Berlin 2116: "What will the 'Internet archaeologists' of the future find out about us?"
The question of what „…has been left behind on the internet, what we want to leave behind and what we might leave behind…“ is the focus at the end of the „Society X.0“ seminar. „"allesvernetztblog"“ the multimedia workshop group. From June 20th to 25th, 2016, trainees from the Louise-Schroeder-School embarked on a mental journey through time, looking at the present and future of the networked society, in this and other workshop groups.
„"FashionForeverFM"“, The radio program from the audio group reports on the near future, specifically on "Fashion Week 2030." It covers topics such as the latest trend for toaster-shaped handbags, as well as a look back at the development of digitally controlled clothing since 2016. The group actually conducted an interview during the seminar with Veronica Aumann, a textile designer working on luminous screen textiles. What image patterns and other functions will be controllable via app on our clothing in the future, both independently and remotely?
How do smart clothes and other technology-controlled things and processes change our lives together? In the seminar, the thought experiment of a journey into the future leads all groups to examine ongoing change processes and the challenge of shaping them for a desirable future.
The comic workshop group explored access to, forms of, and distribution of information and news. Part of their research into the creation, selection, and dissemination of information and news, as well as the possibilities for control or manipulation through news formats and filters, included a Skype conversation with Leonie Geiger, editor of the Berliner Gazette, about the journalistic approaches of the online magazine, founded in 1999. The fictional story emerged from the group's discussions.
„"Give us this day our daily information."“, which was performed as a live comic.
The workshop group "Staged Reading" also performed live in front of guests. „"The world is (not) a business model"“ She presents her own texts and dramatic scenes, which arose from her engagement with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade agreement. For this, she used diverse sources, including a conversation with Günter Sölken, a political scientist and active member of the anti-globalization network attac. By critically examining the arguments and perspectives of various actors from business, government, and civil society, she created texts addressing, among other things, the value of and conflicts of interest in democratic participation in an increasingly globalized world.
The group working on black and white photography grappled with the question of autonomy versus technological control in determining the content and form of image production. Against this backdrop, what significance do photographs hold as carriers of information and opinion amidst the flood of images on the global web?
Among other things, the group had a conversation with Andreas Weiland, freelance photographer, social media consultant and co-founder of the new "photo database for new perspectives: gesellschaftsbilder.de", regarding the effectiveness of photography in social networks for conveying content.
In exploring the relationship between text and image in media, the possibilities of manipulation, and the growing role of digital technology and social media, analog image series on the digitization of society were created. The exhibition title „Grey area“ Discussions about acting in the online and offline world using analog and digital means, as well as many open questions about the subjective construction of reality, are reflected in the exhibition. The digital streaming of the analog exhibition presentation on the Periscope platform also became part of this "gray area"—a multimedia experiment that combined the content and form of the workshop group discussions and media work.
Many of the workshop results are available in digital form in the „"allesvernetztblog"“ The multimedia workshop group's website is where participants primarily published articles about their research and discussions on Big Data and change processes in and through the internet. Examples include an online survey, "Society X.0," on internet usage in Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, the article "What was, what will be…" on the history and future of the internet, and "Big Data and the Question of the Digital Future from the Perspective of Magdalena Taube.". „"As editor-in-chief, Magdalena Taube has long been a familiar face at the Berlin online magazine "Berliner Gazette" (www.berlinergazette.de). In addition to her work there, she also lectures on online journalism at two Berlin universities. She is currently preparing a conference for the Berliner Gazette on the topic of 'The Future'... in October 2016 at the Volksbühne... Big Data plays a key role in this, particularly how future analyses are based on it and the collection and analysis of large datasets."„, it says in the article, which contains the recording of the Skype conversation as a video and key statements as text.
„Each of us has a choice and can decide for ourselves whether we want to remain passive or actively participate – personal decision and self-determination are required…”Civil rights activists have previously raised the question of whether the data collected by Facebook, Google, and similar companies should become a kind of public good. This should be seen as the starting point for a debate about who actually owns the data and what can be done with it.“ The authors of the multimedia group quote from the interview.
The discussion among all workshop groups also included „"Society X.0 – Everything networked?"“ This should be seen as a contribution to the debate on shaping digitalization in a democracy. Despite the intensive engagement with the topic, many questions remained unanswered. This, too, is an important learning outcome for the participants: the need to actively pursue these processes in order to develop their own perspectives. This includes the experience of encountering open questions in a globalized media society that require a societal discourse in which young people and young adults, as the actors of tomorrow, must participate.
The seminar was supported by the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Science
and took place as part of the collaboration in the program „Civic youth education in the AdB“ The project group "Globalization and Media Communication" is involved. The wannseeFORUM Foundation is a recognized partner of the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
