internet manifestos are not written only for humans ***** internet manifestos are not always serious ***** internet manifestos are not always countercultural ***** internet manifestos are not something else ***** internet manifestos are not self-fulfilling prophecies ***** internet manifestos are not bestsellers ***** internet manifestos are not about internet ***** internet manifestos are not fiction ***** internet manifestos are not non-fiction ***** internet manifestos are not only manifestos ***** internet manifestos are not wish-lists ***** internet manifestos are not always read ***** internet manifestos are not just pixels ***** internet manifestos are not lost in cyber space ***** internet manifestos are not up for sale ***** internet manifestos are not comforting ***** internet manifestos are not the end of the world ***** internet manifestos are not to laugh at ***** internet manifestos are not written only by humans ***** internet manifestos are not over

Cybercommunism

by Nadia Egan

Before taking on the topic of cybercommunism, I admittedly knew little about the subject. Communism in the traditional sense had always been a research interest of mine – even if only loosely – so venturing into its cyber counterpart for a seminar on internet manifestos seemed like a logical step.

Table with the collected manifestos and pilot analysis:

To understand the topic better, I naturally branched out and did some wider reading. I began with the manifestos themselves, but quickly found I needed more grounding in the histories and theories they were responding to. After a simple Google search, one thing led to another and I was down the rabbit hole of internet manifestos and communism, following threads that branched off infinitely.

For the purpose of collating all of the articles and websites I had read or still planned to read, I set up an Are.na page. Are.na is an online networking community and creative research platform founded by Charles Broskoski, Daniel Pianetti, Chris Barley, and Chris Sherron, allowing users to compile uploads and web links into different channels. For me, it's a saviour from the chaos of having 50 tabs open at once.

The articles I collected discuss a range of topics related to cybercommunism, such as file sharing, fully automated luxury communism, cyber-utopianism, the Soviet internet, Marx in the age of digital capitalism, electronic colonialism, the virtual class, and internet revolution. They open up an entirely new world of communism and communist thinking that I was previously unaware of, and have completely altered my perception of the communist manifesto, in both its traditional and cyber forms.

As a way to help you, the reader, understand the topic better – or perhaps find a new thread leading from this topic into something entirely new – I am sharing here the link to the Are.na page, to peruse and enjoy at your leisure. The channel is organised loosely by theme rather than chronology, so feel free to jump around rather than read start to finish.