‘Trolls for Trump’, online virus ‘scares’, fake news – social media discourse has become a formidable, yet elusive, political force. This conference wants to begin to address some of the issues around the power of online vitriol, by studying discourses, metaphors, media dynamics, and framing on social media.
What is it? How does it work? What does it do? And how can it be addressed or countered?
To fruitfully question the political impact of contemporary communication structures and discourses, the conference goes beyond the traditional presenter/audience dichotomy. Instead, it works towards producing a book for academics and professionals confronted with social media violence, provisionally titled “A Rough Guide to Online Vitriol: Dealing with Violence and Advocacy on Social Media in Theory and Practice”. The conference combines academic theorizing with perspectives from professionals active in media, communication, the public sector and journalism, so as to arrive at conceptually rigorous and useful conclusions to guide our own and our organizations’ use of social media.
For whom:
- Researchers in the fields of culture and (digital) media, and related fields
- Professionals dealing with online advocacy and social media presence of their organization
- Journalists and others dealing with social media and (violent) online discourse
- PhD and MA students in culture and media studies
Conference aim:
- To employ our collective knowledge, experience, research and intelligence to arrive at a conceptual and practical understanding of the medial and cultural dynamics of online vitriol.
- To work towards “A Rough Guide to Online Vitriol: Dealing with Violence and Activism on Social Media in Theory and Practice” (working title). To be published later.
Click here for all further information.
The conference is free of charge. However, we ask that, during the conference, all participants agree to be offline, and try to be fully present and contemplative.
Program:
Wednesday 28 June|
18:00 - 20:00 |
Opening Lecture (ZMI)
Sarah Kendzior Moderator: Greta Olson Coping with Social Media under a Post-Truth President Alte Universitätsbibliothek, Bismarckstraße 37, Gießen |
Thursday 29 June
|
9.00 - 9:30 |
Registration, Coffee |
| 9.30 - 10.00 | Welcome & Introduction |
| 10:00 - 10:40 | Keynote Lecture: Frans-Willem Korsten (Leiden University)
"Vitriol as an Attack on Culture: the Logic of Surplus Value and the Aestheticizing of the Political" |
| 10:45 - 11:25 | Keynote Lecture: Daniel Trottier (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
"Visibility as Vitriol: Exploring User-led Shaming" |
| 11:30 - 12:30 | Q&A and discussion with Frans-Willem Korsten and Daniel Trottier |
| 12:30 - 14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 - 16:00 |
Session: History & Memory of/in Online Vitriol Gerlov van Engelenhoven (GCSC, JLU Gießen): "Telefilm De Punt’s online discussion forum: participatory space for political discussion,or echo chamber for the polemical few?" Elizabeth Tandy Shermer (Loyola University Chicago): "What’s New About Online Vitriol? Pamphlets, Protests, and Letter Writing Campaigns and the Rise of the American Right" Sara Polak (Leiden University & GCSC, JLU Gießen): "Memory-making and the Birth of the ‘Alt-Right’ on Twitter" |
| 16:00 - 16:15 | Tea |
| 16:15 - 18:15 | Panel discussion: Dealing with Online Vitriol in Theory and Practice
Panellists: • Penelope Kemekenidou (Stop BILD Sexism) • Ramón Reichert (Universität Wien) • Andreas Schwarzkopf (Frankfurter Rundschau) Moderator: Greta Olson (JLU Gießen) |
| 18:15 | Walk to the hilltop in the Schiffenberger Tal & informal dinner at Schiffenberg |
Friday 30 June
| 9:00 - 11:00 | Session: Legal and Ethical Approaches
Penelope Kemekenidou (Stop BILD Sexism): "“It’s Nothing Personal”: Misogyny as a Hate Crime" Bernardo Caycedo (University of Amsterdam): "Disrupting and Deceiving: A Phenomenological Approach to Online Political Violence" Seda Gökçe Turan (Bahçeşehir University): "Justification of Cyber-harassment in Terms of Digital Media Literacy" Tom Clucas (GCSC, JLU Gießen): ""Broadcast Yourself": The Public Hypersphere and the Limits of Free Speech" |
| 11:00 - 11:15 | Coffee |
| 11:15 - 12:30 |
Roundtable: Burcu Alkan (GCSC, JLU Gießen), Sonja Schillings (GCSC, JLU Gießen), Rahel Schmitz (GCSC, JLU Gießen), Ann-Marie Riesner(GCSC, JLU Gießen), Marie Jude Bendiola (Philipps-Universität Marburg) |
| 12:30 - 14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 - 16:00 | Session: Racism, Misogyny, Ableism Etc. Online
Tina Olteanu (ZMI, JLU Gießen), Stephanie Lotzow (JLU Gießen): "Offline Vitriol: Reactions to a Social Experiment on Feminism" Monica Williams (independent journalist): "Fighting back against cyber harassment: A case study of rescue services to support female journalists" Ewelina Pepiak (IPP, JLU Gießen): "#einearmlänge, taharrush, and “Nafris”: The Online Expressions of Whiteness after New Year’s Eve 2016 in Cologne" |
| 16:00 - 17:00 | Brainstorm Session |
| 17:00 - 19:00 | Keynote Lecture: Sarah Kendzior (independent journalist)
"Trump, Trolls, and the Truth: Digital Media in the Era of “Alternative Facts”" |
| 19:00 - 22:00 | Conference Dinner |
Saturday 1 July
| 9:30 - 10:00 | Introduction to the Book Plan: A Rough Guide to Online Vitriol |
| 10:00 - 11:00 | Breakout in Chapter/Section Groups |
| 11:00 - 11:30 | Presentation & discussion of chapters/contributions |
| 11:30 - 12:30 | Writing chapter abstracts |
| 12:30 - 14:00 | Closing Lunch |