Online self-presentation of religious organisations- A study of two selected Pentecostal Churches in Ghana

Abstract

This study investigates self-presentation strategies of two prominent Pentecostal churches in Ghana, The Church of Pentecost (COP) and The Assemblies of God Church (AG) on Facebook. Employing self-presentation theory, the research sought to uncover how these churches used social media to project their religious identity and the motivations behind their online portrayals. Through qualitative content analysis and interviews with social media administrators, the research identified key themes such as evangelism, leadership, altruism, and social influence, as underpinnings of the selected churches' self-presentation strategies. The findings also revealed that both churches actively engage in promoting themselves as evangelistic consortia, leadership-centric entities, and socially influential organisations. By exploring these churches' strategic use of social media to enhance visibility, manage reputation, and establish thought leadership, this research contributes to the discourse on religious identity management and public relations in the digital era. The findings highlighted that these churches use Facebook to reinforce their organisational values, engage audiences, and adapt to contemporary communication trends, thereby filling a gap in literature on African religious organisations’ self-presentation in online spaces. The study recommended that the two churches increased their interaction with followers as well as refine their use of visual content. The study suggested that future studies should include other social media platforms to broaden understanding of how religious organisations in Ghana use digital platforms to manage identity, engage diverse audiences, and reinforce their influence within contemporary social and cultural framewo