Humans of Innsbruck

Between February 2018 and December 2019, I ran the social media project “Humans of Innsbruck” (HoI) together with my partner, the comparative literature scholar and artist Bertram Schrettl. On a Facebook page set up specifically for this purpose, we reported at regular intervals (1-2 posts per week) about the personal concerns, experiences and fates of people who we had addressed completely randomly in public spaces in Innsbruck. We also took a photo for each story on site. We were interested in what concerns people in Innsbruck, regardless of whether banalities or really big emotions or tricky decisions were discussed. The collected anecdotes and photos then served as a basis for further discussions in the comments section of the posts. On the other hand, various contributions actually led to concrete suggestions for support, offers of help, invitations, or at least to a little more understanding of different life concepts or life fates. We mainly wrote texts in German, but at irregular intervals we also wrote texts in English. A total of more than 6,100 FB users “liked” our project and so we managed to build up a small fan base. With our most successful posts we have reached up to 420,000 FB users. In addition to Tirol TV, the 6020 city magazine, the TT-MAGAZIN, the Kronenzeitung and some other media also reported on HoI. After less than two years we decided to bring the project to a conclusion.