The Digital Landscape of God: Narrative, Visuals and Viewer Engagement of Religious Videos on YouTube

Rongyi Chen; Ziyan Xin; Qing Xiao; Ruiwei Xiao; Jingjia Xiao; Bingbing Zhang; Hong Shen; Zhicong Lu

doi:10.1609/icwsm.v20i1.42649

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The Digital Landscape of God: Narrative, Visuals and Viewer Engagement of Religious Videos on YouTube

Journal article

Open access

The Digital Landscape of God: Narrative, Visuals and Viewer Engagement of Religious Videos on YouTube

Rongyi Chen, Ziyan Xin, Qing Xiao, Ruiwei Xiao, Jingjia Xiao, Bingbing Zhang, Hong Shen and Zhicong Lu

Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, Vol.20(1), pp.469-486

05/25/2026

DOI: 10.1609/icwsm.v20i1.42649

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Abstract

The digital transformation of religious practice has reshaped how billions of people engage with spiritual content, with video-sharing platforms becoming central to contemporary religious communication. Yet current research lacks systematic understanding of how narrative and visual elements create meaningful spiritual experiences and foster viewer engagement. We present a mixed-methods study of popular religious videos on YouTube across major religions, developing taxonomies of narrative frameworks, visual elements, and viewer interaction. Using LLM-assisted analysis, we studied relationships between content characteristics and viewer responses. Findings shows religious videos predominantly adopt speaking-style formats with authority-based persuasion strategies, using salvation narratives for guidance. All prefer bright lighting, with Buddhism favoring warm tones and prominent symbols, Judaism preferring indoor settings, and Hinduism emphasizing sacred objects. We identified differentiated patterns of emotional sharing among religious viewers while revealing significant correlations between content characteristics and engagement, particularly regarding AI-generated content.

Details

Title: Subtitle: The Digital Landscape of God: Narrative, Visuals and Viewer Engagement of Religious Videos on YouTube
Creators: Rongyi Chen - Peking University
Ziyan Xin - Carnegie Mellon University
Qing Xiao - Carnegie Mellon University
Ruiwei Xiao - Carnegie Mellon University
Jingjia Xiao - University of California San Diego
Bingbing Zhang - University of Iowa
Hong Shen - Carnegie Mellon University
Zhicong Lu - George Mason University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, Vol.20(1), pp.469-486
DOI: 10.1609/icwsm.v20i1.42649
ISSN: 2162-3449
eISSN: 2334-0770
Number of pages: 18
Language: English
Date published: 05/25/2026
Academic Unit: Center for Social Science Innovation; School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Record Identifier: 9985167651102771

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