Interview with Anna-Verena Nosthoff on Cybernetics and Criticism

By Geert Lovink, June 13, 2026

There’s an affective affinity between my internet criticism efforts and the work of German media theorist Anna-Verena Nosthoff, her partner Felix Maschewski, and their Berlin Critical Data Lab. After years in the making, Anna-Verena’s PhD (written in German) was published in early 2026 by Suhrkamp Verlag in their infamous stw series. Its release prompted the [...]

Two Questions on the Flattening of Music Due to Social Media

By Geert Lovink, April 15, 2026

Lesley Wright: Today, club promoters, festival booking agents, artist managers and even specific electronic dance media are more focused on an artist’s social media numbers than the music they make or play. If visibility becomes the dominant currency, what risks do we face in terms of cultural flattening or homogenization? Geert Lovink: The critique of [...]

A Short History of the Browserday Design Competition (1998-2002)

By Geert Lovink, March 12, 2026

Browsers as the Face of New Media In early 1998, Dutch designer Mieke Gerritzen and I dreamed up ‘Browserday’ while working as part of the first generation of Waag, the “Amsterdam Centre for Old and New Media”. Our motivation was clear: back then, browsers like Netscape and Microsoft Explorer were awkward and uninspired. They lacked [...]

Web Design in the Age of AI – Interview with Maisa Imamović

By Geert Lovink, March 4, 2026

At the Launch of Maisa in Webland, Detouring UX Destinies (Set Margins’, 2025) By Geert Lovink “What does ‘user-friendly’ mean if online behaviours like stalking, teasing, and ghosting — once considered peripheral — are now central to survival, care, and belonging?” This comes from the blurb of the second book of INC researcher and LA-based [...]

Wikipedia, Paid Editors and AI – A Letter from Michael Mandiberg

By Geert Lovink, February 10, 2026

Dear Geert, Thanks for sending me your post on the talk page of the “Geert Lovink” Wikipedia article about the paid editors who have given you a shake down. Wild! A bit of context, two hot takes, and a cool calm question: Context: I have been less engaged with Wikipedia since I stepped down from [...]

Interview with Geert Lovink about Platform Brutality

By Geert Lovink, January 21, 2026

By Enrico de Angelis, conducted via email on November 15, 2025, first published on January 20, 2026 by Untold Magazine here. Platform Butality (Valiz, Amsterdam, 2025) is the latest book by Dutch theorist and critic of digital cultures Geert Lovink. It covers the post-COVID period, characterized by wars (the invasion of Ukraine, the genocide in [...]

Second Interview with German Media Theorist Annekathrin Kohout

By Geert Lovink, November 26, 2025

On Annekathrin Kohout’s two recent publications about the hyper-reactive and social media’s take-over of the art world “Art that generates klicks. Careers that depend on the number of followers. Critics who exchange memes instead of reviews. Museum directors who shut up, in fear of shitstorms. Welcome to the Brave New Art World.” This is how [...]

INC Exit Fest

By Geert Lovink, June 24, 2026

24/06/2026 - 26/06/2026 @ All Day - On 24, 25, and 26 June 2026, the Institute of Network Cultures organizes the INC Exit Fest, a community gathering and party that celebrates the departure of our 22 year-old research group from the Amsterdam HvA-polytech to become an autonomous center/NGO/org-net/Dutch cultural organization. The move was instigated by the mandatory retirement at 67 on September [...]

Amsterdam Book Launch of Geert Lovink’s Platform Brutality

By Geert Lovink, November 13, 2025

13/11/2025 @ 17:30 - 19:00 - When: Thursday 13 November, 5.30-8 Where: OT301/Ventilator, Overtoom 301, Amsterdam Organized by: Valiz, Institute of Network Cultures and OT301 Entry: Free Language: English Look at the book here The program begins with a conversation between the author and Stefania Milan (UvA Mediastudies). This will be followed by a presentation by Marissa Memelink from SETUP in Utrecht about their Facebook [...]

Contribution to the Design Debate 2025

By Geert Lovink, October 26, 2025

(This short statement was written for the Next Nature/Design Debate 2025, that took place during Dutch Design Week, on October 25, 2025 in Evoluon, Eindhoven. Geert Lovink in debate with Paul Hekkert about the thesis: “When machines create, there is nothing left for designers.” The event was framed like this: “Welcome to a world where [...]