Architecture in the age of social media: introduction to the special issue

Purpose: This special issue brings together the work of scholars investigating architecture’s interaction with social media across a broad spectrum of geographical contexts, methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks. The aim of this effort is twofold: to provide a snapshot of the current state of the field of research concerned with architecture as it is influenced by the unique features of social media and to delineate something that might become a shared agenda through which the field might be advanced. Design/methodology/approach: The introduction provides a critical overview of the papers in the special issue and how they connect to the field. Findings: The entanglements of architecture with social media are complex, multi-valent and heterogeneous, and an understanding of architecture’s relationship with social media is still unfolding. Future scholarship will require interdisciplinary approaches, drawing on methods from fields such as media studies, sociology, anthropology, visual culture and data science. While much of the existing scholarship focuses on case studies – individual buildings, firms or cities – there is a need for more systematic research that can address broader questions. Originality/value: This collection maps a variable terrain rather than proposing a singular path forward for scholarship. Architecture continues to respond to the logics of media, even as media becomes social in new and unexpected ways. The importance of studying how architecture is affected by social media extends beyond the profession itself: the actions people take online end up having impacts on buildings and urban spaces as well as social realities.