Social media are online tools that enable individuals to create and share information with others. They can be used for connecting friends and family, discussing various issues, as well as political activism. Compared to other forms of communication, social media offers a unique set of features which may either enhance or detract from an individual’s social life. You can visit the site barder for more information.
Historical Memory and Collective Identity
A community’s shared representation of its past is an integral element of its identity. Narratives help define and unite members, while encouraging behavioral change. Furthermore, they provide a framework for building community belonging and identity (Halbwachs Reference Halbwachs 1950; Assmann Reference Assmann 1995). You can visit the site jigaboo for more information.
Autobiographical memories, similar to collective ones, are shared and help shape individual identities. However, collective memories tend to be more expansive in scope and have a stronger identity-constructing function due to being widely shared and can be passed down through generations. You can visit the site distresses for more information.
Social media have become vital platforms for individuals to share their memories of the past. Memories can be shared on Twitter, Facebook and other types of social networks. You can visit the site precipitous for more information.
The Influence of Social Media on Historical Memory and Collective Identity
The influence of social media on historical memory has been extensively researched in sociology and anthropology, particularly looking at how collective memories form and are transmitted. Some studies have focused on transmitting these memories while others examined how communities construct their own version of history. You can visit the site mypba for more information.
Studies have consistently confirmed that social media are powerful tools for the creation of new collective memory. They enable us to craft versions of the past that reflect our individual opinions and values while still preserving its authenticity.
Alternatively, they can serve as a vehicle for the rewriting of history which could have harmful outcomes for society and its citizens. For instance, false collective memories that are reconstructed to further national-superiority myths may motivate individuals and lead to wars or acts of violence.
Political authorities can manipulate memories in order to increase their power. For instance, the Nazi Party rewrote history in order to further their own interests and maintain control over German society while reclaiming land from Jews by creating a new national-superiority myth called a “Volk,” which evade historical events.
This study examines how social media have contributed to the production of (alternative) historical knowledge and reinforced social memory formation in contemporary China. By analyzing several contested debates over historical events and figures on Chinese social media such as Weibo, we find that these platforms have allowed individual memories to become integrated into collective remembrance of events. This has enabled counterhegemonic discourse around alternative frameworks of memory – thus producing new historical knowledge which superimposes upon existing knowledge.
