12^th MFRU Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out*

Network is an old organization form. Commercial, military, religious, or other networks do not have much in common with today’s networks. The major difference today is in how and what kind of information is processed through contemporary networks.

Today’s social networks bring together different groups and/or individuals who are interactively connected by means of information and communication technologies. The ultimate technological network is the Internet; not only did it change the ways of communicating, learning, working, giving, and receiving information, but it has also been changing itself due to the changed subject (user). Web 2.0 is a new buzzword, foretelling a shared and personified future of the Internet as an effect of collective intelligence and multi-directional control. Despite the lost war between hackers and control mechanisms—such as politics, corporations, and marketing structures (Chaos Computer Club, December 2005)—the Internet is still developing in the sense of openness, a real bazaar. The strongest are the least centralized peer-to-peer technologies. Internet sites become home desktops (RSS, CSS, wiki, blog), and the psychological consequences of technological control are expressed in the final depersonalization or direct exposure (for example, MySpace.com).

Network Everywhere
Manuel Castells realizes that in the new technological environment, networks have become the most effective way of organization due to their three primary characteristics: flexibility, measurability, and durability.

Flexibility: Networks simply rearrange according to environmental changes by replacing some of the components while maintaining the same objectives. Inhibitory points are bypassed, and new connections are found.

Measurability: With small changes or consequences, networks can widen or narrow, decrease or increase.

Durability: Due to the absence of a central authority, networks can function in many forms and easily resist attacks on a code (or rule) because the code (or rule) of a network is written in many nodes, reproducing the instructions and finding new ways of implementation.

Networking as a Creative Process
Networks can be open or closed, with openness being a characteristic of modern networks where creativity is a side product but an assured one.

Mapping of Networks
Mapping of networks draws new cartographies. Various networks create different maps, which are becoming basic tools for navigating alternative social spheres and other concepts of thought. Psycho-geographies, emo-geographies, symptom maps, and others are obligatory manuals for everyone in the time of live reality.

Networking as Sharing Common Things
In its prime phase, networking is the sharing of common things. In this sense, notions, actions, and subjects can connect. Networking as a social participatory activity represents a way of operating that enables differences, opposing the thought of a replaceable individual. A network can consist of different objects or subjects connected by something intrinsic to the network. You can be in many networks at a time, but according to Deleuze, the most important thing is not where, who, or what you connect with but how you connect—what are the ties binding one thing to another.

Turn On, Tune In, Structurelessness
A network has a non-hierarchical structure. The problem appears when discussing the distribution of power within a network. If we talk about a network as something without a structure, it is important to keep in mind that structurelessness enables the formation of informal structures, giving way to the development of power positions (Jo Freeman, 1971). In such a system, there are no tools (or rules) for regulating power, and consequently, an elite is formed. Possibilities and rules should be clearly defined to be available and useful for everyone.

Does a Network Work?
A network is a state of things. It has changed the individual, redefined the author, and transformed the system. Within a network, you are indirectly allowed to be active or inactive. A network enables easy engagement and disengagement. It does not have a centralized functional unit but consists of nodes. It is difficult to control such a structure in one way and even more difficult to destroy it with one move. The main political question that remains is: Who determines, or how is it determined, who is in and who is out of a network?