iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I submitted my proposal for the Media Industries conference in Madrid next summer. Hoping I get in (I enjoyed the previous conferences and have never been to Madrid), but wonder what conferencing will be like during a potential heatwave and perhaps without A/C...

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

It's syllabi season, so let me point you to Writing About Screen Media, 2nd edition: short, hands-on essays about teaching students to analyze a wide array of media. I wrote about my use of ArcGIS Storymaps to make my Comic-Con research more tangible. www.writingaboutscreenmedia.net

writingaboutscreenmedia.net

Writing About Screen Media | book and resources

An essential guide to writing about a broad range of media objects – including film, television, social media, advertising, video games, mobile media, music videos, and digital media – in an equally b...

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I greatly enjoyed Rolando Vargas' "Infrastructures in the Darién Rainforest: From Soft Earth to Mudware" in the latest @jcmsjournal.bsky.social. It reminded me of the Pluribus episode "The Gap," which follows a conventional view of the Darién Gap upended by Vargas' analysis.

Infrastructures in the Darién Rainforest: From Soft Earth to Mudware.
Rolando Vargas

Rolando Vargas is an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Global Studies program at the University of Virginia. He received his PhD in Film and Digital Media from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Abstract: With media scholars rethinking environments as media, I turn to media ecologies to examine how mud, historically and in the present, functions as an elemental medium enabling the Darién rainforest’s resistance to external interventions. I propose the term mudware to describe the collaborations between mud and the beings that inhabit the rainforest, as an infrastructure of bios sustaining life in the region. Through a perspective grounded in mud—its ephemerality, impenetrability, discontinuities, and intervals—I analyze how Spanish colonial enterprises in the Darién, as well as the Pan-American Highway project and other contemporary incursions, have repeatedly failed within the Darién territory.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

That sounds likely. I'm very curious what kinds of content gets featured.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I mean, we have been here before. I would really like to see the contract details for these partner agreements. Or maybe it's just a DM that says "mind if we share this on D+?"

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The scent of free fan labor is in the air as Disney+ announces fan-made content will be featured on its mobile apps. Is the promise of exposure the only payment? (This is just the latest in many examples of Hollywood "helping" fandom.) www.thewrap.com/media-platfo...

thewrap.com

Disney+ Partners With TikTok to Host Fan-Created Content

The platforms will also jointly run the Disney Creator Ambassador Program, giving select creators increased visibility

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

LOL, Google updating its tracking of all searches (expanding it to saving all media you may share through e.g. visual image search), and simultaneously stating they'll apply "robust" privacy protections (and of course also use what you share to train their AI models). At least you can turn it off.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

For a sneak peek at what we'll be presenting at Immersive Technologies in Practice, check out the archive of the project: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/45db...

storymaps.arcgis.com

EAR Forest: TerraBytes

an installation by RHMS 360

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

On June 17, two former students and I are presenting an immersive woodland sound installation on the materiality of digital media at this symposium! You can attend in person or remotely. www.brookes.ac.uk/about-brooke...

brookes.ac.uk

Immersive Technologies in Practice: virtual storytelling in global research - Oxford Brookes University

A one-day international symposium exploring immersive technologies across the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I'm migrating to a new laptop, and this means finally facing all the open tabs across two browsers. (I already reorganized the entire file structure of my laptop, which I hadn't done in two laptops...)

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

I'm in my second line of the day (for the NW Marine Artworks Open Studios), but at least this time, I have a ticket and will definitely get in.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

No Criterion Closet for me today, and I don't know if I want to brave the weekend crowds. You'd probably have to be in line by 8am at the latest to get in. At least I got a voucher for a film screening at PAM's Tomorrow Theater.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I clearly underestimated Portland's desire for the Criterion Closer because I'm in the standby line an hour before it starts. I should have trusted my SDCC instincts and gotten here at least two hours early.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I have exited the grading cave only to enter a string of post-semester retreats and workshops (sigh). Fortunately also have fun social things lined up: the mobile Criterion Closet will be in town, Memorial Day picnic with friends, and lots of D&D.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Peaking my head out of the grading cave to share that Prime Video is hosting a YA-focused "immersive" fan con in L.A. this June. During the pandemic lockdown, several companies staged their own (virtual) fan cons rather than participating in e.g. San Diego Comic-Con. Curious to see this resurface.

"PRIME’S OBSESSED FEST
Anchoring the initiative is Obsessed Fest—an inaugural summer tentpole event that brings the internet's most passionate fandoms to life. Taking place on June 27 at nya Studios in Los Angeles, this all-day immersive event transforms online fandom into a live, participatory celebration where fans can connect, discover, and engage like never before. Obsessed Fest will feature highly anticipated Prime Original YA titles including Every Year After, The Love Hypothesis, Elle, Off Campus, Overcompensating, Your Fault: London, Drawn Together and more—offering fans exclusive first looks, appearances from casts and creators and a range of fan focused access to the talent and creators behind the stories they obsess over." via https://press.amazonmgmstudios.com/us/en/press-release/prime-video-launches-obsession-is-in-session-a-new

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

I don't recall ever having gotten a tote bag at SCMS, so I brought this Console-ing Passions tote from 2014. #scms26

A white tote bag with blue media-related logos and the words Console-ing Passions, Columbia, MO, April 10-12, 2014.

