentic selfhood with the theological concern for authentic Christian community within contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. Finally, it will argue for a digital theological framework for discussing personhood that can help guard against the entrenchment of inequalities associated with the design and spread of digital technologies. In doing so, it will advance ongoing theological discourses on human dignity and liberation, gender equality, and self-actualisation in both digital and offline space, all of which are predicated on notions of authentic self-identity.