King George Square's Citizens: social media and the intangible cultural heritage of a Brisbane icon

This article considers the implications of social media for the listing of heritage places. Through an analysis of the 'Lost Brisbane' Facebook site, which includes historic and contemporary images of Brisbane's King George Square and related discussion, the value of alternative 'citizen heritage' is examined. While social media provides a place for a community of concerned citizens to express views and share memories of a place, the findings indicate that there is a disconnect between citizen heritage and conventional processes of heritage management, termed 'authorised heritage', particularly around understandings of tangible and intangible cultural value. Despite this, we argue that social media can provide a useful and dynamic augmentation to the relatively static conventional processes for ascribing heritage values.