Internet, digital media and society Books

Book SynopsisDavid Ogilvy is 'The Father of Advertising' and in this new format of his seminal classic, he teaches you how to sell anything.'The most sought-after wizard in the advertising business.' Times MagazineFrom the most successful advertising executive of all time comes the definitve guide to the art of any sale.Everything from writing successful copy to finding innovative ways to engage people and from identifying with your audience to the various ways to sell a lifestyle, Ogilvy on Advertising looks at what sells, what doesn't and why. And, in doing so, he teaches what you can do to sell the most brilliant item of all... yourself.From a titan of not just the advertising industry, but the business world, this book is David Ogilvy's final word on what you're doing wrong in any pitch and how you can finally fix it.

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Book Synopsis'What channel is Netflix on?'Modern technology can be daunting, especially if you're a silver surfer. How are you supposed to remember your wifi password when you can't even remember where you left your glasses? Whether you're struggling with social media or wrestling with your word processor, you'll find plenty to laugh about in the browser blunders and phone fails of Instagran.

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Book SynopsisThis is a short book about the most prominent sign of our times. The simple # sign is now used so widely that it is easy to overlook the fundamental effects it has had in the structuring of public debate. With its help, statements are bundled together and discourse is organized and amplified around common buzzwords. This method enables us to navigate more easily the huge volume of online utterances, but it also increases the risk of leveling statements and extinguishing difference, as exemplified by the #MeToo debate. Andreas Bernard traces the young and spectacular career of the humble hashtag. He follows the history of the # sign, documenting its use by Twitter and Instagram, and then examines the most prominent contemporary domains of the sign in socio-political activism and in marketing – two apparently very different fields which are united in their passion for the hashtag. Theory of the Hashtag shines a bright light on a small but pervasive feature of our contemporary digital culture and shows how it is surreptitiously shaping the public sphere. Trade Review“A lucid and lively history of this most polymorphous of punctuation marks. Andreas Bernard traces the hashtag's rise from technical utility to seeming ubiquity with wit and insight.”Matthew Fuller, Goldsmiths, University of London"Slim but weighty"Morning Star Table of ContentsContents 1. A Sign of the Times 2. Hashtags and the Dispersion of Statements 3. The Biography of a Symbol 4. Where Was the Keyword Before the Hashtag? 5. Venues of the Hashtag I: Political Activism 6. Venues of the Hashtag II: Marketing 7. Empowering and Levelling Works Cited

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Book SynopsisDeepfake technology can create video evidence of just about anything: Hollywood superstar Margot Robbie in an orgy.Chinese president Xi Jinping declaring nuclear war.Basketball legend Michael Jordan winning the World Cup. The only limit is the imagination. In a time where fake news and disinformation is becoming harder and harder to identify, it is more essential than ever to understand the dark origins of deepfakes. Journalist Michael Grothaus goes down the rabbit hole as he interviews the often morally dubious, yet incredibly skilled creators of this content. It's a journey that opens a window into the communities transforming reality. Challenging, enlightening and terrifying, Trust No One asks the question other people are too scared to: what happens when you can no longer believe your own eyes?'An alarming look at deepfakes' Sunday Times'Michael Grothaus takes a hard look at the growth of deep fakes, examining cases that demonstrate the threats presented by morally dubious creators. From the personal to political, the impact of deep fakes is considered carefully by Grothaus, both on the victims and on society as a whole, creating an essential picture of a growing trend in disinformation' Eliot Higgins, founder of BellingcatTrade ReviewA clear, readable rundown of how deepfakes are changing our world * The Sunday Times *The page-turner of a book stresses that deepfakes are a ticking timebomb and that we, the public, need to educate ourselves before we herald in a zero-trust society where seeing is no longer believing... If you're looking for a greater understanding of the wild world of deepfakes, how they are created, their benefits and harms as well as their stomach-churning implications; Trust No One is a great place to start. * Reaction *Michael Grothaus takes a hard look at the growth of deep fakes, examining cases that demonstrate the threats presented by morally dubious creators. From the personal to political, the impact of deep fakes is considered carefully by Grothaus, both on the victims and on society as a whole, creating an essential picture of a growing trend in disinformation. -- Eliot Higgins, founder of BellincatThought-provoking . . . he interviews some shady characters and raises interesting questions * Mail On Sunday *An alarming look at deepfakes. * The Sunday Times *Our relationship with visual representations of ourselves always runs along this axis of narcissism and dread: at once promising a defeat of death, but by arousing that desire only to disappoint it, crushingly reinforcing its inevitability. Our fascination with deepfakes strikes me as the latest iteration of this emotional rollercoaster, and it's one Grothaus captures very well. -- Peter Pomerantsev * The Guardian *

