Terminally online: A Symposium on Vibes

On social media, "vibes" are increasingly shaping how we navigate our online experiences. These carefully curated "aesthetic feelings" are amplified by algorithms, tapping into our emotions. In this symposium, we will explore how new forms of ambient media, such as ASMR, Femcel Pinterest moodboards, and Spotify mood playlists, are influencing online culture and politics.

We will delve into the affective and sonic turns in media studies and discuss how researchers can engage with these non-verbal and subconscious aspects of digital sociality. The symposium is organized by the Terminally Online initiative with (r)MA students from Media Studies.

Programme Overview

• 15:00-15:15 Introduction
• 15:15 - 16:00 Keynote “The Vibes are Immaculate: Towards a critical phenomenology of vibes” by Dr. Ludmila Lupinacci, Lecturer in Digital Media, School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds.
• 16:00-16:15: Break: Vibes Exhibition
• 16:15-17:45 Student Presentations
  1. Eden Tweedie: “’Everything-core’: How the contemporary cross-media landscape shapes identity-building and identity-branding practices
  2. Luc Huijgens: “Feed Me & See More!”
  3. Ray Dolitsay: “Computer Lust, Toxic Pollen, and Still Landscapes of Desktops”
  4. Richard-Josephine Weichert: “Rationing the Vibe, Aur(e)alising a soundscape: Close Listening to ‘This Heat’ (2006)”
  5. Gabriel Oliveira Pereira: “VibeSearch (Or: How I learned to vibe with code and vector embeddings)”
• 17:45-18:00 Break: Vibes Exhibition
• 18:00-18:45 Closing Panel

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Terminally Online

Terminally Online (TO) is an organization run by new media + digital culture masters and research masters students from the University of Amsterdam. We connect students with researchers and practitioners from the local media scene by organizing talks, reading groups, exhibitions, performances, and promoting work by students and alums.