Social Imaginaries and Networked Feminism (136 views)

In Fotopolo's article, the concept of 'social imaginaries' is defined as the way in which people imagine their social existence, social surroundings and their connections with others. The author goes on to deduce the idea that the social imaginaries of technologies form their own community on the Web 2.0 and that this is what drives for visions and promises of a 'networked feminism'. The stories and opinions of feminists are widely shared and are, more importantly, given a sense of legitimacy within the digital community they have imagined themselves to be a part of. Fotopoulou theorizes that feminist technological imaginaries are “indications of a feminism with a distinct identity in networked environments”, and symptoms of a controlled mode of digital and networked engagement. In other words, networked practices and organizations that have built and defined communities and ideologies of feminism also provide a sense of who belongs in feminism as a social movements and who is excluded from the identity “feminist”, which is often performed online. Do you believe that networked feminism is a more personal and individualistic space for activists to emerge as part of a social movement? Because social technological imaginaries undergo a more networked socialization process than those who participate in 'real' social imaginaries, does this mean that they are more confined to a set of values in their networked community or that they are louder and more opinionated social activists or feminists? That is, keeping in mind that as stated above, networked practices may introduce some forms of discrimination in that participants provide a sense of who belongs in feminism within their networked community.