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Book Synopsis'The Chaos Machine is an essential book for our times' - Ezra KleinThe Chaos Machine is the story of how the world was driven mad by social media. The election of populists like Trump and Bolsonaro; strife and genocide in countries like Myanmar; the rampant spread of COVID-19 conspiracy theories as deadly as the pandemic itself; all of these are products of a breakdown in our social and political lives, a breakdown driven by the apps, companies and algorithms that compete constantly for our attention.Max Fisher is a leading New York Times technology reporter whose work has covered the way that social media sites - driven increasingly by artificial intelligence rather than human ingenuity - push users towards more and more extreme positions, deepening the divisions in society in pursuit of greater engagement and profit. With extraordinary access to the most powerful players in Silicon Valley, and with testimonies from around the world of the havoc being wreaked by our online selves, The Chaos Machine shows us how we got to this uniquely perilous moment - and how we might get out of it.Trade ReviewSocial media isn't just changing our lives. It's changing the world, and even its creators and would-be overseers have only the foggiest ideas about how. In this meticulously reported, grippingly told account, Max Fisher chases the results across continents, and paints a disturbing picture of not just where we are, but where we're going. The Chaos Machine is an essential book for our times * Ezra Klein, author of the New York Times bestseller Why We’re Polarized *Max Fisher blends together deep reporting, riveting stories, and a global canvas in this gripping and definitive work on the damage wrought by social media. The Chaos Machine is essential reading if you want to understand a force that is reshaping the world and the very real consequences it is having on people everywhere * Ben Rhodes, author of the New York Times bestseller The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House Date *In this timely book, Max Fisher reveals how powerful social-media giants set all of humanity on an alternative course to the future. The Chaos Machine boldly exposes how a few technology companies chose profit over people, helped spread salacious misinformation, and ultimately ripped the fabric of society apart. I hope everyone will read this important investigation with an open mind, because we must choose a different path forward, and fast * Amy Webb, author of The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity *Well argued, engaging and often necessarily discomfiting * Irish Independent *A stark warning about the extent to which Facebook et al distort our perception of reality * Guardian *Fisher's book brings us face to face with chaos machines and their ruinous human consequences - Literary Review

