Routledge The Power of Empty Places: From Megalithic Monuments to Social Media (Contemporary Liminality)

Social media has been established as a central feature of the modern world and a propagator of contemporary culture. Political anthropology is employed as a method to understand digital fascination in the modern world. The theory of the void is utilised to examine the destructive features of social media that induce an unreality and provoke users to unfold in alternate ways. Classifying the realm of social media as a void illustrates how the intangible non-place is a divisive feature of modernity. To gain comprehension of the pervasive void created by technology, a consideration of historical precursors can be useful. Features of stone circles, such as their material character, configuration and optical display on the solstice can be used to understand how social media operates to lure people into its domain and promotes entrapment. This book is aimed at individuals with an interest in social media, social theory and political anthropology. It will be of use to those working in the areas of identity, unreality, media and communication studies. It addresses fundamental issues of modernity such as social media, identity and unreality.