@ -37,9 +37,11 @@ If we think about a commercial platform as a structure or surface on which actio
---------
All of these points were written with commercial platforms in mind, however, exciting developments are happening in federated platforms such as Mastodon, where users are part of defining features and possibilities of interaction. There, the norms of the platform and the way they are codified into the technical structure are more often revised and reformulated together with the people using the platform, as Aymeric Mansoux and Roel Roscam Abbing have pointed out in their article *Seven Theses on the Fediverse and the Becoming of FLOSS*[^theses].
All of these points were written with commercial platforms in mind, however, exciting developments are happening in federated platforms such as Mastodon [mb: rephrase, we already introduced the Fediverse in Darius' section], where users are part of defining features and possibilities of interaction. There, the norms of the platform and the way they are codified into the technical structure are more often revised and reformulated together with the people using the platform, as Aymeric Mansoux and Roel Roscam Abbing have pointed out in their article *Seven Theses on the Fediverse and the Becoming of FLOSS*[^theses].
This in itself creates a different space for bots, which are still active contributors in the way sociality is imagined on these platforms. However interestingly enough, with a different infrastructural system comes a different type of ruleset. On platforms like Mastodon, bots need to comply to the terms of services of the API, as well as to collective agreements such as a code of conduct.
[mb: insert quote from A & R here? Now we only mention the text.]
This in itself creates a different space for bots. However interestingly enough, with a different infrastructural system comes a different type of ruleset. On platforms like Mastodon, bots need to both comply to the terms of services of the API and to community agreements such as a Code of Conduct.
@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ Of course, these action modes can also be executed by humans.
It is by no means surprising that many Twitter users are mistaken for bots, or that the term itself has attained a derogatory meaning. However, an interesting phenomenon can be observed on platforms such as Twitter, where human users have adopted a type of bot behaviour to create networks of dissent and to push activist counter-narratives.
<!-- Such a moment happened recently on Dutch Twitter. In response to the Black Lives Matter protests, extreme right wing politician Geert Wilders posted an image on Twitter on June 5th 2020 using the hashtag #ZwartePietMatters.[^zwartepiet] Following this post, a wave of ... from the k-pop community ... -->
Such a moment happened recently on Dutch Twitter. In response to the Black Lives Matter protests, extreme right wing politician Geert Wilders posted an image on Twitter on June 5th 2020 using the hashtag #ZwartePietMatters.[^zwartepiet] Following this post, a wave of ... from the k-pop community ... [mb: expand]
<!-- [^zwartepiet]: Zwarte Piet is a ... -->
[mb: do we want to add one more page, in which we conclude how *bot logic* is useful as a term?]
## Footnotes
[^zwartepiet]: Zwarte Piet is a ...
4
content/Section 6 - Critical Interventions Through Bots (exercise)/1-introduction.md
@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ Summary: Start of the bot-making excercise.
In this last section of the module we will make a bot. 🤖
We will use the dialog writing exercise and transform it into a bot ([in case you haven't done it yet, it is recommended to go through this section first](/category/section-5-infrapunctural-imaginaries-exercise.html)).
We will use the dialog script we wrote in the previous section and translate it into a bot ([in case you haven't done it yet, it is recommended to go through this section first](/category/section-5-infrapunctural-imaginaries-exercise.html)).
Before we dive into bot-making, we will first look into the **materiality of bots**: How do they operate? What code is needed to make a bot? And how does a bot connect to an infrastructure, both in a technical and dialogical way?
Then we will explore bots from a computational and technical point of view. We will go through a couple of basic features of **programming logic**, such as loops, if/else statements and variables. It will help us to get a better understanding of the technical mechanisms behind these automated agents.
Then we will go through a couple of basic features of **programming logic** to explore the computational nature of bots, such as loops, if/else statements and variables. It will help us to get a better understanding of the mechanisms behind these automated agents.
After that, we will look at the code of an **example bot**, to study how other bot-makers write and operate them.
7
content/Section 6 - Critical Interventions Through Bots (exercise)/2-materiality-of-bots.md
Talking about the materiality of bots might sound a bit funny at first. It is crucial though to closely look at *how* and *where* a bot operates, in order to imagine in what kind of ways they can intervene in an infrastructure. To do this, we will study the digital materiality of bots.
Talking about the materiality of bots might sound a bit funny at first. It is crucial though to closely look at *how* and *where* a bot operates, in order to imagine in what kind of ways they can intervene in an infrastructure. To do this, we will study the materiality of bots.
We use the term *materiality* by following Johanna Drucker's definition of *performative materiality*[^drucker]:
> “Performative materialtiy suggests that what something is has to be understood in terms of what it does, how it works within machinic, systemic, and cultural domains.”
<!-- We use the term*materiality* by following Johanna Drucker's definition of*performative materiality*[^drucker]:
> “Performative materialtiy suggests that what something is has to be understood in terms of what it does, how it works within machinic, systemic, and cultural domains.” -->
<!-- As we learned from the section*Bot Logic*: bot-making includes not only a study of technical mechanisms, it also includes studying the norms, values and communicative habits of an infrastructure. -->