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Bronze Medal for the Arthur Book Award, Council on Foreign Relations""Winner of the Zerilli-Marimo Prize, Academy of Moral and Political Sciences""Timely and indispensable." * Atlantic *"A fascinating new book." * The Economist *"[A] well-researched and entertaining book."---Tony Barber, Financial Times"Entertaining and disquieting."---Gideon Rachman, Financial Times"With meaty graphs and well-organized evidence . . . Guriev and Treisman advance subtler arguments, as they show that authoritarian rulers can come to power by democratic means and stay there."---Adam Gopnik, New Yorker"If we failed to end tyrants, we played our part in helping to mould them. As Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman observe in their intelligent, important book Spin Dictators, throughout this time something far more interesting and dangerous was happening. The most sophisticated dictators were reforming themselves, and the lesson they internalised was not the need to be democratic – that, after all, went against who they were – but the need to look democratic."---David Patrikarakos, Spectator"As Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman persuasively argue in Spin Dictators, their absorbing, meticulous study of the evolution of authoritarianism in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, craft and deception have in recent decades supplanted fear and terror as the defining characteristics of today’s autocratic rulers. . . . In diagnosing a critical problem and proposing a prophylactic, Guriev and Treisman have performed a great service to the field of geopolitics."---Michael M. Rosen, Washington Examiner"Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman have written the most astute account of the system that has risen to challenge liberal democracy in the 21st century. Their book, Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century, describes the methods which have made it possible for Putin, Viktor Orban, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and others to rule over societies that in most cases had developed reasonably well functioning democracies. Other scholars and journalists have written about the tactics used by 21st century autocrats to secure control over the institutions of a free society. But Guriev and Treisman have assembled the most thorough analysis of the building blocks of contemporary dictatorships."---Arch Puddington, American Purpose"A deeply researched tour d’horizon of the evolving dark arts of authoritarian politics."---G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs"The authors carefully document dozens of strategies used by authoritarian regimes around the world to successfully pass themselves off as populist supporters of democracy when the actual goal is tyranny and absolute power. As depressing as this scenario may be, the authors do politically concerned readers an immense favor, enabling us to recognize these tactics and, with that knowledge, ultimately oppose this new breed of dictator." * Booklist *"Thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening."---Joshua Huminski, Diplomatic Courier"The dictatorships of the 20th century rested on violence and direct coercion. This book argues that the 21st century has seen the emergence of a new kind of spin dictatorship — in places as diverse as Hungary, Singapore and Turkey — that adopts the forms of democracy while subverting the substance."---Gideon Rachman, Financial Times"An excellent overview of the authoritarian landscape of the early twenty-first century and how it operates within a global environment. It is well-researched, and its references are comprehensive. The excellent narrative provides a compact history and analysis of political leadership in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."---Erwin Warkentin, European Legacy ​​​​​​​

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Book SynopsisDavid Ogilvy is well known and respected as the most successful adman of all time. His bestselling book, Ogilvy on Advertising gives valuable advice to young hopefuls and veterans of the industry wanting to improve their success rate.Table of Contents0

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Book SynopsisIn recent decades, we have witnessed an explosion in the number of visual images we encounter, as our lives have become increasingly saturated with screens. From Google Images to Instagram, video games to installation art, this transformation is confusing, liberating and worrying all at once, since observing the new visuality of culture is not the same as understanding it. Nicholas Mirzoeff is a leading figure in the field of visual culture, which aims to make sense of this extraordinary explosion of visual experiences. As Mirzoeff reminds us, this is not the first visual revolution; the 19th century saw the invention of film, photography and x-rays, and the development of maps, microscopes and telescopes made the 17th century an era of visual discovery. But the sheer quantity of images produced on the internet today has no parallels. In the first book to define visual culture for the general reader, Mirzoeff draws on art history, theory and everyday experience to prTrade ReviewA dizzying and delightful book * New Scientist *Deploying a blend of semiotics, sociology, and art history, Mirzoeff shows us how to interpret everything from old masters to selfies, from Rashomon to a map of the Mississippi. Mirzoeff says he owes much of his approach to John Berger, and this is evident in the way he argues how inevitably political visual images are... Mirzoeff draws on theorists such as Benjamin, Foucault, and Deleuze, but thankfully is much clearer and easier to read than any of those writers * Independent on Sunday *In our fluid world, we need reminding how strange our visual culture has become. Artist John Berger did that job for the 1970s with his classic book Ways of Seeing; now Nicholas Mirzoeff teaches us how to "read" an astronaut's 2012 space-walk selfie - and how to decode military photos smothered with labels that claim to show weapons we cannot in fact see -- New Scientist 'Books of the Year'

