Speak, memory: the postphenomenological analysis of memory-making in the age of algorithmically powered social networks

Abstract

This paper explores the productive role that social network platforms such as Facebook, play in the practice of memory-making. While such platforms facilitate interaction across distance and time, they also solidify human self-expression and memory-making by systematically confronting the users with their digital past. By relying on the framework of postphenomenology, the analysis will scrutinize the mediating role of the Memories feature of Facebook, powered by recurring algorithmic scheduling and devoid of meaningful context. More specifically, it will show how this technological infrastructure mediates the concepts of memory, control and space, evoking a specific interpretation of the values of time, remembering and forgetting. As such, apart from preserving memories, Facebook appears as their co-producer, guiding the users in determining the criteria for remembering and forgetting. The paper finishes with suggestions on how to critically appropriate the memory-making features of social network platforms that would both enable their informed use and account for their mediating role in co-shaping good memories.

For perpetuating social media collective memory proactively and inclusively: Explore the interests and tensions of stakeholders in preservation actions

“…The ability to understand, preserve, and access social media content may affect our collective ability to comprehend the past events in the future, when the digital landscape may look quite different. Therefore, in recent years, the age‐old question of “How to create an inclusive collective memory” has received sustained attention from disciplines such as media studies, memory studies, and journalism, thanks to the development of social media (Edy & Austin, 2022; Kaun & Stiernstedt, 2014; Kudina, 2022). Surprisingly, there is little research on the issue of preserving collective memory, especially in the field of information science.…”