Search engines are so deeply rooted in our daily routines that most people rarely think about them. It is a black boxed technology, appearing simple on the surface but with a sophisticated infrastructure and complicated functionalities underneath. The hype around Facebook and other social media platforms has drawn the attention even further away from these opaque services. Nevertheless, there is no doubt search engines are still dominating the current Internet and nothing indicates that this will change anytime soon.

None of the problems discussed in INC´s Society of the Query initiative a few years ago has become less relevant: Google is still dominating the market and alternative providers can hardly compete. Online search remains an unquestioned practice and a new literacy to understand this technology is largely missing. Google´s policy on privacy has not become any less problematic and many legal questions are unanswered. For example, just recently, Germany´s former first lady has sued Google because its autocomplete feature supported the rumor that she worked as a prostitute.

Controversy: Google´s suggests “prostitute” for the name of Bettina Wulff

So, there is little doubt that search engines need to be studied and the attention shift towards social media platforms has made it even more important to address the issues related to them. We are going to do this in various ways: Firstly, we want to find out more about the recent developments in this field. Which new insights can we gain from theoretical and empirical research? Are there artistic approaches which give us a novel perspective on search engines and their impact on culture? How do technological advances change our search experience (for example, the increasing usage of search engines through mobile devices or the trend of personalization)?

In order to tackle these questions, we will benefit from the already existing networks which emerged from the first Society of the Query initiative. But of course we are also eager to get to know more researchers, artists and activists who work on innovative projects in this area. We have already created a mailing list to get in touch and exchange information quickly. Please join if you are interested. We also would like to revive this blog which will ideally become a vibrant collaborative platform for various pieces to the wide area of search: short articles, reviews, news on related events etc. Drop me a line, if you would like to contribute. Finally, we aim at a follow-up conference of Society of the Query in September 2013.

So stay tuned and get in touch!

P.S.: I´m a new INC intern. If you want to know more about me and my work click here.