The People's Platform: Culture and Power in a Networked Age - Brossura

Taylor, Astra

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0307360342 ISBN 13: 9780307360342

Casa editrice: Random House Canada, 2013

Riassunto

From a cutting-edge cultural commentator and documentary filmmaker, a bold and brilliant challenge to cherished notions of the Internet as the great democratizing force of our age.
 
The Internet has been hailed as a place where all can be heard and everyone can participate equally. But how true is this claim? In a seminal dismantling of techno-utopian visions, The People's Platform argues that for all that we "tweet" and "like" and "share," the Internet in fact reflects and amplifies real-world inequities at least as much as it ameliorates them. Online, just as off-line, attention and influence largely accrue to those who already have plenty of both. What we have seen in the virtual world so far, Astra Taylor says, has been not a revolution but a rearrangement. Although Silicon Valley tycoons have eclipsed Hollywood moguls, a handful of giants like Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook still dominate our lives. And the worst habits of the old media model--the pressure to be quick and sensational, to seek easy celebrity, to appeal to the broadest possible public--have proliferated online, where every click can be measured and where "aggregating" the work of others is the surest way to attract eyeballs and ad revenue. In a world where culture is "free," creative work has diminishing value, and advertising fuels the system, the new order looks suspiciously just like the old one.
 
We can do better, Taylor insists. The online world does offer an unprecedented opportunity, but a democratic culture that supports diverse voices, work of lasting value, and equitable business practices will not appear as a consequence of technology alone. If we want the Internet to truly be a people's platform, we will have to make it so.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Astra Taylor is a writer, editor and documentary filmmaker. Her films include Zizek!, a feature documentary about the world's most outrageous philosopher, which was broadcast on the Sundance Channel, and Examined Life, a series of excursions with contemporary thinkers. Both films premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Taylor's writing has appeared in The Nation, the London Review of Books, n+1, The Baffler magazine and other publications. She is the editor of Examined Life and co-editor of Occupy! Scenes from Occupied America. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Taylor lives in New York City.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Random House Canada
• Data di pubblicazione: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0307360342
• ISBN 13: 9780307360342
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 288