Call for Papers: “Platformed Mormonism”

The Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association (JMSSA) is accepting submissions for a special issue exploring the intersection of Mormon traditions and digital platforms. Papers accepted for the special issue will receive an honorarium of up to USD 1,000. We welcome interdisciplinary perspectives that explore how the technological, architectural, and political structures of digital platforms are not only governing how Mormonism is perceived, represented, and encountered by the broader public but also mediating and reshaping belief, practice, and community across various Mormon traditions. We welcome both scholarly/empirical studies and shorter reflective submissions.

Special Editors

Spencer Greenhalgh (School of Information Science; University of Kentucky)
Spencer Stewart (School of Information Studies & Department of History; Purdue University)
Rosemary Avance (School of Media & Strategic Communications; Oklahoma State University)

Submission Deadlines

JMSSA is an online-first journal, and papers submitted to and reviewed for this special issue will be published as they are accepted and prepared for publication. However, to facilitate the review and publication process, the special editors will work around the following deadlines:

  • June 1, 2026
  • September 1, 2026
  • December 1, 2026
  • March 1, 2027

Any paper submitted by the March 1 deadline will be considered for the special issue; papers submitted to any of the earlier deadlines will likely be accepted and published earlier. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format and be sent to spencer.greenhalgh@uky.edu.

We also encourage potential authors to contact the special editors (at the address above) prior to any of these deadlines with questions about the special issue or for feedback on whether their ideas would be a good fit for the issue.

Rationale and Scope

In 2010, media scholar Tarleton Gillespie noted the then-recent emergence of the word platform to describe “the online services of content intermediaries” (p. 349) and invited researchers to consider how this term (with computational, architectural, figurative, and political connotations) rhetorically positions social media and other online offerings. Nearly a decade later, van Dijck and colleagues’ (2018) The Platform Society—like other important scholarship before and since—demonstrated that, while “platforms are an integral part of society” (2), their priorities and structures often stand in tension with society’s values.

This dynamic is especially compelling in the context of Mormonism (here understood as any and all religious traditions tracing their lineages to the revelations of Joseph Smith, Jr.). Digital platforms allow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to express views that are discouraged or forbidden in formal church settings (Avance 2025; McDannell 2019). Community of Christ congregations use platforms to bridge geographical divides created by membership decline (Greenhalgh & Tanner 2026). Platforms have even enabled the emergence of new Mormon communities and their engagement with the broader world (e.g., Shields 2021). 

If, as Doctorow (2025) suggests, “another word for platform is middleman” (7), what does it mean when platforms mediate and intervene in Mormonism, which has historically been wary of, if not outright hostile toward, outside influences? This special issue of the Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association invites submissions that examine intersections between Mormon traditions and digital platforms. We especially encourage submissions that engage with smaller Mormon movements, lesser-known platforms, and geographic or cultural contexts underrepresented in Mormon studies. 

Submission Formats & Peer Review

To encourage diverse consideration of these intersections, we will accept submissions in two formats: 

  1. Scholarly/Empirical submissions should be between 7,000 and 9,000 words, include empirical or theoretical analysis, and engage substantively with relevant literature. Accepted scholarly submissions will receive an honorarium of USD 1,000.
  2. Reflective submissions should be between 2,000 and 4,000 words and may draw from personal experience (or roundtable discussion) and forego substantive review of the literature. Accepted reflective submissions will receive an honorarium of USD 250. 

Submission Notes: Authors whose work is accepted for peer review will be asked to peer-review other submissions to this special issue.

Suggested Themes

We are eager to see the diversity of ways that platformed Mormonism may be interpreted and explored across disciplines and subtopics. Submissions may touch on (but are not limited to) the following categories and inquiries:

  • Institutions and Platforms: On which platforms are Mormon denominations, congregations, and other institutions active? To what extent and how do the technological and sociopolitical norms of these platforms influence Mormon institutions? What platforms have Mormon institutions developed, and in what ways have they differentiated or adopted elements of non-Mormon formats (e.g., the 2010s-era mormon.org)? 
  • Presence on Platforms: On which media platforms are members of Mormon movements present? How is Mormonism practiced on different platforms (e.g., on Facebook versus TikTok), and how do the platforms’ technological affordances determine the possibilities of and mediate these practices? How do Mormons interact with themselves and others on platforms? What has been the impact of the proliferation of Mormon social media influencers on institutional authority?
  • Representations on Platforms: How is Mormonism invoked in broader discourses on social media and other platforms? In what ways are Mormons and Mormonism represented on particular platforms (e.g., Hulu, Wikipedia, ChatGPT) and with what broader sociopolitical effects? How does Mormonism intersect with obscure or unexpected platforms (e.g., OnlyFans or PornHub)? 
  • Influences on Platforms: What Mormon-influenced platforms cater to broader populations (e.g., the Angel streaming service), and to what extent is Mormonism still inscribed on them? How does the design and use of Mormon platforms (e.g., the Mutual dating app) differ from mainstream equivalents? 

References

Avance, Rosemary. 2025. Mediated Mormons: Shifting Religious Identities in the Digital Age. University of Utah Press.

Doctorow, Cory. 2025. Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.

Gillespie, Tarleton. 2010. “The Politics of ‘Platforms.’” New Media & Society 12 (3): 347–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809342738.

Greenhalgh, Spencer P., and Ray Celeste S. Tanner. 2026. “The Internet as Distinct and Extended Space for a Community of Christ Congregation Between 2020 and 2022.” Journal of Media and Religion 25(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2025.2554055.

McDannell, Colleen. 2019. Sister Saints: Mormon Women Since the End of Polygamy. Oxford University Press.

Shields, Steven L. 2021. Divergent Paths of the Restoration: An Encyclopedia of the Smith-Rigdon Movement. 5th ed. Signature Books.

van Dijck, José, Thomas Poell, and Martijn de Waal. 2018. The Platform Society: Public Values in a Connective World. Oxford University Press.