From geert@networkcultures.org Mon Sep 29 07:07:21 2025
From: Geert Lovink <geert@networkcultures.org>
To: air-l@lists.aoir.org
Subject: [Air-L] Out Now: Platform Brutality by Geert Lovink
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2025 16:10:45 +0200
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Out Now: Platform Brutality by Geert Lovink, Valiz, Amsterdam, September 2025

The internet has become an integral part of all human activities. Its toxic a=
spects have fully permeated our personal, social and political lives, with pe=
ople using it to attack others, normalise violence, spread fake news and make=
 propaganda for extrme-right causes, to name just a few. This brutal turn ult=
imately affects all. The central thesis is that social media no longer just d=
istracts=E2=80=94it wounds. And yet, we stay.

Technological violence is essentially remote, invisible and indirect. Exclusi=
on, which many do not immediately notice, happens deep inside the code and ne=
twork architecture. The answer will not be pacification or regulation but the=
 dismantling of the platform principle itself.

Platform Brutality not just offers critical analyses but also dives into alte=
rnatives. Topics range from the violent turn of the internet and techno-feuda=
lism debates, to loneliness on social media, radical data critique, mythologi=
es that surround the smart phone, dreaming in the computer age, offline roman=
ticism to question how to leave the platforms, bring back social networks and=
 design a new balance between analogue and digital.

Design: Irene Stracuzzi
Series: Making Public
pb | 240 pp. | ISBN 978-94-93246-58-4 | =E2=82=AC 26,50
Order here: https://valiz.nl/en/publications/platform-brutality
Book launches: Berlin (Disruptionlab, September 20, Warsaw (MSN, September 24=
), Rotterdam (V2, October 10)

=E2=80=94

Geert Lovink=E2=80=99s Platform Brutality is a scathing diagnosis of our digi=
tal condition from the aftermath of Covid till the early days of Trump 2, gra=
ppling with a world overwhelmed by platform decay, social media addiction, an=
d the psychic toll of techno-capitalism. As the eighth volume in Lovink=E2=80=
=99s critical internet cultures series, the book moves from critique to exit =
strategies=E2=80=94urging readers to confront and abandon the collapsing soci=
al media ecosystem.

Lovink frames the internet=E2=80=99s current state as one of permacrisis: a p=
ermanent condition of stagnation, rage, and numbness, where algorithmic manip=
ulation, AI slop, platform enshittification, and techno-feudalism define ever=
yday life. He labels the dominant emotional landscape as copium=E2=80=94a met=
aphorical opiate for digital despair, numbing users trapped in endless loops =
of scrolling, doom, and distraction.

Platform Brutality is a call for a new materialist, critical internet theory =
grounded in collective mental health, code sovereignty, and psycho-social rep=
air. The book traverses several key areas such as he brutal nature of platfor=
ms and the loneliness they induce; mythologies of smartphones and their effec=
t on identity and desire; techno-feudalism as the political economy of Big Te=
ch oligarchy; shortcomings of regulatory efforts and the failure of existing =
alternatives.

The thesis is that social media no longer just distracts=E2=80=94it wounds. A=
nd yet, we stay. Lovink proposes =E2=80=9Cthe social media exodus=E2=80=9D no=
t just as deletion, but as a radical act of desertion from digital brutality.=
 It=E2=80=99s both a lament and a battle cry, one that calls on artists, theo=
rists, and users alike to reimagine the internet=E2=80=94or leave it behind a=
ltogether.

Platform Brutality is not merely a critique but a eulogy, a monument to digit=
al fatigue, and a final urgent appeal for collective withdrawal=E2=80=94or ra=
dical reinvention.

=E2=80=94

Contents

Introduction: From Radical Critique to Social Media Exit
1. Copium Compendium: How Do You Cope in this Digital Age of Permacrisis?
2 . On Platform Brutality
3. Debating Techno-Feudalism
4. Loneliness in the Social Media Age
5. What Is Radical Data Critique?
6. Smart Phone Mythologies
7. Nomos of the Network: Magna Digitalia Fragments
8. Principles of Figure Design
9. Probes into Dreamful Computing
10. Undoing Networks: A Response to Offline Romanticism
11. Expanded Publishing and the Stream Art Network
12. What's Social Networking Today?
13. Via Tactica and the Principles of Perma-Hybridity

PS. Due to my (forced) retirement at 67 our Institute of Network Cultures wil=
l leave the polytech HvA after more than 22 years. INC will become an indepen=
dent entity aka NGO/cultural organization (planned for August 2026). Please c=
ontact us if you have an idea suggestion in what direction this transition to=
 zero Euro and zero jobs could look like. It is certain that at least the web=
site (www.networkcultures.org) will somehow continue. More news soon about th=
e closing events late June 2026 in Amsterdam.




=20

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From jjhemsle@syr.edu Mon Sep 29 07:50:13 2025
From: Jeff Hemsley <jjhemsle@syr.edu>
To: air-l@lists.aoir.org
Subject:
 [Air-L] Please Share: paid REU summer workshop at Syracuse for Summer 2026
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2025 14:50:09 +0000
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We have a paid REU summer workshop here at SU. This is for U.S. undergraduate=
 citizens who would be interested in learning text analytics from your instit=
ution. Below are our ads and more information. Could you please kindly share =
this with any of your interested students or any relevant listservs/contacts?
=20
Many many thanks,
=20
Jeff Hemsley, PhD
jjhemsle@syr.edu =20
Interim Dean, School of Information Studies (iSchool)
The mission of the iSchool is to expand human capabilities by connecting peop=
le, information, and technology.
https://ischool.syr.edu/
Syracuse University
-------------
=20
Join our nine-week residential research experience in 2026, funded by the Nat=
ional Science Foundation. College students from all social science discipline=
s are welcome.
=20
Undergraduates from all social science disciplines are welcome to apply to th=
is summer 2026 experience at the Syracuse campus in beautiful upstate New Yor=
k. Successful applicants will receive $6000 in stipend funding plus free meal=
s and housing.

Syracuse University's School of Information Studies (iSchool) has excelled fo=
r more than 25 years at providing education for students interested in techno=
logy and its impacts on industry, education, health, the environment, and oth=
er sectors.
=20
The research experience includes learning about text analysis, conducting a s=
ocial science research project using data provided by professors, and opportu=
nities for professional development and mentoring.
=20
Please read the following notes before applying:
- This program can only accept U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
- Students currently in their senior year are not eligible for this program.
- Students from the quarters system may experience scheduling conflicts with =
our program. You must be willing to commit to being physically present at the=
 start of the REU program. The in-person program is tentatively scheduled fro=
m June 3 to August 7, 2026.
Visit our website for more information(https://ischool.syracuse.edu/summer-pa=
id-research-experience/) and to fill out the online application form:
https://syracuseuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dnfOJFLzqGX9Saq (and the=
 application deadline is 11/8/2025)
Please share this information with promising students interested in this summ=
er=E2=80=99s research opportunity. Thank you!


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