I think that assemblages are seen everywhere-such that an assemblage refers to a distinct relation between individuals and the material world. The material world may be described as different social media platforms/entities, however it can also exist as companies, different technologies (cars, pencils, etc.). Specifically, these relationships produce agency where without one component of the relation, the task (such as going on instagram,) cannot be completed. Assemblages lead to a cascade of pre-existing entities to help better understand the ‘assemblage’ between an individual and the material thing. Therefore, assemblages exist in assemblages due to the chain of history that is tied to the individual, as well as the material thing. In class, we are looking at tiktok as a means of assemblage due to its reciprocity and interactiveness with the user. To have tiktok as it exists today, there needs to be the corporation, funding, people who consume the media, people who publish media, people who promote the media, original thoughts and ideas, etc. Tiktok is an element of the assemblage between, in this case, the individual and the app tiktok. However I wonder if this assemblage will still exist once new media moves along and tiktok is no longer the prevalent, or most used apps amongst adolescent, or just people in general?
I liek your comparison of aseemblage with real world objects such as companies, cars, and pencils. This brings in another perspective other than only social media platforms. As these assembles bring in various necessities to produce a finished and polished product, it is never truly finished due to the endless subcategories each idea may bring. In class my group talked about a iFixit Repair Video where we identifies the simple ideas such as a device, a youtube, and an idea. However, those are only a few ideas and the subcategories can go on forever to a iPhone, a youtube profile and handle, and a written statement with characters. As it goes further down the rabbit hole, more ideas and concepts are revealed.
I think the different examples of assemblages that you used do a really good job of showing the numerous ways that assemblages manifest themselves in our daily lives. In a way, you could think of practically anything as an assemblage. Every object, material, technological, or even abstract requires a collective group of elements that come together to create an assemblage that serves a specific function. It’s interesting to think about social media platforms as assemblages, as there are so many components that go into them that we don’t even think about.
Before reading your post I had not considered thinking about agency through the lens of history. Or as you put it, “assemblages exist in assemblages due to the chain of history”. Applying your same logic to the example fo Twitter which we discussed in class is also interesting. For example some pieces of the assemblage of Twitter are letters and a mobile device like an iPhone. Both are needed to make Twitter work, but came into being at very different moments of history and the universe had to line up just right in order for them to come together to create the assemblage that is Twitter.