tino

Here an interview tactical media guru and director of the Institute of Network culture in Amsterdam Geert Lovink made with me on the addictive power of Memes. It is their crucial nature in my opinion and never it became as explicit as now. It is crucial to understand these characteristics of memes in order to develop responses to the current media environment. There is also a crucial shift in the way visual memes operate and in the very logic of communication design.

http://networkcultures.org/geert/2017/06/22/interview-with-oliver-vodeb-memefest-on-the-addictive-power-of-memes-today/

stephen_designer
2 years, 6 months ago

Great interview Oliver about addictive power of memes today, I really enjoyed reading it. Do you know, or anyone else, have an example of a large company that has used memes in a campaign to create financial profit & can you share a link to it? I'm just curious if the company meme results look too manufactured due to a big company budget & maybe producing a space for it to thrive so it potentially becomes less effective as compared to naturally organic occurring memes made from a social action for example. At the moment I'm basically looking for a comparison on the high design memes to low design memes if that makes sense.

oliver
2 years, 4 months ago

Hi Stephen, very nice to hear form you again! Check this out:

http://www.e-flux.com/journal/83/141287/overcoming-internet-disillusionment-on-the-principles-of-meme-design/

General Theory of the Precariat

http://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ToD25-Precariat-AlexFoti.pdf

About the book

From the fast-food industry to the sharing economy, precarious work has become the norm in contemporary capitalism, like the anti-globalization movement predicted it would. This book describes how the precariat came into being under neoliberalism and how it has radicalized in response to crisis and austerity. It investigates the political economy of precarity and the historical sociology of the precariat, and discusses movements of precarious youth against oligopoly and oligarchy in Europe, America, and East Asia. Foti covers the three fundamental dates of recent history: the financial crisis of 2008, the political revolutions of 2011, and the national-populist backlash of 2016, to present his class theory of the precariat and the ideology of left-populist movements. Building a theory of capitalist crisis to understand the aftermath of the Great Recession, he outlines political scenarios where the precariat can successfully fight for emancipation, and reverse inequality and environmental destruction. Written by the activist who put precarity on the map of radical thinking, this is the first work proposing a complete theory of the precariat in its actuality and potentiality.

julianne
2 years, 6 months ago

Hello Oliver, it sounds like a solid read but a bit heavy on language. Is it easy to understand?

oliver
2 years, 6 months ago

Hi Julianne it a bit dense, but have a look for your self, from the link I posted you can download a pdf. of the book for free!

julianne
2 years, 6 months ago

Thanks for getting back! Okayy, I'll have a look - thanks for sharing, I looked into the 'networkcultures' website.
Also, your profile description reads that you teach at Swinburne Uni in Melbourne?! I graduated there early this year. I would love to hear more of your work :)

oliver
2 years, 6 months ago

Are you still in Melbourne? We can meet for a chat if you come to Swinburne one day...? here is an interview with me on Networkcultures : http://networkcultures.org/geert/2017/06/22/interview-with-oliver-vodeb-memefest-on-the-addictive-power-of-memes-today/

julianne
2 years, 6 months ago

Yes, I live in Melbourne. I read that you moved to Melbourne?! So interesting. I would love to meet for a chat! We can meet at Haddons Cafe soon - what days do you teach/work there?

stephen_designer
2 years, 6 months ago

General Theory of the Precariat book seems very interesting, amazing it's free to read. I've never heard of the word Precariat until now. I'll give it a read, thanks for sharing it.

Decolonising research methodology must include undoing its dirty history

https://theconversation.com/decolonising-research-methodology-must-include-undoing-its-dirty-history-83912?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1506445307

Hi there friends: I want to share with you a truly wonderful project that is more than worth your attention and support. A few days left to reach the goal of this crowdfunding campaign and your donation could really make the difference. Cups of nun chai is a memorial work for the 118 civilians that died in pro-freedom protests in Indian occupied Kashmir in 2010. One of my favorite art projects. But please see more on the link bellow and please do consider supporting the project financially (you will receive a lot in return)!


https://pozible.com/project/cups-of-nun-chai

“Developing dissident knowledges”: Geert Lovink on the Social Media Abyss

http://lagrietaonline.com/developing-dissident-knowledges-geert-lovink-on-the-social-media-abyss/

Does Facebook Make Us Unhappy and Unhealthy?
A look at new research covering thousands of adults

https://www.wsj.com/articles/does-facebook-make-us-unhappy-and-unhealthy-1495729227

lisagye
2 years, 10 months ago

I call bullshit on these studies - if you go and look at the actual methodology they used, they don't have a baseline of mental health before FB use and after - so it could just as easily be argued that people turn to FB when they are, for many reasons, unable to enjoy the privilege of FTF encounter and are already suffering from social isolation or anxiety/depression. I think it displaces attention away from the systemic breakdown of community/localised relations brought about by global capital. Online social networks can act as supports for genuinely local, community based activities (which I think are key to our ongoing survival and resistance) when they are not seen as replacements for these activities.

