Are.na

Are.na is an online social networking community and creative research platform founded by Charles Broskoski, Daniel Pianetti, Chris Barley, and Chris Sherron.[1] Are.na was built as a successor to hypertext projects like Ted Nelson's Xanadu, and as an ad-free alternative to social networks like Facebook, forgoing "likes," "favorites," or "shares" in its design. Are.na allows users to compile uploaded and web-clipped "blocks" into different "channels," and has been described as a "vehicle for conscious Internet browsing," "playlists, but for ideas," and a "toolkit for assembling new worlds."[2]

Are.na
Type of site
Social network
Available inEnglish
Created byCharles Broskoski
URLwww.are.na
CommercialNo
RegistrationRequired to post, follow, or be followed
LaunchedJuly 2014 (2014-07)
Current statusActive

Features and community

Are.na is especially popular among designers, artists, and architects. Designer Allan Yu[3] as well as artists Michael Bell-Smith,[4] Cory Arcangel,[5] Emily Segal,[6] and artist Margaret Lee[7] have all cited Are.na as an important tool in their creative processes. Many Are.na users, including Ryder Ripps,[8] were previously members of image boards like FFFFOUND!, which closed May 2017.

Are.na's blog, written and curated by Meg Miller, features essays built around Are.na's research and publishing tools, as well as noteworthy or "featured" user channels. The New York-based consulting office Consortia has also integrated Are.na into written publications, using embedded blocks as an alternative to footnoting and hyperlinks.[9]

Are.na-specific terms include:

  • Blocks: uploaded or web-clipped links, images, text, PDF, video, or other file formats.
  • Channels: file folders for organizing blocks

Revenue model

Are.na is free to use but finances itself through the sale of premium accounts with the ability to upload an unlimited number of private blocks.[10] It also sells branded apparel on its store.

Unlike Pinterest, Are.na does not finance itself through advertising or user data collection.[11]

History

Co-founder Charles Broskoski began working for Rhizome's John Michael Boling and Sapient Corporation's Stuart Moore in the early 2010s, coding prototypes of a platform which would containerize knowledge into "informational building blocks." Soon after, Broskoski brought artist Damon Zucconi and K-HOLE's Dena Yago onto the project. Broskoski, Yago, and Zucconi eventually split off to found Are.na, soon joined by co-founder Chris Sherron (also of K-HOLE) and Dan Brewster. Broskoski set out to build an open-ended community tool, with Ted Nelson's Computer Lib/Dream Machines and hypertext project Xanadu as major influences on Are.na's founding and design.[10][12]

Collaborations

In 2015, Are.na worked with the Guggenheim Museum on the Åzone Futures Market. The museum's first online exhibition, curated by Troy Conrad Therrien, Åzone Futures Market allowed visitors to the site to invest cåin, a digital currency, in different technology-driven visions of the future.[13]

Two years later, Are.na partnered with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, building out their blog alongside ArchDaily, Archinect, and Architizer.[14][15] Are.na has also partnered with the Manhattan Museum of Arts and Design, New Inc. incubator, the Vilém Flusser archives, and artists Carson Salter and David Hilmer Rex.[16]

References
  1. Taylor-Foster, James (2017-03-27). "'Are.na' is an Online Tool for Contextualizing the Internet - Here's Why It's Useful to Architects". ArchDaily. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  2. Broskoski, Charles. "How do You Describe Are.Na at a Party?".
  3. "Allan Yu". The Caret. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  4. "Consumer Reports: Michael Bell-Smith". ArtNews. 2015-08-06. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  5. "Consumer Reports: Cory Arcangel". ArtNews. 2015-09-18. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  6. "Nemesis Global". Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  7. "Creatives Are Flocking to this Artist-Designed Social Network". Artsy. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  8. "Are.na: Ryder Ripps". Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  9. "Consortia".
  10. Schwulst, Laurel (2017-10-25). "Charles Broskoski on self-discovery that happens upon revisiting things you've accumulated over time". The Creative Independent. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  11. Schwab, Katharine (2018-01-18). "This Is What A Designer-Led Social Network Looks Like". Co.Design. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  12. "Counter Currents: Are.na on Ted Nelson's Computer Lib/Dream Machines". 2016-01-19. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  13. "The Guggenheim's first online exhibit lets you invest in the future". Mashable. 2015-11-04. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  14. "Chicago Architecture Biennial". Are.na. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  15. "Introducing the Chicago Architecture Biennial blog". 2017-06-06. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  16. Tan, Alicia Marie. "Incongruous: Are.na". Museum of Arts and Design. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
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