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News Release

Clark County Historical Museum Speaker Series Examines The History Of The Social Media Feed (Photo) - 09/16/26

VANCOUVER, Wash. — How did social media become something designed to keep us scrolling? On Thursday, October 1, the Clark County Historical Museum’s Speaker Series will explore the history behind one of the defining features of the modern internet with Built, Not Broken: A History of the Feed You Can’t Leave, presented by Kayla Anderson.

 

The program begins at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m., at the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 E Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, Washington.

 

This October installment of the Clark County Historical Museum Speaker Series is presented in special partnership with the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and the National Park Service. Through the partnership, admission to the program is free and open to the public.

 

Anderson, founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Riparian Media, will trace the evolution of social media from the early web through the development of the infinite scroll and into today's AI-generated digital landscape.

 

“We tend to think of social media as something that happened to us,” Anderson says. “This talk traces how it was built, from the early web’s clicking-through-pages problem, to the invention of the infinite scroll, to the moment social platforms realized that a feed with no bottom is a feed you never leave.”

 

The presentation will follow two decades of platform evolution and consider the choices that shaped the way people experience social media today. Anderson will ultimately ask a question that is increasingly relevant as artificial intelligence transforms online content: What do we want this thing to be next?

 

Anderson is the founder and CEO of Riparian Media, a full-service creative agency based in Vancouver, Washington. She has worked professionally in content creation since 2018 and has a background in climate science communication. Her work earned recognition from Harvard’s C-CHANGE as a “Climate Creator to Watch.” Since founding Riparian in 2022, Anderson has built an agency serving organizations throughout the region, helping them determine what to say and where to say it. She has spent much of her career watching social media platforms rise, evolve and, at times, collapse in real time.

 

The Clark County Historical Museum Speaker Series is held throughout the year and features presentations exploring the people, places, events and ideas that have shaped Clark County and the wider region.

 

Built, Not Broken: A History of the Feed You Can’t Leave is sponsored by the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission, with The Columbian serving as media sponsor. The program is presented in special partnership with the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and the National Park Service.

 

WHAT: Built, Not Broken: A History of the Feed You Can’t Leave
WHO: Kayla Anderson, Founder and CEO of Riparian Media
WHEN: Thursday, October 1, 2026
DOORS: 6 p.m.
PRESENTATION: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 E Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, WA 98661
ADMISSION: Free and open to the public. Registration required: www.cchmuseum.org

 

Attached Media Files: SpeakerSeriesOctober26.jpg,

Clark County Historical Museum Speaker Series Examines The History Of The Social Media Feed (Photo) - 09/16/26

VANCOUVER, Wash. — How did social media become something designed to keep us scrolling? On Thursday, October 1, the Clark County Historical Museum’s Speaker Series will explore the history behind one of the defining features of the modern internet with Built, Not Broken: A History of the Feed You Can’t Leave, presented by Kayla Anderson.

 

The program begins at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m., at the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 E Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, Washington.

 

This October installment of the Clark County Historical Museum Speaker Series is presented in special partnership with the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and the National Park Service. Through the partnership, admission to the program is free and open to the public.

 

Anderson, founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Riparian Media, will trace the evolution of social media from the early web through the development of the infinite scroll and into today's AI-generated digital landscape.

 

“We tend to think of social media as something that happened to us,” Anderson says. “This talk traces how it was built, from the early web’s clicking-through-pages problem, to the invention of the infinite scroll, to the moment social platforms realized that a feed with no bottom is a feed you never leave.”

 

The presentation will follow two decades of platform evolution and consider the choices that shaped the way people experience social media today. Anderson will ultimately ask a question that is increasingly relevant as artificial intelligence transforms online content: What do we want this thing to be next?

 

Anderson is the founder and CEO of Riparian Media, a full-service creative agency based in Vancouver, Washington. She has worked professionally in content creation since 2018 and has a background in climate science communication. Her work earned recognition from Harvard’s C-CHANGE as a “Climate Creator to Watch.” Since founding Riparian in 2022, Anderson has built an agency serving organizations throughout the region, helping them determine what to say and where to say it. She has spent much of her career watching social media platforms rise, evolve and, at times, collapse in real time.

 

The Clark County Historical Museum Speaker Series is held throughout the year and features presentations exploring the people, places, events and ideas that have shaped Clark County and the wider region.

 

Built, Not Broken: A History of the Feed You Can’t Leave is sponsored by the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission, with The Columbian serving as media sponsor. The program is presented in special partnership with the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and the National Park Service.

 

WHAT: Built, Not Broken: A History of the Feed You Can’t Leave
WHO: Kayla Anderson, Founder and CEO of Riparian Media
WHEN: Thursday, October 1, 2026
DOORS: 6 p.m.
PRESENTATION: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 E Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, WA 98661
ADMISSION: Free and open to the public. Registration required: www.cchmuseum.org

 

Attached Media Files: SpeakerSeriesOctober26.jpg,