Social media and the mediation of everyday violence: A study of Colombian young adults’ experiences

Abstract

Social media is a critical element of contemporary ecologies of violence, especially in countries with a long-standing history of armed conflicts – such as Colombia, the setting of this study. In this context, this article explores how violence is mediated through and within social media platforms among Colombian young adults. More specifically, by drawing on Jesús Martín-Barbero, this study explores how violence is mediated on digital platforms across time (temporalities), space (spatialities), technologies and techniques (technicities) and our senses (sensorialities). Methodologically, this case study draws from the experiences of young adults from Colombia who were invited to collaboratively discuss the violence they engage with in their everyday uses of social media platforms. The results show evidence of destabilization of meaning-making practices in the territories of violence that young adults inhabit on digital platforms, as well as processes of normalization of harm.