Role of Social Media – Technology is touching the skies and pushing boundaries in every aspect of evolution and development. Social media is the one area that has touched personal and professional virtues. Several professions and fields have emerged and are surviving purely on social media. Architecture is no different when it comes to being influenced by social media. To a certain extent, it has become a strategy and a need to have your work out there for people to see, review, like, or share. The space is a frame for a picture-perfect shot that outshines the profiles of architecture firms. It has become a platform to document your work as creatively and flexibly as possible.
The working and involvement of social media can still be an option for an individual. Many companies and firms are now hiring people only to develop their social media outreach, keep up with the market, and make and build a name and credits. It has proved to be extremely helpful. Because of the role of social media, the possibility of collaborating has been more prominent than ever. A person in one part of the world can very favourably contact a person hundreds of miles away and take them on board for a project or two. Digital platforms have helped firms to know each other’s work and connect. Sharing the profile with people makes everything much simpler and accessible. The advantages of these are many and varied. When it comes to designer’s or architect’s work, there is a lot out there on the internet, which is a great way to inspire and learn about materials, details, or design. But referring can conveniently turn into replication. This loses originality and carries a lot of plagiarism charges.
Besides professionals, social media has had a significant impact on the student forefront. There are innumerable Youtube videos and accounts on Instagram and LinkedIn where you can find informative pages and videos of anything related to architecture and everything surrounding it. Once out of student life, budding architects are now turning to social media platforms to showcase their portfolios and look for suitable jobs. It is a vice-versa process where the firms and budding architects come in together to work by sharing the commonality of work, interests, ideas, and cultures in social media.
Digital platforms are now also teaming up with organisations to arrange design competitions where it is an open call for students and professionals; this gives immense opportunities to people of this profession to work in different arenas, with various new challenges, and explore their heart content. This shows how geographical boundaries can be diminished by pushing the media’s tendencies. Through the various media mediums, many fields directly or indirectly connected to architecture have come forward. that has extended for people to exceed their knowledge and build multiple career options too. Artists, product designers, textile designers, furniture designers, and many other professionals can showcase their work now. (Sunil, n.d., #)
Any significant advancement has pros and cons, and social media is no different. These digital platforms allow everyone to highlight their creativity. And while that is a great ordeal, it imposes a lot of competition out there. It can raise issues of mental health and emotional exhaustion. The fast-paced world we live in can be quite intimidating, and to be in the race, it can get disorienting. It is a boon for mankind how social media has turned out to be. But it’s also pertinent to draw a boundary and take a step back whenever need be. (Davis, 2021, #)
One of the prominent examples of social media helping architects establish their building process and convey strong outcomes is that of Surrey City Library by Bing Thom Architects. Located in British Columbia, Canada, the architects had to complete the library’s construction in under 20 months as the government provided the funding. As the project was for the community, it was essential to include public participation and consider their views and needs. Thus, instead of conducting physical meetings with the citizens, a website was put on the internet, along with a Youtube presence, a Twitter account, and a Facebook page where public comments and their requirements were invited. This method turned out to be very successful as the response was very enlightening. People with different age groups had specific demands and were also encouraged to share images of how they would want to see their public library. This helped the architect’s team to know their users firsthand. It helped them add and shape the purpose of the library. (Big Thom Architects, 2012, #)
Social Media, when used smartly, can have amazing results to one’s benefit. Whether generating memes to address everything wrong with the system or profession to accounts and pages dedicated to the benefit of a community or society, digital platforms and architecture have existed harmoniously with each other.
References | Role of Social Media
Big Thom Architects. (2012). Surrey City Centre Library. Architect Magazine. 07/09/2012
Davis, D. (2021). The Architecture of Social Media. Architect Magazine. 08/12/21
Sunil, S. (n.d.). Honest Impact of Social Media on Society and Architecture. The Design Gesture. https://thedesigngesture.com/impact-of-social-media-on-society/
