A Critique of “Mascquerade”

This article begins by identifying the demand for “masc” in gay male digital cultures as a repressive phenomenon. Drawing on a key queer alt-right text by Jack Donovan in which “masc” is explicitly theorized, it shows that its disciplinary logic is distinct from homonormativity. The homo/hetero binary is explicitly rejected, and the perverse structure is weaponized as a repressive mechanism suited to a postnormative environment. Under these conditions, critiques of normativity and homonationalism are unable to provide an effective counter because the subjects they address have stopped caring. The article describes perverse homogenization processes as “homotribalism,” arguing that they provide an erotic basis for ethnonationalism. It then provides a detailed reading of Call Me by Your Name (2017), claiming that its striking contemporary relevance during the first year of the Trump administration followed from working through the question of homotribal desire within liberalism.

Narratives and Life Stories From the Machine to the Person

Contemporary society changes its social perspective from an anthropocentric environment to a space in which intelligent algorithms, present in every digital device, are increasingly acquiring a status of subject and less of object. Existential practices change at every moment, at every access to these intelligent agents who, in addition to supporting the user's requests, become anticipatory and prescient, demonstrating how it is essential, today, to sociologically analyse society through the image it gives the car. The intent of the contribution, mainly of a theoretical nature, will be to dialogue on the centrality of artificial intelligence as a leading actress of the multiple manifestations of digital cultures and practices, with the aim of renewing the debate on reflection on contemporary complexity starting from the event.

Images as Afro-positivist narratives and counter hegemonic strategy: A study of #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou

To arrest the negative stereotypes of Africa in and outside the African continent, a number of civil society organizations and activists have launched various social media-assisted initiatives aimed at showcasing the positive facets of African cultures as well as the beautiful touristic attractions existing on the continent. One of such initiatives is the #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou movement launched in 2015 to combat the negative and colonial stereotypes of Africa through the sharing of beautiful images and videos of Africa on Twitter. The movement encouraged Africans of all horizons to share attractive images of Africa, particularly the ones that are rarely or never shown on mainstream media. Six years after the project was launched, it is high time to evaluate its strength and know some of its merits and implications. In line with this aphorism, this paper uses secondary sources and a qualitative analysis of images and videos shared on Twitter to examine the contribution of the #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou movement to the imperative of challenging colonial representations of Africa. It specifically discusses the genesis, trans-nationalization and promises of the project; and assesses the movement in the light of two philosophico-cultural currents/theories namely Afro-positivism and counter hegemony. The paper argues that the #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou movement put to question the popular but problematic belief that Africa is all about negativisms. It started a visual-assisted conversation not only about the wonders found on African soil but also about some of the cultures which non-Africans have often viewed as problematic or controversial. Such a conversation is a proof that Afro-optimism is still much alive on the continent and that; Africans are conscious that the fight against colonial stereotypes is a perpetual battle which must be fought even with the help of new digital cultures such as digitalized image-based activism.

‘Sharing is Caring’: Copyright Metaphors and Online Sharing Norms

Copyright is under contest in Australia amid growing digital cultures of sharing. Using metaphor as a frame for analysis, this study applies internet search data (Google Trends) methods to visualise Australian online information-seeking patterns for metaphors related to copyright and sharing. An overview of legal metaphors of online copyright (‘piracy’, ‘war on copyright’) and metaphors of digital sharing (‘sharing is caring’, ‘sharing economy’) leads to a critical examination of the ‘metaphor struggles’ between the rhetoric of copyright infringement and sharing cultures promoted by social media. Key findings presented are of decreased information seeking for copyright metaphors and increased information seeking for sharing metaphors. Online information-seeking patterns, as visualised by internet search data, represent a form of public mobilisation. Visualisation of these patterns of public information seeking for metaphors of copyright and sharing demonstrates shifting conceptions of copyright in contemporary digital cultures. This article concludes by raising a potential relationship between rising ethics of online sharing norms and diminishing legitimacy of online copyright, as the legal metaphor of copyright appears to transition through the metaphor cycle.

Sensorimotor debilities in digital cultures

This paper reflects on the qualities of living and learning in digital cultures, the design of digital technologies and the philosophical history that has informed that design. It takes as its critical perspective the field of embodied cognition as it has developed over the last three decades, in concert with emerging neurophysiology and neurocognitive research. From this perspective the paper considers cognitive, neurological and physiological effects that are increasingly becoming noticed in user populations, especially young populations. I call this class of conditions ‘sensorimotor debility’, to distinguish it from other psychological, social, cultural and political symptoms associated with computer, internet and social media use.

Introduction: ASIA.LIVE: Inaugurating Livestream Studies in Asia

This introduction to the special issue ‘ASIA.LIVE: Inaugurating Livestream Studies in Asia’ briefly summarizes the virtual workshop at which it originated and describes its contributions to the central concept of liveness. After reflecting on the increasingly constitutive role of liveness in digital media, we argue that research on livestreaming should move beyond its focus on gaming and its Eurocentric approach to platforms, drawing on extensive debates over liveness and expanding its scope to the thriving digital economies in the Asian region. To understand how practices such as livestreaming are changing digital cultures in Asia and beyond, it is necessary to account for the ephemeral phenomena and under-documented practices that emerge from these regional contexts. By bringing together articles about China and Taiwan and relating them to workshop contributions about Hong Kong, Indonesia, and South Korea, we inaugurate livestream studies in Asia and offer some directions for future research in this field.