From the book Facebook entkommen transversal texts publishes here the English translation of the introduction.

From the German book Die schönen Kriegerinnen. Technofeministische Praxis im 21. Jahrhundert, transversal texts publishes the English translation of Cornelia Sollfrank’s preface.

Focusing on contemporary perspectives of media, tech and data activism, the interview with Stefania Milan discusses their roles within social movement ecologies, the political positions between prefigurative radical activism and reformist participation in ‘multi-stakeholder decision-making’ processes, and the broader question concerning the relationship between social media and protest against the backdrop of the rising critique of commercial platforms.

The interview departs from SHARE Lab’s “investigations on Facebook and the various algorithms that shape our reality through the moderation of information feeds, on the processes of how we are transformed from users to products, and how they basically transform our online behavior into power and profit.” It discusses various aspects of the resulting reports and their meaning during a time when the critique of major Internet platforms has hit the mainstream.

One aim of our transnational project Midstream is to do research and attempt to conceptually develop alternative social networks. The generation of activist platforms like n-1 and Facebook-alternatives like diaspora* has been stagnating for several years now, with some projects operating without a chance of reaching a critical mass along with others that have ceased to operate altogether. A new generation of social networking sites has become visible recently. Most of these networks are based on cryptocurrencies and blockchain. But what kind of alternative are they developing?