Digital Identity and the Romanian Far-Right Politics: The case of George Simion’s 2025 Presidential Campaign

Ioana-Sophia Cîrlan* This blog post is a revision of a text written for the seminar “Digital Identities and Socialities” by Philipp Budka for the MA program “CREOLE – Cultural Differences and Transnational Processes” at the University of Vienna. The power of social media to shape electoral campaigns, amplify outsider candidates, and mobilise new publics has […]

Selfies Beyond the Frame: Digital Cultures in India

Avishek Ray* In our everyday scrolling—through Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, or Facebook—the selfie often appears as something both mundane and omnipresent. Whether taken against a scenic backdrop, filtered for aesthetic effect, snapped for bureaucratic ID verification, or shared in moments of vulnerability or joy, the selfie has moved far beyond the status of a casual photograph. […]

Photo-Elicitation Interviews with Image-Generating AI as Reflexive Representation Practice

Luise Erbentraut* With smartphones becoming an integral part of how people navigate and experience their interpersonal relationships, visuality has assumed a central role. The fusion of camera and communication technology embeds images and photography as practices within personal and intimate relationships. This also includes the consensual sharing of “nudes”, which are commonly known as photographic […]