Sessions at Webstock 2012 about Social Media

Thursday 16th February 2012

• Culture of Fear + Attention Economy = ?!?!

  by danah boyd

  We live in a culture of fear. Fear feeds on attention and attention is captured by fear. Social media has complicated our relationship with attention and the rise of the attention economy highlights the challenges of dealing with this scarce resource. But what does this mean for the culture of fear? How are the technologies that we design to bring the world together being used to create new divisions? In this talk, danah will explore what happens at the intersection of the culture of fear and the attention economy.

  • Attention
  • Fear
  • Social Media

  At 11:00am to 11:40am, Thursday 16th February

  In Main auditorium, Wellington Town Hall

  Coverage video note

Friday 17th February 2012

• In Lulz We Trust

  by Gabriella Coleman

  Agents of activism and naughty mischief, Anonymous has been a constant fixture in the news due to their blizzard of interventions from taking down half a dozen websites in a single day to protest web censorship to assisting the historic revolutions in the Middle East and Africa. Drawing on three years of serious ethnographic research (re: chatting online, a lot), this talk will visit few of their major operations in order to address the political significance of their tactics and most especially, the lulz.

  • Activism
  • Social Media

  At 10:10am to 10:50am, Friday 17th February

  In Main auditorium, Wellington Town Hall

  Coverage video note

• Slashdot- the rise and fall

  by Rob Malda

  The story of the rise and fall of Slashdot, and the rise of social media and current trends. It'll be largely technical, anecdotal, and hopefully kind of funny.

  • Slashdot
  • Social Media

  At 12:45pm to 1:25pm, Friday 17th February

  In Main auditorium, Wellington Town Hall

  Coverage video note