Mass gatherings are at the center of contemporary discussions about community formation, communication, and social control. As new digital technologies and social media platforms have emerged, the concept of the mass gathering has evolved in parallel to take account of the different ways masses and crowds may form, including digital masses like flash mobs and protest groups. At the same time, these new digital masses provide a remarkable opportunity to reevaluate the broader historiographical framework surrounding mass gatherings. With Social Media New Masses, Inge Baxmann, Timon Beyes, and Claus Pias have brought together a diverse group of sociologists, media and cultural studies theorists, and historians of knowledge and technology who, together, outline the contours of this expanding field of research and analyze the differences between the old and new conceptions of masses and the distinct conditions and political consequences for each. Contributors to the volume include Marie-Luise Angerer, Dirk Baecker, Christian Borch, Christoph Engemann, Charles Ess, Wolfgang Hagen, Peter Krapp, Mirko Tobias Sch fer, and Sebastian Vehlken.

Inge Baxmann is professor in the Department of Theater Studies at the University of Leipzig and a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Timon Beyes is professor of design, innovation, and aesthetics in the Department of Management, Politics, and Philosophy at the Copenhagen Business School and a visiting professor at the Institute for the Culture and Aesthetics of Digital Media at the Leuphana University of Luneburg. Claus Pias is professor of the history and epistemology of media at the Leuphana University of Luneburg, where he directs the Institute for Advanced Study in Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, the Centre for Digital Cultures, and the Digital Cultures Research Lab. Valentine A. Pakis is assistant professor at the University of Toronto's Centre for Medieval Studies.