Memes, GIFs, and endless streams of TikTok videos. Our digital lives are often saturated with visual culture, but this is not the only thing that makes up our internet ecosystem. In 2022, around 650 million new tweets were posted on a daily basis and it’s estimated that each day 100 billion messages are sent via WhatsApp. Podcast listeners make up almost 465 million people around the world, and we haven’t even started to talk about music streaming services and online radio. During tonight’s event we’ll be joined by eight researchers, artists, designers, and makers who will take us through the world of non-visual internet culture. We’ll have eight speakers joining us to explore alt-text as poetry, radio gardens, generative podcasts, and much more on Wednesday April 19 at Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam.
Lieven Heeremans has helped us put together a very special program as our guest curator for the evening. Lieven is a creative producer and editor specialised in audio, and the co-founder of the Podcastnetwerk.
Can’t join us in person in Amsterdam? Or just want to watch from the comfort of your own laptop? All of our events are hybrid so you can also buy a ticket to join The Hmm @ Tolhuistuin online via our livestream website.
Ever wondered about the billions of streams that Drake has and the handful of plays your cousin’s band has? While Spotify might feel like one big music library, it’s a social media app with an algorithm curators, and playlists—all of which have a huge impact on the songs you get served every day. Bianca is a fulltime journalist and podcaster and part time millennial and Geert is a podcast maker who loves merging his storytelling skills with over 10 years of music production experience. Tonight, they’ll be joining us to share how they tried to infiltrate the music streaming business. As it turns out, everything is for sale on the internet. Link
Jason Scott
Early internet bulletin board systems (or BBS’s) were online discussion systems that allowed users to post and read messages on various topics. They were typically accessed through dial-up modems and were the precursor to modern-day forums and social media platforms. Jason Scott is the founder of TEXTFILES.COM, a 25 year old library of BBS history. He’s also the software curator of the Internet Archive, one of our favourite places on the web. He’ll be joining us tonight to talk about TEXTFILES.COM, or, what happens when 50 years pass in ASCII. Link
Jonathan Puckey
Can online radio help us break down geographical barriers and foster a sense of global connection and cultural exchange?
Jonathan is an interactive designer and developer who enjoys blending automated processes with manual interventions. He’ll be joining us to talk about his online radio platform Radio Garden, that he tends to with a small team, which allows users to explore and listen to thousands of radio stations from around the world via an interactive 3D globe. As users navigate the globe, they can tune in to various stations by simply clicking on these dots. Link
