Personendepot – A Social Anti-Social Media Platform
Abstract Social media marginalize, put us under pressure, seduce us into excessive consumption. Personendepot as a "social anti-social media platform" offers an alternative. It offers a protected space, makes it possible to get closer to strangers and provide insights into one's own personality. To do this, one selects an object links it to the personal reference and submits it to the digital or physical collection. In the process, a generic code is deposited for anonymous identification. This creates a collection of indirect portraits, both on the web and in an exhibition. The objects remain anonymous at all times and yet have a very personal effect, because the stories associated with them are more meaningful than a selfie. Out of curiosity, people browse the collection and start thinking about themselves. "Personendepot" is based on the realization that we identify ourselves through objects and define ourselves through memories. So the platform serves people who don't want to expose themselves, but still want to reach an audience. But the exchange is forced to remain "anti-social," and anonymization means that the contexts in which objects are selected remain erratic. Thus, the database loses its relevance to what drives this group of people who want to counter conventional social media with an alternative. The step from reflection to action is thus shaped in a new way.
About Personendepot was created as a bachelor project at the zurich university of the arts and will continue to run now.
Nomination Personendepot achieved a nomination at the Swiss Design Association for the Bachelor SDA Award in 2021.
