Flourishing in Feeds and Faith: Religious Influencers, Digital Authority and Intergenerational Mediation in Greece

This piece examines how Orthodox Christian influencers in Greece use Instagram to influence religious discussions, establish authority, foster community, and encourage intergenerational conversations online. Although research on religious influencers has increased recently, it mainly focuses on non-European and predominantly Muslim-majority settings, leaving the Greek Orthodox context notably overlooked. To address this gap, the article explores how Instagram functions not just as a platform for sharing religious messages but as a hybrid space where Orthodoxy is reshaped through the visual, interactive, and algorithmic elements of platform culture. The study employs a qualitative digital ethnographic approach, analysing Instagram reels created by three Orthodox Christian influencers in Greece. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, it examines six key aspects: spiritual guidance, community building, intergenerational dialogue, ritualised engagement, emotional tone, and authority display. The selected cases represent different forms of digital religious communication: family-centred experiential spirituality, institutional pastoral support, and discourse rooted in motivational authenticity. The findings reveal that Instagram supports the coexistence of various types of religious authority, including institutional, experiential, and legitimacy based on authenticity. The influencers interpret Orthodox teachings in relatable, emotionally impactful ways, thereby fostering digital communities, promoting ritual participation, and passing values across generations. The article argues that digital Orthodoxy is both preservative and transformative: it maintains core religious principles while adapting them to match the communication styles of modern digital life. Focused on the Greek Orthodox context, this research contributes to broader discussions about digital religion, mediated power, and the evolution of faith, community, and religious practice in the social media age.

Stavroula Koskina

Research fellow at the HEPP Hub, University of Helsinki

Stavroula Koskina is a researcher, currently serving as an external research fellow at the HEPP Hub, University of Helsinki. She is pursuing a PhD in Political Science at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), where she also earned an MA in Political Theory and a BA in Psychology and Islamic Studies. She has held research positions at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, and the CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest. Her work has been published in journals like South European Society and Politics.