Accidental Representation – The Reconfiguration of Representation through Social Media

Social media has been recognized for its empowering potential in terms of participation, less so in terms of representation. Social media is said to be essentially a post-representative sphere because it allows citizens to speak for themselves. Against this backdrop, this paper shows how the simultaneous empowerment of authors and audiences in the interactive and participative culture on social media produces a distinct logic of representation. The exemplary case studies of the German ICU nurse Ricardo Lange and the evicted renter Kirsty Archer show how ordinary citizens are subjected to an accidental form of representation on social media. Challenging the constructivist understanding of representation, accidental representation refers to the emergence of de facto representatives due to a loss of control over the meaning of representative claims and means of authorization.