Ordinary Affects of Facebook

Facebook algorithms are strange and often behave in unexpected ways. Social scientist Taina Bucher describes “the algorithmic imaginary” as ways of thinking about what algorithms are, what they should be, and how they function. It’s crucial that we understand how automated systems makes people feel if we want to understand their social power.

Ordinary Affects of Facebook (2018) grew out of research I conducted as part of my graduate thesis project, which looked at how people experience social platforms affectively. Inspired by Bucher’s paper of the same title, I asked people to share anecdotes about their unsettling experiences with the Facebook platform.

You can access and print a copy of the zine here.

Becca Ricks

Ordinary Affects of Facebook