- Social context is less developed and more limited in digital spaces than in real life, in part because we are actively developing social norms and frameworks, and in part because [[{1.2a1} social media requires fragmentation and decontextualization of our identities|social media actively decontextualizes our identities]]. - When we join a new platform or find ourselves in a new digital space, we look to see how other people are engaging. - I reflected on this in [[SOC on Discord, the Internet, and Visibility]] where I talk about “fitting in” within a digital space in terms of interest and skills, but not knowing how to navigate the *performance* of those things — feeling like you’re not in on the joke, or aren’t sure if there even is a joke, and feeling like an outsider even when you’ve been invited into the circle. - We look for what others are doing as signals for what *we* should be doing. - At the same time, our development of this context is also limited by platform capabilities. We’re working to build culture on and within predetermine architecture. - Regardless, the culmination of this, as [[boyd, danah|boyd]] [[boyd, danah - 2007 - None of this is Real|writes]]: - “…**digital networks will never merely map the social, but inevitably develop their own dynamics through which they become the social**…” - I think there is a connection to be made here with social capital… Some questions: - Is it advantageous that we’re shaping these norms? Is being active in the development of social media “culture” beneficial to navigating these new frameworks in the future? - At the same time, how much are we shaping versus developers? - Is social media context navigation a new *form* of cultural capital? Is this a cultural capital that young people can leverage in ways they couldn’t before?