Sandeep Mertia
@sandeepmertia.bsky.social
asst prof of tech & society • ICT engineer turned anthropologist of global computing, media, & the state • ed, ‘Lives of Data’ (2020) • I still use Twitter to “monitor the situation” 😌
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/smertia
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/smertia
Thank you to the Hype Studies group for bringing together such an eclectic group of scholars, practitioners, & artists at this conference! 🙌🏽
The critical experimental & non-hierarchical approach reminded me of Sarai :)
The critical experimental & non-hierarchical approach reminded me of Sarai :)
September 15, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Thank you to the Hype Studies group for bringing together such an eclectic group of scholars, practitioners, & artists at this conference! 🙌🏽
The critical experimental & non-hierarchical approach reminded me of Sarai :)
The critical experimental & non-hierarchical approach reminded me of Sarai :)
A short essay on the state of global digital capitalism(s) and futures in/from India and China, based on @linzhang.bsky.social 'The Labor of Reinvention' (2023)
July 21, 2025 at 2:58 PM
A short essay on the state of global digital capitalism(s) and futures in/from India and China, based on @linzhang.bsky.social 'The Labor of Reinvention' (2023)
Amidst everything (& its attendant self-censorship), I am so deeply grateful to my students this semester for keeping me sane through their curiosity, engagement, & comradery! 💙
May 23, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Amidst everything (& its attendant self-censorship), I am so deeply grateful to my students this semester for keeping me sane through their curiosity, engagement, & comradery! 💙
Looking forward to (remotely) speaking at the 50 years of Media Studies Conference at Westminster today! #UoWMEDIA50
May 22, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Looking forward to (remotely) speaking at the 50 years of Media Studies Conference at Westminster today! #UoWMEDIA50
It's so fulfilling to see my STS students think through a critical sociotechnical problem like AI use in higher-ed more self-reflexively and relationally than most of the expert public commentators on the topic! 🥲
May 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
It's so fulfilling to see my STS students think through a critical sociotechnical problem like AI use in higher-ed more self-reflexively and relationally than most of the expert public commentators on the topic! 🥲
#grading gem, definitely not written by any LLM: "Nobody warned C. P. Snow that his tidy mid‑century parable about “The Two Cultures”would be rebooted as a late night TikTok doom scroll, yet here we are with our thumbs twitching..." 🥲
May 17, 2025 at 2:28 AM
#grading gem, definitely not written by any LLM: "Nobody warned C. P. Snow that his tidy mid‑century parable about “The Two Cultures”would be rebooted as a late night TikTok doom scroll, yet here we are with our thumbs twitching..." 🥲
@aakashs.bsky.social and I have written an opinion piece in today’s The Indian Express. Our original title was “Startups as Reasons of the State: Why India Fails to Imagine New Techno-Futures.” Please do read and share your thoughts. Thank you!
indianexpress.com/article/opin...
indianexpress.com/article/opin...
April 30, 2025 at 4:39 PM
@aakashs.bsky.social and I have written an opinion piece in today’s The Indian Express. Our original title was “Startups as Reasons of the State: Why India Fails to Imagine New Techno-Futures.” Please do read and share your thoughts. Thank you!
indianexpress.com/article/opin...
indianexpress.com/article/opin...
Happening tomorrow: A Quick History of Algorithms (for post-algorithmic teens) 🧓🏽🔥✨
hobokenlibrary.libnet.info/hoboken-publ...
hobokenlibrary.libnet.info/hoboken-publ...
April 8, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Happening tomorrow: A Quick History of Algorithms (for post-algorithmic teens) 🧓🏽🔥✨
hobokenlibrary.libnet.info/hoboken-publ...
hobokenlibrary.libnet.info/hoboken-publ...
This is less canonical, and more of an attempt to answer why study STS in the here and now?https://www.academia.edu/127235339/HST120_Introduction_to_STS_Spring25_Mertia?source=swp_share
January 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
This is less canonical, and more of an attempt to answer why study STS in the here and now?https://www.academia.edu/127235339/HST120_Introduction_to_STS_Spring25_Mertia?source=swp_share
Drafting my coping strategy for the Spring’25 semester 😬✨
January 20, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Drafting my coping strategy for the Spring’25 semester 😬✨
The “datafied” postcolonial state: no census, critical edu or health datasets but look IndiaStack, UPI, DigiYatra. Post-industrial theories of data colonialism or surveillance capitalism can hardly explain the innovations the Indian state does in the name of data ✨
www.indiaspend.com/data-gaps/cr...
www.indiaspend.com/data-gaps/cr...
