This book is framed by two bookended revolutions, print in the sixteenth century and the internet and social media in the late twentieth century. How, then, is Christianity changing in the age of social media and international connectivity? What social and cultural changes were already underway in the decades immediately preceding the internet revolution that have a direct bearing on the generations most affected by that revolution? What is the impact of new technologies and social media on the beliefs, practices, and “lived religion” of Christian communities, organizations, and denominations? Finally, to what extent has the internet helped develop global religious networks in which the directional flows of power and influence have begun to change from a North/South trajectory to the reverse?

There is a growing concern about the evolution of violent extremism in the digital era. This chapter presents historical progression and current state of how extremists have used digital advancements to increase their reach and influence for their own nefarious purposes. This chapter also discusses the challenges due to encryption and the need for a strategic collaboration and comprehensive whole-of-society approach to combat the threats effectively.

Critics of commercial country music say that the music is homogenous, cliché, and that the so-called bro-country subgenre has taken over. This chapter uses interviews with hit songwriters in Nashville to examine the social and structural factors that influence the way songwriters practice their craft. One such factor, the “360 deal,” is a type of recording contract introduced as a way for record labels to recoup some of the revenue lost with the decline of recorded music sales. Though these contracts are legal agreements between artists and their labels, they have entirely restructured the careers of professional songwriters and the music that they create. This analysis of country music in the twenty-first century is based on a deep understanding of the occupational arrangements that underlie the creation of songs to argue for understanding the structures that shape the songwriting community as critical to the formation of country songs.