Georg Simmel's Stranger Today
The social media user - Simmel's stranger today
In 1908, Georg Simmel used the trader as a paradigm for his idea of 'The Stranger' who is characterised by his mobility, objectivity and position between belonging and exclusion. Today's social media user, I will argue, can be seen as a contemporary, mediated form of Simmel's stranger. I will begin with an analysis of Georg Simmel's essay 'The Stranger' before showing how the essence of this idea is embodied in the social media user of today and why social media itself can be seen as a stranger.
The stranger for Simmel is the man 'who comes today and stays tomorrow'(Simmel,1908, p:143). He therefore did not initially belong to the group in which he is now occupying a paradoxical position of member(as he is a vital part of the group) and outsider(as he only shares the most generic features with the members of this group) at the same time.
Simmel's epitome of the stranger is the trader who is no owner of land but a middleman for goods produced outside the group. He therefore has mostly liquid wealth which gives him the stranger's specific character of mobility. The 'purely mobile person' comes into contact with elements of the group through kinship, locality or occupation …show more content…
The user is transformed into a constant flow of data through messaging, sharing information and surfing websites. This constant flow of data can be said to make the user a stranger insofar as it is a synthesis of the state of attachment to and detachment from every given point (Simmel,p:143). The user is also physically mobile through nowadays technology, being able to log onto social media wherever there is an internet connection available. Just as Simmel's stranger, the social media user's 'appearance of mobility within a bounded group occasions that synthesis of nearness and remoteness which constitutes the formal position of the
In 1908, Georg Simmel used the trader as a paradigm for his idea of 'The Stranger' who is characterised by his mobility, objectivity and position between belonging and exclusion. Today's social media user, I will argue, can be seen as a contemporary, mediated form of Simmel's stranger. I will begin with an analysis of Georg Simmel's essay 'The Stranger' before showing how the essence of this idea is embodied in the social media user of today and why social media itself can be seen as a stranger.
The stranger for Simmel is the man 'who comes today and stays tomorrow'(Simmel,1908, p:143). He therefore did not initially belong to the group in which he is now occupying a paradoxical position of member(as he is a vital part of the group) and outsider(as he only shares the most generic features with the members of this group) at the same time.
Simmel's epitome of the stranger is the trader who is no owner of land but a middleman for goods produced outside the group. He therefore has mostly liquid wealth which gives him the stranger's specific character of mobility. The 'purely mobile person' comes into contact with elements of the group through kinship, locality or occupation …show more content…
The user is transformed into a constant flow of data through messaging, sharing information and surfing websites. This constant flow of data can be said to make the user a stranger insofar as it is a synthesis of the state of attachment to and detachment from every given point (Simmel,p:143). The user is also physically mobile through nowadays technology, being able to log onto social media wherever there is an internet connection available. Just as Simmel's stranger, the social media user's 'appearance of mobility within a bounded group occasions that synthesis of nearness and remoteness which constitutes the formal position of the