* Book: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives. Unlike Us Reader #3. Institute for Network Cultures, 2013
From the Institute of Network Cultures:
“The Unlike Us Reader offers a critical examination of social media, bringing together theoretical essays, personal discussions, and artistic manifestos. How can we understand the social media we use everyday, or consciously choose not to use? We know very well that monopolies control social media, but what are the alternatives? While Facebook continues to increase its user population and combines loose privacy restrictions with control over data, many researchers, programmers, and activists turn towards designing a decentralized future. Through understanding the big networks from within, be it by philosophy or art, new perspectives emerge.
Unlike Us is a research network of artists, designers, scholars, activists, and programmers, with the aim to combine a critique of the dominant social media platforms with work on ‘alternatives in social media’, through workshops, conferences, online dialogues, and publications. Everyone is invited to be a part of the public discussion on how we want to shape the network architectures and the future of social networks we are using so intensely.”
We need a liberator in america…someone to think outside the box and free us of the monopoly control over words….communication…..
When the loudspeaker is owned by the plutocracy all suffer (even the employees of the plutocracy).
Bait and switch is what occurred in my education (I’m 50)…they “taught” us that monopolies were not part of our economic system and “taught” us to believe in free-trade and checks and balances and now look what the protectors of our freedoms have done….they took the bribe money from the “lobbyists” and who’s your daddy now….no more constitution (which includes freedom of speech and more).
So….if they don’t want your mind to consider the aforementioned words they simply remove it (like so many of my posts on the net as of late) or inundate the comment with some rubbish comments brought to you by the same controllers and their schemes/programs which ensure that profiteering, racketeering, and even treasonous activity to occur unbeknown to the victim populations.