Joey Holder’s project explores the construction of belief in online networks. Collaborating with investigative journalists from Goldsmiths University, London and sociologists from Derby University, Holder infiltrates polarized groups and forums in social media to research the emergence of collective behavior and the way it affects our world views. Immersing herself into and scrutinizing these echo chambers, Holder investigates how personal journeys lead to extreme convictions and the segregation of groups into ever more radical poles of religious, political, and social beliefs. Key concepts include Identity Process Theory, which aims at understanding how identities and actions adjust to changes in the social world, and Synchromysticism, a portmanteau of synchronicity and mysticism, which tries to find meaningful significance with mystical connotations in what may otherwise seem to be mundane coincidences.

#polarization #collectivebehavior #segregation #identity
#synchronicity #mysticism #infiltration

photos: Nysos Vasilopoulos, 6th Athens Biennale 2018 ANTI