oliver
2 years, 10 months ago

here I disagree. FB is a symptom of and tool for what you call "systemic breakdown of community/localised relations brought about by global capital." social networks do not equal social networks and FB plays a particular role. its far more detrimental than just effecting personal mental health but it is one of the main players of destroying the public sphere. I am not saying everyone using FB is not happy or is unhealthy but FB - if used as so many people use it- is far from doing much good. using FB for ongoing survival and resistance can be good but this is done by people that are savvy and disciplined in this actions, not by regular users, at least not by the ones I know.

lisagye
2 years, 10 months ago

I agree that the FB is definitely not the ideal space for online networked community - but it is where people are for now. Of course, I think we are already seeing a drift away from such spaces. At the moment though there are many people who struggle to engage technically even in a relatively easy to use space such as FB (and don't get me started on Twitter) so part of the issue is technological literacy at the local community level. I would love it if more people used radically open platforms like Memefest (which is why I'm here ;) but as we know this is the dilemma. I don't have an easy answer to this. And I agree we need to keep looking for one.

lisagye
2 years, 10 months ago

The thing I hate about FB is that it is like a sideways glance at a party with no need for further dialogue. You're right in that in making "contact" easy it becomes trivial - I keep thinking of Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being" - that's what FB is. Real dialogue and connection is hard and takes work when we live so far from each other (even when that means only streets away). It requires commitment and that is made to seem like such hard work when really it isn't.

This is a great read: Notes Toward the Memes of Production

https://www.textezurkunst.de/106/notes-toward-memes-production/#id56

oliver
2 years, 10 months ago

http://artfcity.com/2010/09/09/img-mgmt-what-relational-aesthetics-can-learn-from-4chan/

[IMG MGMT] What Relational Aesthetics Can Learn From 4Chan

lisagye
2 years, 10 months ago

Yes, it's always struck me as odd that RA proponents and advocates still want legitimacy from the institutions they are trying to evade or unsettle. These are just the sorts of readings I have been looking for - thanks

lisagye
2 years, 10 months ago

Also, it would be interesting to get some insight into the Momentum campaign in the recent UK election. I had a student working with a small Labor Party electorate membership group this semester, trying to help them understand how they might use social media to increase youth participation in their branch of the party. From what I can tell, it was like pushing shit uphill trying to get 'older' party members to understand how the communicative political landscape has changed.

Disobedient Electronics booklet edited and hand-crafted by Garnet Hertz.

http://we-make-money-not-art.com/disobedient-electronics-protest/?utm_content=buffer63afa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

lisagye
2 years, 10 months ago

This looks amazing. I've just submitted a request for a copy. So many great ideas in here.

Here some very good research on Facebook, highly recommend!

https://labs.rs/en/

Facebook showed advertisers how it has the capacity to identify when teenagers feel “insecure”, “worthless” and “need a confidence boost”, according to a leaked documents based on research quietly conducted by the social network.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/01/facebook-advertising-data-insecure-teens

This is great- Open Source seeds!

http://opensourceseeds.org/en/home

Pleasure Praxis Education & Research: The Memefest Melbourne Sessions

Pleasure Praxis Education & Research: The Memefest Melbourne Sessions
The Second International Swinburne Memefest Extradisciplinary Symposium, Workshop/ Interventions eve...

The Critique of Design Thinking is a bit naive, but there is a lot in here which deserves support. Quite a few things similar to our Memefest workshop approaches. The idea that good design is potentially solving problems created by bad design is one of them. Still what's missing is an emphasis on decolonization:

https://www.fastcodesign.com/3068235/want-to-fight-inequality-forget-design-thinking

LECTURE Roderick Grant Critical Infrastructure: Landscape, Intention and Intervention
What we see as the outward visual denotation of urban infrastructure is not always connected directl...

This is really worrying if we don't find an alternative. Its interesting because the growing distrust to media was mostly visible in advertising first. Now media as such will become distrusted but with potentially severe consequences.

AI and the End of Truth
Think the current fake news issue is bad? It won’t get any better with AI.

https://medium.com/swlh/ai-and-the-end-of-truth-9a42675de18#.tj0bq4yuq

Organizing for protest on Facebook will make you vulnerable as your activities are monitored and data fwd to police and other control agencies:


Inauguration-protest arrests lead to Facebook data prosecution
Move fast and break democracy.


https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/10/inauguration-protest-arrests-lead-to-facebook-data-prosecution/

Is America Prepared for Meme Warfare?

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/meme-warfare?utm_source=mbfb

Sttwn
3 years, 1 month ago

I am here. We are not prepared as last I checked.

This is a must read to understand the logic of current medias "fake news" potential.

The Macedonian Teens Who Mastered Fake News

https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

Anti-surveillance clothing aims to hide wearers from facial recognition

Hyperface project involves printing patterns on to clothing or textiles that computers interpret as a face, in fightback against intrusive technology

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/04/anti-surveillance-clothing-facial-recognition-hyperface?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other