SITUATION #124

“So while it may seem that the decline of symbolic efficiency ushers in a new era of freedom from rigid norms and expectations, fluidity and adaptability of imaginary identities are accompanied by fragility and insecurity. Imaginary identities are incapable of establishing a firm place to stand, a position from which one can make sense of one’s experience, one’s world.”“In fact, in our contemporary media networks, we confront this uncertainty constantly – who is looking at our profile? Who is following us? What did they think about what we posted? What will future employers or lovers think? What will we think in the future?”

Quote from Jodi Dean, “Communicative Capitalism: This Is What Democracy Looks Like”, in Communication and the Economy, eds. Joshua S. Hanan & Mark Hayward (New York: Peter Lang, 2014), 147–164, here 155 & 154.