Heritage encounters on social network sites, and the affiliative power of objects Costis Dallas 1 Introduction: Opening the ‘black box’ Exhibit A: Site director - We expect to open at the beginning of July for the friends of travel … in space and in time! (Photos of a group of people listening to a speaker in front of a colonnade) In the palace of Aigai, today with the museum guides! We are slowly preparing, and of course the guides should hear our ‘news’ first, as it is them who will ‘broadcast’ them. 63 shares, 1 comment. Community member - People will walk light-footed because king Philip hears, the courtiers watch over, and their stories are still whispered while others went away and resonate across the world…!! 2 Exhibit B: Museum - The Oath-taking in the Church of Aghia Lavra” by Theodoros Vryzakis. Oil painting, 1851. The historical composition represents the legendary decla- ration of the Greek War of Independence on 25 March 1821 in Kalavryta (Photo of the painting). 1,800 likes, 287 shares, 13 comments. Community member A - What the heck do you mean, ‘legendary’? It happened, and this is not going to change!!!! Correct the post. 3 Exhibit C: Community page owner Refugee camp in front of the Theseion, 1922, Li- brary of Congress (Photo of half a dozen tents, a man seated on the left. In the back- ground, the Classical temple of Hephaestus at the Athenian Agora). 158 likes, 29 shares, 3 comments. Community member A We became a sacrifice [in Greek: ‘thysia’] in front of the Theseion… what do these tents remind you of... an unrooting, then and now… Community member B History repeats itself! 4 What is happening with museums and cultural heritage on Facebook? How do social network sites mediate between the ‘unassailable voice’ of cultural heritage institutions (Walsh 1997) and the polyphonic and dissonant views of source communities, amateurs, and publics? Which pow- ers does tangible cultural heritage hold within the disembodied, intangible realm of social net- work sites, at our postmodern time when the primacy of objects as reliable carriers of signifi- cance is challenged (Bal 2003; Hein 2007; Conn 2010)? What kinds of identities are constructed 1 Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, Canada & Digital Curation Unit, IMIS-Athena Research Centre, Greece. E-mail: costis.dallas@utoronto.ca 2 Alexander the Great Virtual Museum [Facebook group] https://www.facebook.com/groups/414624375246597. 3 The Benaki Museum [Facebook page] https://www.facebook.com/TheBenakiMuseum. 4 Asia Minor Unforgettable Motherland [Facebook page] https://www.facebook.com/anthoula.izmir.