240525 SE The Materiality and Visuality of Social Media (P4) (2021S)

This course gives a critical overview about the material and visual dimension of social media and their interconnection. In doing so, it focuses on the everyday integration and utilization of social media in a variety of sociocultural contexts.

Social media platforms and services, such as Facebook or Instagram, have become important (visual) communication and (re)presentation tools. For social and cultural anthropology it is of particular interest how these platforms are integrated and embedded into everyday life, by considering changing sociocultural, political and economic contexts.

This course focuses on the materiality and visuality of social media and how they are utilized on a day-to-day basis. Questions about the relevance of a material culture approach for (the understanding of) technology appropriation – on a theoretical and practical level – as well as questions about (culturally) different usage practices are discussed. How does the understanding and conceptualization of social media as a digital form of material and visual culture contribute to the exploration and analyses of contemporary and emerging sociocultural practices and processes in increasingly digital societies?

By working on different case studies, students get a comparative overview about material and visual culture in a digital context. The university's online learning management system Moodle is used to conduct and organize the course, to provide resources and content as well as to foster students' exchange and communication.