Interview with Geert Lovink on Social Media Blues (for art.art)

By Geert Lovink, January 13, 2020

Original here: https://art.art/blog/2020-the-year-mindful-digital-consumption-will-finally-trend-interview-with-media-theorist-geert-lovink/. The interview was done via Skype. By Daria Kravchuk and Maria Efimova (art.art) You are known for your work on the negative psychological effects of Internet addiction, on the so-called «digital sadness» among the younger generation. What research is it based on? Geert Lovink: I’m not a psychologist and I don’t work [...]

Social Media Abyss (2016), out now in Spanish Translation (e-book)

By Geert Lovink, January 12, 2020

http://editorial.centroculturadigital.mx/libro/el-abismo-de-las-redes-sociales-culturas-criticas-de-internet-y-la-fuerza-de-la-negacion I am proud to present the Spanish translation of my book Social Media Abyss (Polity Press, 2016): El abismo de las redes sociales, Culturas críticas de internet y la fuerza de la negación, published by the Centro de Culturas Digital in Mexico City. Thanks to Paz Sastre who played a crucial role in making [...]

Dispersed publications of 2019 by Geert Lovink

By Geert Lovink, January 10, 2020

– Geert Lovink & Donatella della Rattta, Bridging the gap between technology and progressive politics, Social media offers a collective fantasy that some call ‘direct democracy’, in: The Progressive Post, May 10, 2019, https://progressivepost.eu/focus/bridging-the-gap-between-technology-and-progressive-politics. – Debating the East-European Soros Centre for Contemporary Arts Network–A Dialogue between Aaron Moulton and Geert Lovink, published on July 15, [...]

Interview with Geert Lovink by Susana Picos for Librújula Magazine

By Geert Lovink, January 10, 2020

Original English email exchange with Geert Lovink by Susana Picos for Librújula Magazine Spanish version: http://librujula.com/actualidad/2625-internet-esta-roto-otras-redes-sociales-son-posibles Susana Picos: Is there a risk that what we experience as ‘social’ will be limited to ‘social media’? Geert Lovink: We are what we share. This is our consensual reality. We’re no longer be able to distinguish between real [...]

Open Letter of Dutch Vice-Chancellors: Digitisation Threatens our University

By Geert Lovink, January 9, 2020

Original Dutch version (published 22nd December, 2019): https://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-opinie/digitalisering-bedreigt-onze-universiteit-het-is-tijd-om-een-grens-te-trekken Open letter, signed by most vice-chancellors of Dutch universities, calling for a halt of commercial platforms used by Dutch public universities: Digitisation threatens our university. It’s time to draw a line Digitisation and privatisation in higher education go hand in hand. Dependence on (American) technology companies is [...]

Tribute to ‘General Intellect’ Benedetto Vecchi

By Geert Lovink, January 7, 2020

With great sadness the news reached us today (via Patrice Riemens) of the death of the Italian ‘general intellect’ writer Benedetto Vecchi. He was responsible for the cultural section of the Italian dialy Il Manifesto. Vecchi was involved in Euronomade and the author of a number of books on internet culture–a topic that my generation [...]

Notes on the Networked Psyche–Exploring Online Hyper-Sensibilities

By Geert Lovink, January 6, 2020

Essay by Geert Lovink, first published on Eurozine: https://www.eurozine.com/notes-on-the-networked-psyche/. “Don’t hope, cope.” Tomi Ungerer—“Just forgot that life is pain and then remembered again.” Tweet—“Truth is like poetry, and most people fucking hate poetry.” Lotte Lentes— “I don’t need you, I have wifi.” Addie Wagenknecht—“Quitting is a strength, not a weakness.” Ingeborg Bachmann—“Trigger warnings trigger me.” [...]

Interesting exchange with Martha Cambronero for ctxt magazine

By Geert Lovink, December 18, 2019

https://ctxt.es/es/20191218/Culturas/30021/geert-lovink-redes-sociales-capitalismo-de-plataforma-soberania-digital-marta-cambronero.htm “Las recomendaciones de los algoritmos nos están machacando” The English original of the email interview with Geert Lovink by Martha Cambronero for the Spanish revista contexto CTXT nr. 251 you can find here. I really liked the questions and the dialogue. Martha Cambronero: The Internet gurus predicted that social networks and instant messaging applications [...]

English original of interview with 20 minutos (Spanish news site)

By Geert Lovink, December 16, 2019

El bloqueo de las redes y la bomba emocional que nos ha atrapad– Geert Lovink dice en ‘Tristes por diseño’ que estamos hartos de internet, pero no podemos dejarlo ni cambiarlo. https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4087811/0/entrevista-geert-lovink-tristeza-por-diseno-redes-sociales/ English original of email interview with Geert Lovink by Mirentxu Mariño (20 Minutos editor) MM/20 Minutos: We are, supposedly, tired about social networks, [...]

Interview with Geert Lovink by Andreu Jerez (in Spanish)

By Geert Lovink, December 7, 2019

Orginally published in El Periodico, December 6, 2019 by Andreu Jerez: https://amp.elperiodico.com/es/mas-periodico/20191206/geert-lovink-la-idea-de-facebook-como-comunidad-es-de-chiste-7763593 La crisis del ‘brexit’ y el escándalo de Cambridge Analytica en el 2016 acabaron con la imagen idílica e inocente que teníamos de las redes sociales. Desde entonces, cada vez tenemos más evidencias de la existencia de mecanismos de manipulación y de que [...]