Critical Data Remain Elusive, As 2024 Comes To A Close
16 critical datasets are delayed, nine ministries are yet to release their annual reports and the Census is now three years overdue, affecting policy-making and weakening transparency
www.indiaspend.com
December 30, 2024 at 3:22 PM
The “datafied” postcolonial state: no census, critical edu or health datasets but look IndiaStack, UPI, DigiYatra. Post-industrial theories of data colonialism or surveillance capitalism can hardly explain the innovations the Indian state does in the name of data ✨
www.indiaspend.com/data-gaps/cr...
www.indiaspend.com/data-gaps/cr...
www.linkedin.com/posts/smruti...
“We are increasingly seeing the phenomenon of the "dumb" well-published academic […] The roots can be traced to the decline of values in the American academic system, which is sadly getting mimicked in the Indian academic system.”
“We are increasingly seeing the phenomenon of the "dumb" well-published academic […] The roots can be traced to the decline of values in the American academic system, which is sadly getting mimicked in the Indian academic system.”
Smruti Sarangi on LinkedIn: Rise of the "dumb" well-published academic | 53 comments
We are increasingly seeing the phenomenon of the "dumb" well-published academic -- someone who has published loads of papers yet does not know the basics of… | 53 comments on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com
December 26, 2024 at 11:10 PM
www.linkedin.com/posts/smruti...
“We are increasingly seeing the phenomenon of the "dumb" well-published academic […] The roots can be traced to the decline of values in the American academic system, which is sadly getting mimicked in the Indian academic system.”
“We are increasingly seeing the phenomenon of the "dumb" well-published academic […] The roots can be traced to the decline of values in the American academic system, which is sadly getting mimicked in the Indian academic system.”
In my college days (back in Gandhinagar), we only had occasional unscheduled visits from stray dogs & monkeys 😌
December 17, 2024 at 4:05 PM
In my college days (back in Gandhinagar), we only had occasional unscheduled visits from stray dogs & monkeys 😌
Final presentations, Computers and Society, Fall’24: I’ve made it to my students meme-scapes! 🥲
December 14, 2024 at 12:18 AM
Final presentations, Computers and Society, Fall’24: I’ve made it to my students meme-scapes! 🥲
I want this app to work, but so far it’s no match for the dumpster fire ethic of the old one 😌 #LuigiMangione
December 10, 2024 at 12:33 AM
I want this app to work, but so far it’s no match for the dumpster fire ethic of the old one 😌 #LuigiMangione
Last lecture, Fall’24 ✨
December 7, 2024 at 2:14 AM
Last lecture, Fall’24 ✨
The dustbin of techno-futurities scaling up 🚀
“..despite the surge in the late 2010s, India’s growth rate for mobile internet subscribers has slowed in the past few years. And as of October 2024, almost half, or 46%, of the population is still not connected to mobile internet.”
t.co/0XISvmLvWl
“..despite the surge in the late 2010s, India’s growth rate for mobile internet subscribers has slowed in the past few years. And as of October 2024, almost half, or 46%, of the population is still not connected to mobile internet.”
t.co/0XISvmLvWl
https://restofworld.org/2024/mobile-internet-users-growth-rate
t.co
November 30, 2024 at 6:23 PM
The dustbin of techno-futurities scaling up 🚀
“..despite the surge in the late 2010s, India’s growth rate for mobile internet subscribers has slowed in the past few years. And as of October 2024, almost half, or 46%, of the population is still not connected to mobile internet.”
t.co/0XISvmLvWl
“..despite the surge in the late 2010s, India’s growth rate for mobile internet subscribers has slowed in the past few years. And as of October 2024, almost half, or 46%, of the population is still not connected to mobile internet.”
t.co/0XISvmLvWl
Zizek’s (beginning?) to talk about China’s and India’s soft fascisms to think about anti-teleological histories. Cute.
youtu.be/OSYjmH_WPQQ?...
youtu.be/OSYjmH_WPQQ?...
