Brainstorm Week 7, Grace Burchett

The use of social media as algoritmos of emancipation connects to the ideas of forming community, which has been a reoccurring theme in many of our readings. The many forms of art that we have learned about create a community, just as social media does. I think one important distinction is the physical connectedness of social media compared to an art space, such as music, where people gather. In that sense, I think social media fills a gap. It allows people from various areas to connect first online, which leads the way for future physical gatherings such as meetings or protests. I thought this was especially interesting because the idea of fandango depends on people knowing about the space so that they can gather there. For example, one of the women interviewed in a previous week’s video said that she only heard of the Seattle Fandango Project through her husband. I think social media plays this role, because it advertises spaces where community can form and serves as an essential stepping stone to future action. In this way, social media lets people know that they are not alone and that their community exists. This actively resists the idea of social death, and therefore social media is a practice of resilience.