Reconfiguring the Digital Media Ecosystem in Da'wah: Media Convergence and the Transformation of Public Information Consumption Patterns

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to examine the reconfiguration of the digital media ecosystem in Islamic da'wah, particularly how media convergence and changing patterns of public information consumption reshape the production, distribution, reception, and legitimation of religious messages in digital environments.

Research Approach and Method: This study employs a descriptive qualitative approach through conceptual library research. Data were collected from scholarly articles, academic books, and institutional reports retrieved through Google Scholar, Garuda, and academic publisher repositories. Relevant literature, primarily published between 2018 and 2026, was examined using descriptive-interpretive content analysis to synthesize the relationships among digital media characteristics, media convergence, information consumption patterns, and changing relations between da'i (preachers) and mad'u (audiences).

Findings: The findings reveal that digitization, interactivity, networked connectivity, and virtuality have transformed digital media from conventional communication channels into participatory spaces for religious engagement. Media convergence facilitates integrated, cross-platform production and distribution of da'wah content, while religious information consumption has become increasingly algorithm-driven, on-demand, visual, personalized, and interactive. Consequently, audiences have evolved from passive recipients into active participants in producing, interpreting, and disseminating religious messages. These developments have reshaped preacher–audience relationships through interactive communication and parasocial intimacy while contributing to the fragmentation of religious authority. Although digital convergence expands the accessibility and reach of da'wah, it also intensifies challenges associated with religious disinformation, algorithmic echo chambers, and digital radicalization.

Research Limitations and Implications: As a conceptual literature-based study, this research does not incorporate primary empirical evidence from interviews, surveys, field observations, or platform analytics. Its findings are therefore interpretive rather than statistically generalizable. Nevertheless, the study advances Islamic communication and da'wah management scholarship by conceptualizing digital da'wah as a dynamic, convergent, and participatory communication ecosystem.

Practical Implications: The findings offer a conceptual foundation for Islamic preachers, religious institutions, and digital content managers to develop integrated cross-platform communication strategies that prioritize audience engagement, message credibility, algorithmic awareness, and the sustainability of religious communication.

Social Implications: This study highlights the importance of critical digital literacy in strengthening responsible religious participation, improving information verification, countering religious disinformation, and fostering constructive interactions within algorithmically mediated religious public spheres.

Originality/Value: This study proposes an integrated conceptual framework encompassing four interconnected dimensions: digital media characteristics, media convergence, transformations in information consumption patterns, and changing preacher–audience relationships. Its originality lies in reframing digital da'wah transformation not merely as the migration of religious communication to online platforms but as a comprehensive reconfiguration of the processes through which religious messages are produced, distributed, consumed, interpreted, and legitimized.