context collapse

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Context collapse refers to when a social media user who belongs to a specific peer or social group shares a post publicly but with the expectation that the audience understands the social norms and practices of the group creating a “private” post in public. Then another social media user, not part of the peer group, encounters or interacts with the post using a different set of norms, values, and practices.

The collapse occurs when something written in one context is repeated to another context, often for the purpose of attacking the writer - it is a key failing of twitter and a misunderstanding of publics.

Context Collapse can often occur among vulnerable and unrepresented populations such as People of Color or those who identify as non-binary. Often these groups develop sets of social practices on social media that are unknown to the majority of users from dominant cultures.

See Also

• context
• reply context
• algorithmic feed
• https://medium.com/message/context-collapse-architecture-and-plows-d23a0d2f7697
• https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/the-new-york-times-fired-my-doppelganger/554402/
• http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2013/12/08/coining-context-collapse.html
• https://twitter.com/l1quidcryst4l/status/1026256546114822151?s=19
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Twitter
  • "new to queer twitter? just made your account? came out recently? well, lucky for you, i’m going to save you a whole bunch of heartache with the official:
    
    JESS FROM ONLINE GUIDE
    TO QUEER TWITTER ETTIQUITE" @l1quidcryst4l August 6, 2018
• How (and Why) to Disable Algorithmic Feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

The biggest drawback of algorithmic feeds is that you might be looking at irrelevant content. When you see something on your timeline and want to comment, you will have to check the timestamp to see if your comment is still relevant or not.

• 2020-01-13 Nicholas Carr From context collapse to content collapse has some good implied questions about how to improve social feeds, feed readers, online journalism
• https://www.theguardian.com/help/insideguardian/2019/apr/02/why-were-making-the-age-of-our-journalism-clearer Description of how the Guardian is highlighting published dates on their articles and images in their social shares to show how old particular stories are to prevent context collapse and misinformation
• https://invisibleup.com/articles/31/
• https://twitter.com/mollypriddy/status/1458547625951744011
  • "im sorry my tweet about me didn’t take your entire life’s context into consideration" @mollypriddy November 10, 2021
• 2022-11-04 fluffy: The Dangers of Context Collapse