Geert Lovink on Sun, 1 Jan 2023 22:49:23 +0100 (CET)


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<nettime> Another Social Network is Possible!–On Bernard Stiegler and the Social Media Question


Dear nettimers, a much better 2023 for all of you. Seeing is believing is my feeling at the moment when it comes to the predicted dismantling of players like Google and Facebook as part of the Great Exodus and the following Silicon Valley Implosion. Can we unstuck from the platforms? What I personally find frightening and depressing is to look back at the Lost Decade when it comes to development of social media alteratives. Here is a draft essay, written by Harry Halpin and me on work done in that field in the scene of French philopher Bernard Stiegler—already over a decade ago. Enjoy and be inspired, talk soon. Geert



Harry Halpin & Geert Lovink: Another Social Network is Possible!–On Bernard Stiegler and the Social Media Question

In this tribute to Bernard Stiegler, we highlight an obscure yet important episode in his work: Stiegler’s contribution to the debate on the future of social media. This theoretical and technical work was done at the Institut de la Recherche et l’Innovation, the World Wide Web Consortium and the Unlike Us network in the period 2011-2014. As demonstrated by tracing Facebook’s lineage to a reading of the concept of mimesis from Girard by Thiel, already then the toxic influence of Facebook on the mental condition of young users was known. In contrast, Stiegler’s work quickly focused on alternative architectures and the development of new concepts: Another social network is possible.



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