Towards a Post-Naive Internet

Six months ago we wrote:

“[…] Influencing the world today is […] about developing the conditions that determine how culture is created, distributed and monetized. As the culture wars are now being fought over digital infrastructure, we need to build it on a radically different set of principles to serve our needs.”

It was part of our research on what we called the The Post-Naive Internet Era, a mindset that we believe shapes many of the projects that make us hopeful about the future. The research, which was published by Mozilla Foundation, made the rounds eventually: it got shared and discussed widely by people we admire (e.g. Kevin Munger, New Models, Joshua Citarella, Mat Dryhurst, Sari Azout, Yancey Strickler), got featured in print magazines like DAMN and Quiet Media, and resulted in some interesting debates that explored whether the term “post-naive” was accurate to describe a new generation of people building alternative infrastructure – or whether it was just a flashy new term for the mighty work that the open source, commons and digital rights communities have been putting forth for decades.

We think both are true, given our belief that a little provocation and a sexy new term help spread ideas effectively.

Now that the tides have settled we’re excited to see that many of the projects we featured continue to push their vision of better digital infrastructure to serve the needs of creative communities. Subvert, the co-operatively owned music platform, is about to launch with 20,000+ artists as members and co-owners. Metalabel released DFOS, a new operating system for dark forest communities. DAZED wrote an insightful piece about Restless Egg, the artist technology incubator, that highlights why we need a more diverse group of people shaping technological narratives.

In the end, an idea is just an idea. What makes it become a reality is when people gather around it and bring it to life. Which is why we’re excited to co-curate and host an (un)conference on the post-naive internet this May in Vienna.

An (un)conference about cultural infrastructure at the former broadcasting headquarters of Radiokulturhaus, part of Creative Days Vienna.

After hosting last year’s keynotes at Creative Days, we feel incredibly fortunate to further develop the format together with Vienna Business Agency.

• Shumon Basar, writer, editor and curator. Shumon is the author of the books The Extreme Self: Age of You and The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present, both with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist.

• Günseli Yalcinkaya, artist and writer, Günseli investigates internet folklore, tracking how emerging technologies – from AI to quantum computing – give rise to new ideologies, digital superstitions and collective fantasies.

• Nadia Piet, co-founder of AIxDesign, a global community of over 8,000 practitioners asking how design, art and critical thinking can shape AI.

• Calum Bowden, artist, designer and co-founder of Trust, a Berlin-based platform for utopian thinkers and practitioners collaborating on games, digital tools, decision-making mechanisms, and methods for cooperative knowledge exchange.

• Christie Morgan, creative director at SOFTER, a movement that believes that softer values, such as care, empathy, community, collaboration and multiplicity are the path towards equal opportunities to learn and practice digital tools for the future.

• Merve Sahin, an architect and researcher exploring how space, ecology and politics shape each other.

• Total View, an interdisciplinary collective of artists, journalists and researchers using AI-based tools to make state power visible.

Apply here to join the event on May 20 in Vienna. Attendance is free but participation in the (un)conference is limited to 120 people.

Creative Days are created and curated by Vienna Business Agency. This years co-curator is Severin Matusek, founder of co—matter, who hosts the (un)conference and evening keynotes together with Elisabeth Noever-Ginthör and Heinz Wolf.