Internet memes are rewarded with popularity for their repetition of recognizable ideas. Likewise, meme communities tend to adopt a politics that is conservative - especially when the source material readily lends itself to that very politics. In the case of Star Wars, a tale of heroism is being twisted …

In 2017, Denmark sent the first digital ambassador, Casper Klynge, to Silicon Valley. The aim of this move of ‘techplomacy’ was, as Klynge explained, not simply to distribute greetings notes by the Danish queen. Rather, the intention was to ‘update diplomacy’ based on the recognition that a few tech …

This online STS muhabbet, friendly but critically engaging conversation that took place between Yetiskin and Lovink will walk you through the stages of identifying the problems, threats, and possibilities that media technologies have brought to the table of not only users but also social science researchers …

In On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects (1958), French philosopher Gilbert Simondon noticed that humans were losing their reciprocal connection with technology. We push buttons without understanding what’s happening ‘inside’ the machine – whether it’s a light switch or a smartphone. ‘For Simondon, …

(This is part III of a series of essays on meme theory, all published on this site. Part I is called They Say That We Can’t Meme: Politics of Idea Compression. Part II is entitled Rude Awakening: Memes as Dialectical Images)

Technologie mag de mens steeds verder in een hoek duwen, met slimme apparaten en robots die ons werk overnemen. Maar wij hebben taal, hét teken van onze superioriteit over de rest van de wereld. Daarom is het best schrikken als machines zelf een taal ontwikkelen. Ziedaar onze ultieme kwetsbaarheid: in …

As heavily reported by media in May 2018, Google announced that it won’t renew its contract with the US Defense Department for an artificial intelligence endeavor known as Project Maven. The tech giant took the decision amidst a widespread public backlash and multiple employee resignations. Google was …

In Videoblogging Before YouTube, Trine Bjørkmann Berry offers a cultural history of online video, focusing on the critical moment when the internet moved from being a mostly textual medium to a truly multimedia one. Through a close analysis of the early videoblogging community and their creative practices, …

The Digital Critic: Literary Culture Online – a review by Miriam Rasch

Miriam Rasch richtte voor de Maand van de Filosofie een etalage in bij Athenaeum Boekhandel op het Spui. Op ons verzoek licht ze haar keuze toe.