::fibreculture:: cfp = Platform Blues Symposium

[Ned Rossiter]

Platform Blues (and Its Alternatives)


One Day Symposium at the University of Canberra, November 21, 2024


Curated by Geert Lovink (Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam), 
facilitated Denise Thwaites (UoC)


Co-presented by the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research, The 
Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance and the News and 
Media Research Centre (all University of Canberra) and the Institute of 
Network Cultures (Amsterdam).


Join us for a one-day event that maps the depression, boredom and 
loneliness that feed (and are fed by) social media platforms. Beyond 
fake news, our platform dependencies, miseries and anxieties are all too 
real. Many feel sadness about our collective inability to change - yet 
cannot imagine deleting social media accounts out of fear of isolation. 
Platform Blues are an area of interest for multiple and varied forms of 
research, which intersect with our topic through critical enquiry into 
techno-feudalism, memes, online dating, doom scrolling, right-wing 
libertarian/conspiracy cultures and girl theory. Alternative ways of 
community organizing also provide glimpses of hope, as seen in protest 
and solidarity movements, such as  those addressing climate action, to 
#metoo, to Gaza. Platform blues in Australia exist, but neither strict 
regulation nor the melancholic dream of going offline will solve it. How 
can our phones become a tool of connection again? Resisting the 
distractions of AI eye candy, let's address the reality of our 
tech-induced mental poverty.


This gathering of bodies and souls will coincide with the one-month 
residency of Dutch media theorist and internet critic, Geert Lovink, at 
the University of Canberra.


The program will include talks, discussions and other opportunities for 
creative encounter. If you would like to propose an activity, we welcome 
experimental formats, such as performances, screenings or other 
arts-based workshops, alongside presentations. Please send your 
expression of interest to geert at networkcultures.org .


More on the work of Geert and the Institute of Network Cultures can be 
found here: https://www.networkcultures.org.


Attendance is free. Registration at the link is required, ​​​​​​​as 
places will be limited.
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