7(2) 2021: Networked Images in Surveillance Capitalism

Browsing 7(2) 2021: Networked Images in Surveillance Capitalism by Author "Hosters, Sascha"

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  • Article
    Black Squares and Gucci: Networked Images and the (In)Visibility of Surveillance
    Hosters, Sascha; Roesler-Keilholz, Silke (2021) , S. 97-118
    This paper seeks to investigate the (invisible) effects of networked images by introducing their rhizomatic structure in the intersecting spheres of fashion and social media. By juxtaposing different modes of visual campaigns with socio-political and economic incentives, the authors aim to expose a spectrum of visualisations and user be- haviour that reflects on the underlying platform dynamics at play in the framework of surveillance capitalism. At one extreme, there is #theshowmustbepaused a.k.a. #blackouttuesday – a social awareness campaign that began in response to the killing of George Floyd and effectively blacked out Instagram for one day on June 2nd, 2020 –; and at the other, there is Gucci, the Italian luxury brand, which posted its own statement on the same day and has established a unique cosmos of kaleidoscopic images with innovative (online) campaigns. As such, this unique event functions as a watershed moment, not only for analysis of the ambiguity and immediacy by which images are shared online, but also for exposing the underlying structure of Instagram’s advertising and engagement model. Whereas on its own, the “black square” was born of a socio-political moment of crisis and developed an unintended effect of deletion – the juxtaposition with Gucci’s advertising campaigns stands as a paradigm for the commer- cial appropriation of internet (sub)culture in surveillance capitalism.