nettime's mod squad on Mon, 2 Sep 2019 19:01:13 +0200 (CEST)


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<nettime> radio nettime: 8 Sept 2019 12:00-13:00


=> SAVE THE DATE

    WHAT: nettime call-in radio
    WHEN: 8 Sept 2019 12:00-13:00
    HOW: web, IRC, skyoe
          to LISTEN: browser > http://fro.at
             click: top yellow banner ‘POP-UP PLAYER” > "play"
       to COMMENT:
          server: irc.stwst.at / channel #stwst48x5
             via the web: https://kiwiirc.com/nextclient/
       to contribute:
          skype (detailed info to come)

# CONTEXT

On 7 June Felix Stalder and I (Ted Byfield), a/k/a nettime's "mod 
squad," sent a message to the list under the subject "Nettime is in bad 
shape. Let's see if we can change it."[1] It was the most recent of 
several efforts we've made over as many years to stem the list's slow 
decline into an occasional watering hole for, as Keith Hart put it, 90s 
internet activists — mostly men — feeling like they're past they're 
sell-by date.[2] Four years ago we half-jokingly announced the end of 
the list,[3] which led to a sack of fan mail protesting that the list 
remained a rare resource of intelligent, long-form debate. Even 
overcoming the list's ur-trauma by switching back to an open, 
non-moderated status about two years ago, barely registered as a blip 
— surely a sign that the list is, if not dead, at least sleeping very 
deeply. At a certain point, it might make sense to draw a curtain on the 
whole thing. The questions are when, maybe why, and maybe even how. Or 
not.

    [1] 7 June 2019, nettime mod squad
    https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1906/msg00009.html

    [2] 1 Apr 2015, Keith Hart, "nottime: the end of nettime"
    https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1504/msg00007.html

    [3] 1 Apr 2015, nettime mod squad, "nottime: the end of nettime"
    https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1504/threads.html

# MORE SPECIFICALLY

Felix and I took over as the core of nettime's mod squad in 1998(!), at 
a time when the list was consumed by the so-called "moderation wars." 
Since then, we've tried to follow a few basic ~ethical guidelines:

    - avoid "speaking for" netttime as representatives or heads
    - keep our roles as subscribers and moderators distinct
    - maintain a fairly low profile

Overall, we think this has worked pretty well for the last two decades, 
but those guidelines have limited what we can say and how. But since the 
list is teetering on the edge of oblivion, we figured we'd take a break 
and speak more openly about what we've learned and why it might matter.

We haven't lost our faith in nettime as a protean project, but the list 
has become a creature of habit. Should we just kill it? Or what, if 
anything might be next? A new list / channel / platform / whatever? An 
archive? A conference? A funeral? A party?

# WELL, AS A MATTER OF FACT...

Our "bad shape" message prompted Shu Lea Cheang, Tanja Brandmayr, and 
Franz Xaver to organize a radio program, "STAY UNFINISHED,"[4] for Ars 
Electronica, which will air on Friday 6 Sept 6th, 18:00 through Sun 8 
Sept 18:00. The program has a series of slots dedicated to a ~family of 
mailing lists — nettime, crumb, faces, -empyre-, and spectre. The 
general theme is pitch-perfect: STAY UNFINISHED.

    [4] Shu Lea Cheang, "STWST48x5 - STAY UNFINISHED"
    https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1908/msg00005.html
    a bit more/earlier background info:
    https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1908/msg00035.html

So:

    - If you have any thoughts / proposals on nettime's future (or lack 
thereof), send them to the list

    - If you want to listen to Felix and Ted talk, tune in
    - If you want to comment on their talk, get on IRC
    - If you want to be on the radio, skype in [moderated, of course 
😉

This discussion is about the BIG-PICTURE FUTURE OF NETTIME, if it has 
one. It's not about the same old litany of which geeky software platform 
you think is best or about complaining about social media or Brexit or 
whatever.

# RADIO PROGRAM SCHEDULE

    12:00-17:00 (CET), September 8, 2019

    12:00-13:00 - Nettime (since 1995)
       moderated by Ted Byfield and Felix Stalder
    13:00-14:00 - crumb new_media_curating (since 2000)
       moderated by Beryl Graham and Sarah Cook
    14:00-15:00 - Faces (since 1997),
       moderated by Valie Djordjević, Kathy Rae Huffman,
       Diana McCarty, Ushi Reiter
       RADIO moderation: Elena Robles Mateo
    15:00-16:00 - empyre- (since 2002)
       moderated by Renate Ferro and Tim Murray
    16:00-17:00 - Spectre (since 2001)
       moderated by Inke Arns and Andreas Broeckmann.
       RADIO moderation: Geert Lovink

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