net critique blog by Geert Lovink
By Laurence Scherz, November 10, 2022
The (political) power of memes has moved beyond virtual images. The distinction between the virtual and ‘real life’ no longer applies, or perhaps was never really there. Their effects (or should we say affects?) are moving through digital infrastructures, policy, regulations and bodies. If memes are used as a tool by the alt-right to mobilize [...]
By dimitratrigka, November 8, 2022
By Dimitra Trigka Lux1isbon,[1] jenn1fersbody,[2] virginmary2008,[3] si1kvoid,[4] and livingdeadgirl44.[5] These are some usernames of the few girls that are left on Tumblr. Tumblr died long ago but other social media platforms nowadays like TikTok, Instagram, and Whisper have been overflown with tumblresque girlie personas with glossy hair, long laces, doe eyes, red lips, and perfect [...]
By Tommaso Campagna, October 27, 2022
Theory on Demand #45 Overload, Creep, Excess – An Internet from India Nishant Shah, Ashish Rajadhyaskha, Nafis Hasan. Foreword – Chinmayi Arun This book locates India’s flourishing internet within a complex 24-year history that has seen an unprecedented re-organization of social and political life. Three essays provide independent perspectives on a common area of inquiry, an [...]
By Geert Lovink, September 20, 2022
Vrijdag 23 september 2022, om precies 15.00 uur, vindt de officiële opening van LetterVerZ plaats bij De Dokwerker en de Weesperbrug, de M.S. Vaz Diasbrug. Daarmee vieren we dat het bruggedicht Wibautotisme van Kristian Kanstadt daar exact 40 jaar onder hangt, in de typografie van Karim Hashem. In choreografie openen boten de brug, zingt een [...]
By Geert Lovink, September 15, 2022
Ten years ago I began writing a book. It was going to be called Power/Sharing and would pick up on my previous book Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. It was a turbulent time: the occupy movement, M15 and the indignados movement, the protests in Tunisia and Egypt, protests against legislation called SOPA/PIPA, [...]
By Maisa Imamovic, September 13, 2022
The Psychology of the Web Developer, Reality of a Female Freelancer By Maisa Imamović Underneath the user interface of any website—be it simple or complex—lurks the web developer’s struggle with money, prestige, and power. An ever-lasting race to the top, never not working. Yet what are these unseen costs of being a traditional web developer, [...]
By Geert Lovink, September 8, 2022
Invitation for ‘Out of Place’ Inaugural Lecture by Patricia de Vries Gerrit Rietveld Academy, September 29, 2022, 4-6PM The newly appointed Gerrit Rietveld Academy research professor (‘lector’) and former INC researcher Patricia de Vries will present her inaugural lecture at the start of the academic year 2022–2023. In this lecture, she will elaborate on the [...]
By Geert Lovink, August 15, 2022
From: tatjanaseitz@hotmail.com We can finally announce the schedule for the forthcoming workshop, ‘Agre After Techno-Utopianism’, to be held at the University of Siegen, Germany/hybrid, 1-2 September. We will hold two paper sessions on ‘Agre as a Philosopher’ and ‘Capture and Capitalism’, with contributions from a range of scholars. In addition, we have a number of [...]
(Dutch version below) Under the weight of growth and expansion, the city is cracking at the seams, seemingly about to collapse under its own weight. In the process, it’s making all kinds of noises—like an abandoned house that hasn’t been taken care of in years. And like any abandoned old house, the city is haunted. [...]
By Kateryna Iakovlenko, July 11, 2022
Photo: Dmytro Shutaiev, (17 March 2021), with Roman Ratushny. For several months I have been monitoring social media feeds looking for views from the war-zone. Not coincidentally, many current soldiers are intellectuals, artists, photographers, music promoters, and cultural activists—people who would never take up arms under other circumstances today are lying in a trench, and [...]