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Reposted by mesk

Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Finally, a great convo between @meesk.bsky.social and @drtvlotz.bsky.social on how those of us raised in the era of “mass media” (and trained on it as media scholars) need to revise and adapt our approaches and theories to media as it actually is today. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

podcasts.apple.com

Ep. 82: After Mass Media with Melanie Kohnen and Amanda Lotz

Podcast Episode · Aca-Media · February 19 · 44m

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

I meant to take a brief hiatus during winter break, and oops, it turned into something slightly longer. But I'm back just in time for SCMS! (I'm presenting on the invisible labor of marketers and non-union actors in brand activations on Thursday afternoon.)

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Last day of classes is in the books. The last few weeks are always simultaneously endless and fly by. I think I found strategies for productive and enjoyable classes after Thanksgiving? (Mostly structured in-class project work and open-ended big picture conversations)

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

What an excellent group of scholars and topics! I'm excited to dive in.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Yesterday it occured to me that it was time for SCMS notifications, and the acceptance notice appeared in my inbox a few minutes ago. See you in Chicago for "Creative Labor in the Shadow of Hollywood Hype: Marketers, Non-Union-Actors, and the Struggle for Recognition." 🎉 #SCMS26

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

This was such an excellent conversation! Big thanks to the SCMS Media Industries SIG for organizing it.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Emerging from my little hiatus to say that I have perhaps never been this excited about an issue of @jcmsjournal.bsky.social, i.e. the special issue of "Is it Media?" All of these articles are 100% my jam.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

I told my students that some of their professors might use AI to give feedback on assignments, and most of them were outraged/horrified.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

My friend Laura is urgently seeking a new home for two sweet kitties in/near Charleston, SC. If you have any leads or could share her post, I'd really appreciate it.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Speaking of Critical Role, I saw a panel with Liam and Sam at Rose City Comic-Con yesterday, but the true highlight of the day was an actual play set in Val'Ruvina, the setting of TPK Brewing's Leyfarer campaign (in which I play). Tons of lore drops and our GMs were amazing as beloved NPCs.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

This is the perfect convergence of my research and personal interests, and I can't go! I'll be in NYC the next weekend for NYCC, and I really wish this ran longer. I'm sure there will be tons of social media posts, but that's no substitution for going in person.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I'm surprised (in a good way) to discover that the majority of students in my intro class have not only heard of the WGA/SAG strikes of 2023, but could also say generally what they were about. Also, a surprising number of them have recently watched Brokeback Mountain (because of TikTok).

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Critical Role revealed details about Campaign 4 this morning, and I am stoked! I love the expanded cast, and while I didn't like the split party as much in C3, I think it will work well here (and I understand that it makes production a lot easier). Is it Thursday October 2 yet??

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Fun fact: all our AI tools are Google-powered (but we have been assured that none of what we put into/produce with them will be used by Google! Yeah, right...).

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Oh, but it gets worse: apparently, a task force has been hard at work to develop gems like an "outcomes curator" where you can ask AI to make sure your syllabus is in good shape, and a "productivity assistant" to "schedule my work effectively each day." 🙄

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Our library website now prominently links to an "AI" "research assistant" and I want to scream into the void about it. It is so upsetting to see the library, of all places, cave like that (granted, the institution may have forced their hand). Ugh.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

This morning, observant Critical Role fans discovered the password-protected critrole.com/Unseal/ and a few hours later, managed to guess the password to reveal a 20-second audio snippet introducing a new setting along with this Thursday's date. Maybe we will get a little trailer for Campaign 4?

critrole.com

Protected: Unseal | Critical Role

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Related to the CR puzzle, Dropout also had an ARG embedded in this season of Game Changer that ultimately leads to a page where 100k people need to enter a secret word to unlock the bonus episode for this season. I did my part. (More on this: www.argn.com/2025/08/its_...)

A screenshot that says, "Congrats on exposing Sam's secret! You are Game Changer superfan #6762. 93238 others needed to unlock episode 11."

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Over the course of the day, Beacon (CR's subscription platform) sent out mobile notifications with another cryptic phrase and a link to the discord channel. The plot thickens. Hundreds of messages in the CR discord trying to crack this puzzle. (Is this what the Lost ARG was like in 2006?)

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Oh, I am already in the discord!

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Yesterday's Critical Role newsletter included a picture of random letters arranged in a square, a new channel appeared CR's discord that only accepts commands, and people commenting on CR's latest Instagram post got DMs w/ cryptic phrases. I'm very curious to see where this leads.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

I don't know for sure, but I assume so since they officially hired her as a writer.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Oh wow, what is the name of the channel?

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Absolutely, and I don't think this would happen/would be possible today.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

That's the sense I got from the discussion!

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Right! I didn't catch her name during the panel.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

It was called 30 Years of Xena Warrior Princess: A Fan Appreciation Panel (the latter is typical SDCC signalling to say it was organized by fans, not a studio). There was definitely some vagueness in their statements still (to summarize them briefly). I'm sure someone recorded the panel.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Yup! I didn't know that, either.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

I wrapped my con with wandering along the show floor and then got Dole whip from Sweet Things (IYKYK). On Preview Night, the four days seem endless; then you blink and it's Sunday afternoon. See you next year, SDCC.

A view of the crowds in the Gaslamp, with tall buildings in the background. The buildings' facades are wrapped in giant posters promoting current films and TV shows.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Ah, interesting! I wish you could have seen this panel, then. Most of the people who asked questions were younger than the show.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

I didn't know that a fan got invited to write two episodes of the final season of Xena because the showrunner liked ideas she shared online. That's wild.

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mesk @meesk.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Considering how terrible the crowds around the Marvel booth have always been, adding a registration system is a good idea. The data collection is a huge bonus (for Marvel).

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