Facebook has fundamentally changed how the world connects. No other company has played a greater role in the history of social networking online. Yet Facebook is no longer simply a social networking site or social media platform. Facebook is Facebook.
Taina Bucher shows how Facebook has become an idea of its own: something that cannot be fully described using broader categories. Facebook has become so commonplace that most people have a conception of what it is, yet it increasingly defies categorization. If we want to understand Facebook’s power in contemporary society and culture, Bucher argues, we need to start by challenging our widespread conception of what Facebook is. Tracing the development and evolution of Facebook as a social networking site, platform, infrastructure and advertising company, she invites readers to consider Facebook anew. Contrary to the belief that nobody uses Facebook anymore, Facebook has never been more powerful.
About the Speaker
Taina Bucher is an Associate Professor in screen cultures in the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo. She studies the relationships and entanglements between algorithms, social and political concerns – examining how users experience and make sense of algorithmic power and politics. She is also the author of the book IF … THEN: Algorithmic Power and Politics (published in 2018 by Oxford University Press). Taina teaches and supervises digital media-related topics. From 2013-2019, Taina worked as an Associate Professor in Communication and IT, University of Copenhagen.
About CAMRI
The Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) is a world-leading centre in the study of media and communication and is renowned for its critical and international research. CAMRI is situated in the School of Media and Communication. It builds on a long tradition of research in media and communication that spans five decades, as the university launched the first British media studies degree in 1975. The University of Westminster has been consistently ranked highly in media and communication studies according to the Research Excellence Framework and the QS World University Rankings.
CAMRI’s objective is to serve as a platform for critical media and communication studies that develop the legacy of the “Westminster School”. Our research analyses communication power in light of current transformations in society and the communications landscape. CAMRI’s research is organised in five thematic networks focusing on global media, political economy and communication policy, digital media, cultural identities and social change, as well as communication theory, history and philosophy. CAMRI studies the media and communication from an international and global perspective. Our work privileges sociological inquiry and qualitative methods. It takes a contextual approach that is historical, sceptical and nuanced. Our research is grounded in theory and is rich in empirical detail, thereby informing both a critical understanding of contemporary media, as well as new approaches to policy-making and practice.
CAMRI’s research is based on a broader purpose and vision for society. Our work examines how the media and society interact and aims to contribute to progressive social change, equality, justice, and democracy. CAMRI takes a public interest and humanistic approach that seeks to promote participation, facilitate informed debate and strengthen capabilities for critical thinking, complex problem solving and creativity.
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