A chorus of dissent: exploring the aims and audiences of online dissent

摘要

In this study, we examined online dissent as expressed by members and formermembers of a U.S. based megachurch. Our interpretive analysis of the data illuminatedthree audiences of dissent (i.e., self, others, the pastor) and uncovered three clear aims(i.e., individual sensemaking, community defense, providing corrective direction) ofdissent processes in this non-secular organization as enacted online. Taken together,these audiences and aims complicate several taken-for-granted assumptions embeddedin current models of dissent processes and extend scholarly insight into dissent inreligious organizations.