In this episode, Luisa Conti and Roman Lietz explore how individuals and communities are evolving in a postdigital and globalized society.

We begin with a reflection on the freedom of movement that characterizes the digital space: our plural and dynamic identities unfold day by day, click by click, in a culturally hybrid space where the local becomes increasingly less relevant and defining. However, even in the digital space we are confronted with limits: picking up the discussion from the first episode, we examine key factors that frame our (inter)actions online. While some of these apply to everyone, such as algorithms, others manifest themselves in varying ways: introducing a multi-dimensional understanding of the 'digital divide', we give hints about how the quality of postdigital life differs between people. This difference is rooted in social inequalities which, we argue, are both reproduced and actively reinforced in the digital space, not least through the discourses that emerge in anti-pluralist filter bubbles, which gain power by offering simplistic explanations for complex phenomena. After describing the mechanism we have observed in social media, we reflect on the importance of intercultural competence in dealing constructively with unfamiliarity and uncertainty. After presenting a new understanding of intercultural competence, we conclude the podcast with a call to rethink the internet as a whole.   

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