Recognition in the Age of Social Media

The desire to be recognized as a member of society is a basic human trait. In contemporary society, social media platforms play a key role in defining how such processes of recognition take shape. To post, to like or to comment have become daily practices of expressing individual value and recognition. On the one hand, social media platforms make it easier for individuals to be visible and to be recognized; on the other hand, they control the structure of these dynamics. This timely and original book reflects on processes of recognition on social media platforms. Revisiting traditional discussions on recognition theory, Bruno Campanella investigates how the field of media and communication has used the concept and poses new questions raised by the omnipresence of social media in daily sociability. He argues that existing work on mediated recognition does not fully explore the impact of platforms on contemporary processes of recognition. Individuals have to learn new skills to give visibility to their self-realization online, but the very definition of this and how to achieve it changes as a consequence of the role played by platforms: what is seen depends on decisions taken by their algorithms, and directly interferes in how individuals and social groups are valued in society. Recognition in the Age of Social Media is an essential text for anyone trying to make sense of how dynamics of recognition on platforms have given rise to new "personal dispositions", which are related to the economic logics of platform society. A key contribution to the field, this is a must-read for students and scholars of media and communication, sociology, and politics.