Insight sessions by Idil Galip and Femke Bijker
Two individual talks by Idil Galip and Femke Bijker
Each Insight Session comprises two individual presentations by two different speakers. In this session, Idil Galip and Femke Bijker will share their insights on two very different topics.
The Chatbox Is a Casino: Speculation and Attention on Livestreams - Idil Galip
We often hear that attention is the currency of the internet, but on alternative livestreaming platforms it is being used in new ways. This talk is a guided screenwalk of Kick, a streaming platform owned by the company behind the crypto-gambling site Stake. Using a step-by-step analysis of the platform’s interface (Light et al., 2018), I move through a livestream to show how attention and gambling are tied together through speculation, the act of betting on an uncertain outcome. Following Komporozos-Athanasiou’s (2022) idea of speculative communities, I treat the chatbox as a speculative technology: a tool that keeps people watching by making every moment feel uncertain, volatile and potentially rewarding. Here, paying attention and placing a bet become almost the same act. This is “chatbox sociality”: a condition in which taking part, feeling invested and speculating with money become entangled. Viewers become “chat”, a collective voice whose mood cannot be separated from its financial stakes. Speculation then extends to attention itself, as memecoins and prediction markets turn viewers’ bonds with streamers into a way of selling financial products. (Based on Galip and Maragkou, First Monday 31(5), 2026.)
Your values-based attention – Femke Bijker
Our work can be demanding. There are targets set by the organisation, the team you work in, and society, which places expectations on us. This can lead to friction. You may not have done what someone else expected of you. Or you may feel that you are unable to give enough attention to your work for the benefit of the people you work for (for example: as a teacher for pupils, as a policymaker for citizens, as a researcher for participants). This session aims to provide insight into the importance of values in your work and how values can contribute to giving attention. Values-based attention, for the flourish of the people you work for and for yourself.