e-Islam: the Spanish Public Virtual Sphere

Author(s)	Arturo Guerrero Enterría
Contact	Arturo Guerrero Enterría, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain. E-mail: aguerreroe@telefonica.net
Issue	CyberOrient, Vol. 5, Iss. 1, 2011, pp. 110-130
Published	May 10, 2011
Type	Article
Abstract	The increasing presence of Islamic content in cyberspace has made it possible for an ever-expanding Muslim public space to be established. This process is connected to the phenomenon of globalisation, which in turn has generated a process of growing glocalisation, wherein content in cyberspace has not only been globalised – making it accessible from any Internet platform around the world – but opening a channel for the expression of local issues. In Spain, institutionalised Islam has found new routes for communication, information and visibilisation with these new technologies. However, as this paper will show, its strategy is based on traditional mass media models of communication, namely the one-way and one-to-many communication models. This leaves room for other types of actors to use strategies based on different communication models: two-way and many-to-many, taking better advantage of the potential in new information and communication technologies to more easily find a niche in Spanish Muslim cyberspace.
Keywords	Islam, muslim minorities, public sphere, websites, information and communication technology, Spain