«utformet ved samarbeide av talløse slegter og folkefærd, baade de mindre og de mere civiliserede»: Tradering og sjangre på den digitale allmenningen

Abstract

As an unintended consequence of the business model of social mediacompanies, a new actor has entered the process where tradition creates new genres: the algorithm. Platform algorithms live dynamic lives in intimate connection with their human users. They sort and filter, rank, amplify and conceal, and they affect what, how and when we share. They are non-humans who enter into the domain of human creativity. As such, they can be used analytically to understand the processual aspect of genre: Algorithms are alteringmechanisms that create continuity. This article will highlight the role of algorithms as actors in the process of tradition and discuss how this can elucidate genre as process. As example, we use the digitally born genre «Internet memes». We suggest a Bakhtinian framework to elucidate what role algorithms play in making the meme one of the most characteristic genres of connective cultures.