1. That’s not what I remember
Social media is a spectacle of social interaction. As a commodity, it collects otherwise unorganized interactions into a referencing system—timelines, stories, post comments—that allow us to go back to specific interactions and reflect in an entirely new way.
What was once subject to the accuracy or tenacity of our own individual memories, not to mention the differences in our subjective experiences, is now systematized and objectively real. Social media materializes social interaction in such a way that it can function as a library of our individual reflections, thoughts, and engagements with others. Depending on the platform, these can include people we know in real life (IRL) or complete strangers. The way we interact with others through social media has a lot in common with IRL interactions, but the most fundamental similarity is the emotional reality of both. A nasty comment can be just as a disturbing on social media as IRL, and possibly worse, given the potential amplification through the internet.
2. Digital and analog classes
Does online vs. offline present a new class structure?
Does offline vs. online imply borders impacting cities, space, nations, etc.?
3. Digital culture hegemony
The variety of social interactions and the conditions influencing them are standardized through digital technology. This allows for individuals within geographic or national locations to experience and communicate social reality in common ways. Language or national identity are less determinant of how social interaction happens, since the design of those interactions is determined by the information architecture of a specific platform. The only way in which traditional structures of human social behavior prevails within social media is by virtue of the norms influencing the design of the platform itself. This means considering whether, for instance, American social norms or a specific class outlook affects how a digital platform organizes information and user experience. This, of course, precludes the more basic assumptions of digital technology and communication that follow from the economic and material development of industrial civilization.