
Thisrichessaysearchesfornewwaysofbeingtogetherintheageofsocialmedia.Wearrangeourlivestoimpressthegazeofothersandhavebecomeaccustomedtobeingseen.Formanyyoungpeople,however,thepartyisover.Neoliberalismhasmademurderouscompetitionthenorm;andinthemeantime,theplanetisdying.FollowingtheunmaskingofFacebook’srealmotives,moreandmorepeoplearedeletingtheirFacebookaccounts–butthisoftenresultsinsocialdeath.ThefirstimageinPossessedsetsthetone:liquefiedleadrunsoverburningsmartphones,followedbyimagesofadevastatedneighbourhoodinAleppo.Eventhesmartphoneshavenotsurvivedtheattack.<br/> MetahavenandRobSchröderhavecreatedasophisticatedvisualcollagefromtheseburningissues,usingeverythingfrommake-uptutorialsandFBIfacialrecognitiontoselfiesofmenriskingtheirlivesbyclimbingintocranes.Obsessedbytheirownimage,peoplearenowlookingforanew,personalwaytorelatetoothers,somewherebetweenthecracksandvoidsofthesystem.<br/> Thechainsofsocialmediamustbecastoff,buttheperpetualquestionremains:Whoislookingoutforyou?AcademicsAlexWilliams(UniversityofEastAnglia)andNickSrnicek(King'sCollegeLondon)addressthiscrucialquestion,alongwithotherissues.OliviaLonsdaleplaysanobsessedwomanfromtheotherside,supportedbysuper-cooledelectronicmusicbyLaurelHalo.