AI-generated posts, influencers selling stuff you don't need, and bots in the comments. The chaotic, creative and deeply personal free space that the internet once was, is gone. Now, it’s shaped by big tech’s algorithms and filled with ads. Experts call this ‘enshittification’. How did this happen? 

Media scholar Michael Stevenson (UvA) looks back at the web’s utopian ideals. Social media researcher Catalina Goanta (UU) examines how influencer culture and platform economies have reshaped our identities and attention. Lucie Chateau (UU) explores the rise of AI slop on various platforms, but also the spaces where creative users try to fight back against these digital trends that make our brains melt. How can we make the internet human again?

In collaboration with the Utrecht Public Library.