abstract:

Social networking sites are networks of asymmetry. An amazing wealth of knowledge, information and affects is exchanged through a small number of powerful social networking sites. With privacy policies that enable data aggregation, and plugins that allow data access to third parties, social media companies are today among the main holders of what Castells frames as communication power. The power of the networks is a power of protocols and a power of control. Having the ability to program, re-program and connect networks, its actors have the possibility not only to define and control the information flow but also to capitalize its circulation. And while resistance is crucial, its formations are still ephemeral and occasional. The paper will aim to examine power and resistance in the networks taking into consideration the theoretical approaches of Manuel Castells, Alexander Galloway, Eugene Thacker and Giorgio Agamben. It will focus especially on the mechanisms of counterpower, the logic of the exploit and the role of play in order to present and discuss playful and radical forms of resistance introduced by active and conscious creators.