Paper short abstract:

For the roundtable, I will talk about online spaces beyond social media posts, both the discussions they generate and the interest in anthropology they spark. I argue that there is a public out there with the potential to be fascinated by anthropology, we just need to better facilitate spaces.

Paper long abstract:

For my contribution to the panel, I will reflect upon experiences of The Familiar Strange in generating conversations about anthropology outside the academic space, with particular emphasis on our online presence beyond simply posting to social media. These conversations often don’t reflect the discipline or sub-discipline boundaries that we normally recognise in academia, and the questions asked by the public are often quite different to those we as anthropologists want to ask.

To bring anthropology to a wider audience, we need to not only engage with these conversations, but encourage them. For anthropology to be a household word, it needs to be something people feel as if they are knowledgeable enough to talk about.

Social media has created new spaces in which the general public can engage with anthropology. It is often treated as simply more publicity—another channel to advertise on. However, when used effectively, spaces such as Facebook groups can become spaces in which people engage in wide ranging conversations with each other, not just with the anthropologist. I contribute to the discussion by asking who these people are, what they talk about, and what the challenges are of sustaining these engagements.