Philosopher Slavoj Žižek on 'soft' fascism, AI & the effects of shamelessness in public life
YouTube video by OxfordUnion
youtu.be
November 27, 2024 at 3:19 PM
Zizek’s (beginning?) to talk about China’s and India’s soft fascisms to think about anti-teleological histories. Cute.
youtu.be/OSYjmH_WPQQ?...
youtu.be/OSYjmH_WPQQ?...
I saw dozens of such examples in my fieldwork with start-ups in Jaipur. As I work on the book, I keep wondering what could a non-parochial, non-provincial, non-suffering slot-ifying theory of tech, capital, & power in most of the world do to counter-speculate against such hype-cycled predicaments 😌
Launched in 2017, Amazon Karigar aims to bring Indian artisans onto its e-commerce platform by offering nine weeks of training, professional product photos, and marketing.
However, the craftspeople, who actively sell of the platform, say the e-marketplace has failed. @restofworld.org
However, the craftspeople, who actively sell of the platform, say the e-marketplace has failed. @restofworld.org
Amazon Karigar for ‘Made in India’ handicrafts a bust for artisans
The e-commerce platform failed to recognise the unique business needs, select appeal and delicate nature of handmade products say craftspeople.
scroll.in
November 26, 2024 at 2:33 PM
I saw dozens of such examples in my fieldwork with start-ups in Jaipur. As I work on the book, I keep wondering what could a non-parochial, non-provincial, non-suffering slot-ifying theory of tech, capital, & power in most of the world do to counter-speculate against such hype-cycled predicaments 😌
Reposted by Sandeep Mertia
Bribe-that Mata.
November 21, 2024 at 5:11 AM
Bribe-that Mata.
Reposted by Sandeep Mertia
Bluesky feels like I took a Time Machine back to 2009 when I was still like “Hey this social media thing is going to make the world a better place.”
November 18, 2024 at 3:25 PM
Bluesky feels like I took a Time Machine back to 2009 when I was still like “Hey this social media thing is going to make the world a better place.”
Reposted by Sandeep Mertia
Markedly less Palestinian & Lebanese content here, though that might be an effect of immediate networks and algorithms, though I hear Bluesky has been suspending accounts as well. The difference from X is nonetheless eerie & alarming in the midst of genocide & war.
Israel murdered 46 people in Gaza today.
November 18, 2024 at 6:16 PM
Markedly less Palestinian & Lebanese content here, though that might be an effect of immediate networks and algorithms, though I hear Bluesky has been suspending accounts as well. The difference from X is nonetheless eerie & alarming in the midst of genocide & war.
I'm just starting to use this app, & wondering if the discourse here (among US-based academic networks) is likely reproducing the monotechnological thinking that we've seen elsewhere 😌
networkcultures.org/blog/2022/09...
networkcultures.org/blog/2022/09...
Christopher Kelty: The Internet We Could Have Had
Ten years ago I began writing a book. It was going to be called Power/Sharing and would pick up on my previous book Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. It was a turbulent time: the o
networkcultures.org
November 18, 2024 at 4:38 PM
I'm just starting to use this app, & wondering if the discourse here (among US-based academic networks) is likely reproducing the monotechnological thinking that we've seen elsewhere 😌
networkcultures.org/blog/2022/09...
networkcultures.org/blog/2022/09...
Reposted by Sandeep Mertia
In this week's New Yorker: My profile of Ganesh Devy, who assembled the first Indian survey of languages in a century, and who now lives in Dharwad as a protest against forces who will kill writers and impose religions and languages [1]
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Should a Country Speak a Single Language?
In India, one of the world’s most polyglot countries, the government wants more than a billion people to embrace Hindi. One scholar thinks that would be a loss.
www.newyorker.com
November 18, 2024 at 12:12 PM
In this week's New Yorker: My profile of Ganesh Devy, who assembled the first Indian survey of languages in a century, and who now lives in Dharwad as a protest against forces who will kill writers and impose religions and languages [1]
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Hello! So, what’s the best way to find friends from Twitter & elsewhere here? 😌
November 14, 2024 at 1:24 PM
Hello! So, what’s the best way to find friends from Twitter & elsewhere here? 😌