Posts By: marcstumpel

Social media startup company ‘Unthink’, already referred to as the...

Unthink..Pay for openness and freedom? Think again!

By marcstumpel, October 26, 2011

Social media startup company ‘Unthink’, already referred to as the ‘Anti-Facebook’, has launched the beta version of its website. Unthink positions itself as a more ‘open’ and more ‘honest’ form of social networking. The users supposedly are ‘the owners of their data’, and not the ‘product’ being sold to advertisers. At first sight, the videos, [...]
Social media integrations, such as ‘Like’, ‘Tweet’ and ‘Plus’ buttons,...

Antisocial Integrations: Inverting the Tracking Logic

By marcstumpel, October 21, 2011

Social media integrations, such as ‘Like’, ‘Tweet’ and ‘Plus’ buttons, are pervasive on the Web. It seems as if no one ever thinks twice about adding them to their website, as long as they lead to more visitors and attention. However, privacy advocates and researchers have recently drawn attention to the issue of tracking by [...]
Artists play a crucial role in visualizing power relationships and...

Museums and artists take a stand against the dominance of social media

By marcstumpel, October 13, 2011

Artists play a crucial role in visualizing power relationships and disrupting subliminal daily routines of social media usage. They are often first to deconstruct the familiar and to facilitate an alternative lens to understand and critique these media. As a matter of fact, Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel, is one of the artists who pressingly calls [...]

Do not judge Facebook by its cover! Exploring discourse beyond the user interface.

By marcstumpel, October 6, 2011

The word ‘default’ has lost its essence and meaning. Facebook has once again changed default features and settings of its software, which can simply be regarded as yet another push of the ideology of ‘connectedness and openness’. Let us not forget Beacon (2007), changes of the privacy policy (2009) and the introduction of the Open [...]