Spaces & Flows: Ninth International Conference on Urban and ExtraUrban Studies

Abstract

Urban practices in the era of social media find us increasingly designing things to subvert the things we design. Early social media provided a platform that subverted and replaced the social function of public spaces of the city. Simultaneously, everywhere becomes plaza as plazas everywhere begin to vanish. This is seemingly the pinnacle of ex-urban phenomena. Then platforms such as snapchat and Instagram develop a new imperative for social media users; they must be places and substantiate their presence with photographic evidence. This is subverting and replacing their predecessors rapidly. Perhaps it is again setting the stage for urban transformation. Is it possible that the emergence of these new platforms that challenge users to travel, snap, selfie, and proclaim that storied places are “checked-off” some list could revive a popular interest in urban social engagement? Can there be new public spaces that incentivize the spectacular nature of social media posting while reintroducing some degree of human interaction? Especially challenging is the conformity in the way these platforms are used. Regardless of culture people seem inclined to take nearly identical images of places documented many times already. Does this conformity and superficiality diminish cultural relevance of civilizations’ most precious artifacts by viewing them as spectacles to be consumed and remembered as nothing more than a thumbnail in an app? Do we now measure their value based on their capacity to accumulate “likes?” This proposal speculates upon the potential to resurrect the cultural value of public spaces using social media mechanisms.