Symposihmm: The New Orality

In recent years, concerns over social media’s impact on cognitive abilities has been growing. While it’s very hard to prove a direct causal link with online platforms, studies have show that since the early-to-mid-2010s, literacy and abilities like reasoning and problem solving have been declining.

In tandem with this measured decline in literacy, we see the theory that social media, or short-form video content, is ushering in a new age of orality gaining popularity. During the first oral era, before the invention of the written word and widespread literacy, the main way of sharing information was verbally. The switch to a literate culture is thought to not only have changed our relation with information, but even to have reshaped our consciousness. Now, with contemporary social media, some theorists speculate that we’re in a second oral age, where the characteristics of verbal communication are returning as the primary mode of transferring information within our network of online platforms.

With the Symposihmm: The New Orality we want to explore this pivotal moment. Are online platforms chipping away at our ability to read and understand? Are we entering a new oral age, and what are the implications of this? Are there fruitful ways to push back against this shift, or should we be searching for more meaningful ways to make sense of these new modalities so we can navigate our way through them?

The Hmm is a platform for internet cultures. We explore and celebrate the creativity sparked by virtual interactions and their interplay with the technologies shaping them. Through accessible events, research, exhibitions, and educational programs, we offer curious audiences playful and engaging insights into online life.