After the internet connected us all together (mostly) in the 90s, the world became a radically different place...in some ways. Networks of communication bring people who are far away on the map closer together, enabling us to form affinity groups across time and space. Today's internet exists mostly within the digital walled gardens of Big Tech corporations, or in the cracks between them, and online affinity groups are often found hopping between semi-private cozy spaces such as Slack and Discord servers.

From Swifties to QANON and Wall Street Bets, the mobilisation of "online mobs" is increasingly becoming a powerful "memetic force" which can move markets, public opinion, perhaps even governments. Contemporary digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) open up new ways for people to come together at distance, organise into a community, and make things happen.

In this session we'll think through how the tools of today help us imagine the kinships of tomorrow: personalised chatbots that can "do stuff", non-profit and cooperative economic models, and fairer voting schemes in addition to more commercial activities around tokenisation and platform economies.