Are.na
{{Short description|Social network and creative research platform}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Are.na
| logo =
| logo_size = 200px
| url = {{URL|https://are.na/}}
| commercial = No
| type = Social network
| registration = Required to post, follow, or be followed
| language = English
| num_users =
| author = Charles Broskoski
| launch_date = {{Start date|2014|07}}
| current_status = Active
}}
Are.na is an online social networking community and creative research platform founded by Charles Broskoski, Daniel Pianetti, Chris Barley, and Chris Sherron.{{cite news|title='Are.na' is an Online Tool for Contextualizing the Internet - Here's Why It's Useful to Architects|url=https://www.archdaily.com/867900/arena-online-tool-for-contextualizing-the-internet-useful-to-architects-urbanists-designers|accessdate=December 1, 2017|publisher=ArchDaily|first=James|last=Taylor-Foster|date=2017-03-27}} 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."{{cite web|title=How do You Describe Are.Na at a Party?| url=https://www.are.na/charles-broskoski/how-do-you-describe-are-na-at-a-party| first=Charles|last=Broskoski}}
Features and community
Are.na is popular amongst designers, artists, and architects including Cory Arcangel, Michael Bell-Smith, Margaret Lee, Laurel Schwulst, Emily Segal, Martine Syms, Allan Yu, and others who publicly cite Are.na as a tool in their creative process.{{cite news |date=2015-09-18 |title=Consumer Reports: Cory Arcangel |work=ARTnews |url=http://www.artnews.com/2015/09/18/consumer-reports-cory-arcangel/ |access-date=December 1, 2017}}{{Cite web |title=Can You Teach Good Design on a Social Media Network? |url=https://metropolismag.com/viewpoints/arena-social-media-design-education/ |access-date=2022-05-31 |website=Metropolis |language=en-US}}{{cite news |title=Allan Yu |work=The Caret |url=http://www.thecaret.co/interviews/allan-yu |access-date=December 1, 2017}}{{cite web |title=Nemesis Global |url=https://nemesis.global/ |access-date=June 14, 2018}}{{cite news |title=Creatives Are Flocking to this Artist-Designed Social Network |work=Artsy |url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-creatives-flocking-artist-designed-social-network |access-date=February 19, 2018}}{{cite news |date=2015-08-06 |title=Consumer Reports: Michael Bell-Smith |work=ARTnews |url=http://www.artnews.com/2015/08/06/consumer-reports-michael-bell-smith/ |access-date=December 1, 2017}} Are.na's blog, written and curated by Meg Miller, includes essays about Are.na's research and publishing tools as well as noteworthy or "featured" user channels.
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 peruse but finances itself by upselling premium accounts with the ability to upload an unlimited number of private blocks.{{cite news|title=Charles Broskoski on self-discovery that happens upon revisiting things you've accumulated over time |url=https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/2017-10-25-charles-broskoski-on-self-discovery-upon-revisiting-things-youve-accumulated-over-time/|accessdate=February 28, 2024|publisher=The Creative Independent|first=Laurel|last=Schwulst|date=2017-10-25}} It also sells branded apparel on its store.
Unlike Pinterest, Are.na does not finance itself through advertising or user data collection.{{cite news|title=This Is What A Designer-Led Social Network Looks Like|url=https://www.fastcodesign.com/90157216/this-is-what-a-designer-led-social-networking-site-looks-like|accessdate=February 19, 2018|publisher=Co.Design|first=Katharine|last=Schwab|date=2018-01-18}}
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.{{cite web |title=Counter Currents: Are.na on Ted Nelson's Computer Lib/Dream Machines| url=https://walkerart.org/magazine/counter-currents-are-na-on-ted-nelsons-computer-libdream-machines |accessdate=December 1, 2017|date=2016-01-19}}
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.{{cite news|title=The Guggenheim's first online exhibit lets you invest in the future |url=http://mashable.com/2015/11/04/guggenheim-online-exhibition/#Mgi5Qw353uqK|accessdate=December 1, 2017|publisher=Mashable|date=2015-11-04}}
Two years later, Are.na partnered with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, building out their blog alongside ArchDaily, Archinect, and Architizer.{{cite web |url=https://www.are.na/chicago-architecture-biennial/index |title=Chicago Architecture Biennial |website=Are.na |access-date=December 1, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org/blog/intro/ |title=Introducing the Chicago Architecture Biennial blog |accessdate=December 1, 2017 |date=2017-06-06}} 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.{{cite news|title=Incongruous: Are.na|url=http://madmuseum.org/series/incongruous-arena|accessdate=December 1, 2017|publisher=Museum of Arts and Design|first=Alicia Marie|last=Tan}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{official}}
{{Online social networking}}
Category:Social media companies of the United States
Category:Internet properties established in 2014