Communication (Part I): Information and Noise in the Age of Social Media

Chapter Six focuses on communication practices and social media, examining how the concept of noise features in how cybernetics understands communication and information. The chapter considers how certain communication practice are more prone to problems concerning noise, linking this discussion to the experiences of the Spanish 15M protests where activists highlighted different forms of noise in communication practices. The chapter points towards ‘pink noise’ as a form of noise in networks that is conducive to self-organisation. As well as making an argument for a reappraisal of how we think about noise in relation to social and digital media, the chapter suggests that the concept of ‘pink noise’ can be a constructive contribution to how activists organise around online platforms. Rather that aiming to eliminate noise from communication, the introduction of the notion of ‘pink noise’ shows how that a more nuanced position can be developed that is conducive to the self-organisation at the heart of anarchist cybernetics.