Society frozen and analysed
'Little idols': Japan's dark obsession with young girls - Art & Culture - The Jakarta Post
In a cramped and dark venue in a sleazy Tokyo district, dozens of middle-aged men cheer at a performer on stage: The object of their adoration is a six-year-old girl.
The (Surprisingly) Long History of Magical Girl Idols
From Creamy Mami to Lapis Re:LiGHTs, magical girl idol series have long been a staple in anime.
Fans Are Ruining Game of Thrones—And Everything Else
How art and culture became captured by the logic of the consumer market
Leading the Herd Astray: An Experimental Study of Self-fulfilling Prophecies in an Artificial Cultural Market
Individuals influence each others' decisions about cultural products such as songs, books, and movies; but to what extent can the perception of success become a “self-fulfilling prophecy”? We have explored this question experimentally by artificially inverting the true popularity of songs in an online “music market,” in which 12,207 participants listened to and downloaded songs by unknown bands. We found that most songs experienced self-ful- filling prophecies, in which perceived—but initially false—popularity became real over time. We also found, however, that the inversion was not self-fulfilling for the market as a whole, in part because the very best songs recovered their popularity in the long run. Moreover, the distortion of market information reduced the correlation between appeal and popularity, and led to fewer overall downloads. These results, although partial and speculative, suggest a new approach to the study of cultural markets, and indicate the potential of web-based experiments to explore the social psychological origin of other macrosocio- logical phenomena.
Utopian media studies: Introduction
This introduction to the special issue ‘Utopian Media Studies’ sketches a framework for how media studies can become a site of utopian praxis, research and experimentation. It first addresses three apprehensions media scholars might have about the notion of utopian media studies and its appeal to a loaded concept like ‘utopia’. The introduction then outlines five sensibilities to explicate the nature and significance of this special issue’s contribution to the field: a utopian media studies must adopt an ecological approach to media; recognize and be invigorated by limits; work toward the technological liberation of time; connect imagination with practice; and emphasize and enable conditions for transmitting hope. Lastly, the introduction considers Ruth Levitas’s distinction between utopia’s archaeological, ontological, and architectural mode to map some of the concrete ways in which existing media studies research is doing utopian work that aligns with these sensibilities. In connecting work that operates in these modes with the various contributions to this special issue, the introduction reveals the utopian currents that already run through media studies as a discipline and opens up new conceptual and methodological approaches to studying and modeling digital utopias.
Utopian media studies: Introduction
This introduction to the special issue ‘Utopian Media Studies’ sketches a framework for how media studies can become a site of utopian praxis, research and experimentation. It first addresses three apprehensions media scholars might have about the notion of utopian media studies and its appeal to a loaded concept like ‘utopia’. The introduction then outlines five sensibilities to explicate the nature and significance of this special issue’s contribution to the field: a utopian media studies must adopt an ecological approach to media; recognize and be invigorated by limits; work toward the technological liberation of time; connect imagination with practice; and emphasize and enable conditions for transmitting hope. Lastly, the introduction considers Ruth Levitas’s distinction between utopia’s archaeological, ontological, and architectural mode to map some of the concrete ways in which existing media studies research is doing utopian work that aligns with these sensibilities. In connecting work that operates in these modes with the various contributions to this special issue, the introduction reveals the utopian currents that already run through media studies as a discipline and opens up new conceptual and methodological approaches to studying and modeling digital utopias.
The State of the Culture, 2024
Or a glimpse into post-entertainment society (it's not pretty)
The Rise of Alt-Pop Stars
Welcome to a messier and more daring era of pop music.
How Liminalism Became the Defining Aesthetic of Our Time
This crowd-curated digital movement is one of the most pertinent and explicit reactions to our particular slice of dystopian late capitalism.
[Interview] Snow J of Cheerful Music dives into the cross cultural intersection of AI and music – EARMILK
In conversation with Earmilk, Snow. J explores how AI has restructured the foundation of music culture, striking a balance between AI and human-made music as well as Cheerful Music's distinct approach to engaging AI technology in music making and marketing.
We Need To Stop Calling Entertainers ‘Artists’
Expert in building reliable digital platforms and leading high-impact technical teams. 20+ years experience at the intersection of technology, teams, and learning.
Astralasia: Whatever Happened To Utopia?
Crypto’s True Believers Demand to Be Taken Seriously
They partied like rock stars, searched for aliens, practiced survivalism, and sometimes showed up without shoes. Then crypto winter came—and they lost billions. Clara Molot talks to the zealots who are holding the line.
