We have been a networked public for over forty years now. “The internet is forever” has become a catchphrase, but how much online conversation from thirty, twenty, or even five years ago are we still able to find? Does Not Compute is a toolkit for opening up the web and its forevers.
Each module is composed of videos, useful links, and annotated bibliographies. The videos explain the state of networked social conversation in a particular decade, the links point to relevant archives or repositories, and the annotated bibliographies make it possible to connect new inquiry with existing scholarship.
Too often, we treat the internet as if it only exists in the present or in the very recent past. Does Not Compute instead presents the internet as a rich archive of social life in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. ▮