Collaborative Research Centre Media of Cooperation

12/10/2026

From 22–25 September 2026, the CRC “Media of Cooperation” hosted the Autumn School “Synthetic Social Media: Studying Platform-Embedded AI”, bringing together approaches to studying how generative AI is embedded in and shaped by platform environments. One outcome was a collaborative methods map that centers the specific affordances of AI-driven platform phenomena, asking how synthetic personas, algorithmic infrastructures, slopification, and the affective economies of social media challenge established methods in platform studies. Mapping method inputs, frictions, data, actions, and open questions across these dimensions, the map offers a starting point for a cross-cutting methodological approach in which methods are adapted, combined, and invented in response to the evolving relations between platforms, AI, and social media practices.

🔗 https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/de/autumn-school-synthetic-social-media-studying-platform-embedded-ai-2026/

10/10/2026

Our registration closes tomorrow. Don't miss the deadline; register now 👉 https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/en/annual-conference-2026/

09/10/2026

📄 Out now! Special-themed collection “Ambient Amplification: Memecry Across Platforms,” with Platforms & Society, edited by Elena Pilipets and Marloes Geboers.
👉 editorial introduction https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/29768624261489026

This is volume one. Happy reading, and stay tuned for the forthcoming call for contributions to Volume Two!

All individual articles are open access. Find the list on our website: https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/de/new-publication-ambient-amplification-memecry-across-platforms/

08/10/2026

Wir starten eine neue Reihe, in der wir die Forschungsprojekte an unserem SFB vorstellen. In den nächsten Wochen und Monaten erfahrt ihr mehr darüber, was Medien der Kooperation sind und wie wir sie erforschen.

Los geht’s mit Sebastian Gießmann, der das Projekt „Digital-vernetzte Medien zwischen Spezialisierung und Universalisierung“ leitet und seine Forschung zur Kreditkarte vorstellt.

⭐️ Project Spotlight: A01 Digital vernetzte Medien zwischen Spezialisierung und Universalisierung
🎤 mit Sebastian Gießmann, Schafer Valérie, Tatjana Seitz, Inga Schuppener
📍
🔗 u-si.de/6LvXn

We’re launching a new series to introduce the research projects at our SFB. Over the coming weeks and months, you’ll learn about what “media of cooperation” are and how we research them.

We’re kicking things off with Sebastian Gießmann, who leads the project “Digitally Networked Media Between Specialization and Universalization” and will present his research on credit cards.

⭐️ Project Spotlight: A01 Digital Network Technologies between Specialization and Generalization
🎤 with Sebastian Gießmann, Schafer Valérie, Tatjana Seitz, Inga Schuppener
📍
🔗 https://u-si.de/94Lk2

28/08/2026

Registration for our next annual conference “Politics of Cooperative Sensing: Techfascism, War, Geopolitics, & Resistance” is open.
Register now 👉 https://u-si.de/CeUKi

You can register until October 11th.

We look forward to bringing together scholars, activists, artists, filmmakers, and journalists to inquire into the politics of media, data, and sensory practices, and to explore the role of cooperative forms of sensing and sense-making.
Keynotes, presentations, and workshops shape the amazing program of our annual conference. The conference will take place on November 11-14 at the University of Siegen.

The conference promises critical discussions on the politics of cooperative sensing and sense-making in a time marked by geopolitical and climate catastrophes, anti-democratic backlashes, and the rise of authoritarian regimes—all phenomena closely intertwined with increasing datafication, generative AI developments, and the growing power of Big Tech.

28/08/2026

Wir laden zum Community-Workshop “Geteilte Mobilität: Wer verteilt was?”
Leihfahrräder, E-Scooter und App-basierte Mobilitätsdienste sind aus dem städtischen Leben nicht mehr wegzudenken. Doch die geteilte Mikromobilität wirft auch wichtige Fragen hinsichtlich von Raum, Infrastruktur, Daten und Teilhabe auf. Der Workshop lädt Teilnehmende ein, gemeinsam die Rolle der Geteilten Mikromobilität in der Stadt Köln zu erkunden.

🗓️ Donnerstag, 17.09.2026, 10:00 - 17:30 Uhr
📍 Bürgerzentrum Ehrenfeld (https://bueze.de/), Venloer Straße 429, 50825 Köln
🔗 Anmeldung unter https://my.liberaforms.org/workshop-geteilte-mobilitaet
📧 Kontakt unter [email protected]

Wie?
Während des Workshops am 17.09. werden wir uns gemeinsam mit verschiedenen Verkehrsmitteln durch die Stadt bewegen und unsere Erfahrungen anschließend gemeinsam mit Künstler:innen kartieren.
Interessierte sind auch herzlich eingeladen, am 18.09. an der weiteren Auswertung der Ergebnisse teilzunehmen.

07/08/2026

04/08/2026

📖 new publication in our Working Paper Series Media of Cooperation is out now: No. 41 looks beyond informant consent by discussing the asymmetry between consumer data preferences and the conditions under which consumers engage with data-driven platforms.

🎤 Maximilian Becker & Catalina Goanta: Beyond Informed Consent: Consumer Data Preferences and the Case for Enforcement-Oriented Transparency
🔗 Open Access: https://doi.org/10.25819/ubsi/10978

Digital markets have fundamentally altered the conditions under which consumers engage with data-driven platforms, yet regulatory frameworks, particularly in the EU, continue to rely on consent-based models that presuppose a level of technological literacy and informed agency that most users do not possess. Drawing on existing empirical evidence from five studies across the US, UK, and EU, this paper departs from the empirical argument that consumer preferences regarding personal data are highly unstable and shaped by framing and trust rather than genuine, well-formed values.

Consumers systematically overestimate the privacy protections offered by paid services, accept personalization without understanding its commercial scope, and disregard privacy notices regardless of their clarity. This argument exposes the structural failure of transparency-as-disclosure as a regulatory strategy: informing consumers better does not fix markets distorted by asymmetric information and complex, layered business models.

Rather than doubling down on consumer-facing transparency obligations, this paper proposes a shift toward enforcement-oriented business-model transparency, under which platforms would be required to disclose aspects such as data flows, monetization strategies, but also algorithmic processes to regulatory authorities and civil society. The Digital Services Act and the General Data Protection Regulation already point somewhat in this direction. Building on this logic, the paper proposes further machine-readable transparency as a complement to existing information obligations.

20/07/2026

We are delighted to announce the programme for the forthcoming Autumn School, Synthetic Social Media: Studying Platform-Embedded AI, taking place at the Universität Siegen, 22–25 September.
👉 check out our programme: https://u-si.de/OrjWc

The programme contains updates on the event's schedule, keynotes, workshops, and presentations.

Want to join us? Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiUSyl8uXiHH-oNoM-QxIiste9RDWMhT89rxXh9B9DJjDI-Q/viewform