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Book SynopsisThe ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online. This book seeks broader critical engagement with the design, development and adoption processes of contemporary digital technologies. Such technology has been the catalyst for great improvements in the fields of medicine, employment, education and communications. Yet, a new digital age has also brought a unique set of societal, cultural and environmental challenges that have yet to be fully understood and, when needed, confronted. It could be argued that aspirations to develop an information super-highway that would be an instrument for human flourishing, has given way to vast stores of worthless trivia and is hijacking our attention at every opportunity. In the absence of robust sociological input at the conceptual stages of digital communication technology development, the probability of these tools and instruments delivering change that is deeply personally, socially, culturally and environmentally damaging will continue to grow. Critical exploration of the organisational, social, political and environmental context of digital communications technology is necessary, without which technology will continue to be left ‘to its own device’ to determine the social and cultural values of societies, for better or worse. The Social, Cultural and Environmental Costs of Hyper-Connectivity investigates the profound effects 21st century digital technology is having on our individual and collective lives and seeks to confront the realities of a new digital age. Changes brought about by digital technology are frequently disruptive and, thus, need to be designed to protect against harm on society.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. The Digital Behemoths Chapter 3. Towards Cultural Homogenisation Chapter 4. The Challenges to our Innate Cognitive Abilities & Mental Wellbeing Chapter 5. The Smartphone: A Weapon of Mass Distraction Chapter 6. Online Privacy and Surveillance Chapter 7. Digital Divides Chapter 8. An Increasing Ecological Threat Chapter 9. Digital Democracy: The Winners and Losers Chapter 10. Retaking the Reins

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Book SynopsisHow populism is fueled by the demise of the industrial order and the emergence of a new digital society ruled by algorithmsIn the revolutionary excitement of the 1960s, young people around the world called for a radical shift away from the old industrial order, imagining a future of technological liberation and unfettered prosperity. IndustrialTrade Review"A welcome addition to the growing literature on the digital economy and change." * Choice *"Stimulating." * Paradigm Explorer *

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Book SynopsisWe are so used to living in a media-saturated world that we do not notice just how much damage is being done to us daily by the images we see and the articles and posts we read. If you are often anxious or find it hard to sleep, or you regularly want to give up on your fellow human beings, the reason may come down to the relentless influence of the modern media. How Modern Media Destroys Our Minds is a guide for navigating the media today. The book encourages the reader to consider the many peculiarities of the modern media: its excessive focus on scandal, its emphasis on novelty, its capacity to breed envy and self-hatred, its high-minded defence of itself, its ever shorter attention span and its obsession with fame. The book teaches us how to liberate ourselves from the media, in order to achieve calm and a more generous, original and imaginative state of mind. We are shown how to redress the balance and emerge with a stronger, more positive outlook on life.

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Book SynopsisThis essential guide to doing social research in this fast-evolving digital age explains how the digital revolution is transforming the way social scientists observe behavior, ask questions, run experiments, and engage in mass collaborations.Trade Review"Winner of the 2019 PROSE Award in Textbook / Social Sciences, Association of American Publishers""Winner of the AAPOR Book Award, American Association for Public Opinion Research"

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Book SynopsisTechnology has fractured democracy, and now there’s no going back. All around the world, the fringes have stormed the palace of the elites and unleashed data miners, dark ads and bots on an unwitting public. After years of soundbites about connecting people, the social media giants are only just beginning to admit to the scale of the problem. We stand on the precipice of an era where switching your mobile platform will have more impact on your life than switching your government. Where freedom and privacy are seen as incompatible with social well-being and transparency. Where your attention is sold to the highest bidder. Our laws don’t cover what is happening and our politicians don’t understand it. But if we don’t fight to change the system now, we may not get another chance.Trade Review‘Excellent.’ * New Statesman *‘Democracy Hacked gets beyond the headlines – a compelling, informed and highly readable account of how democracy is being disrupted by the tech revolution, and what can be done to get us back on track. One of the best expositions I’ve read yet of what is the biggest political challenge of our generation.’ -- Jamie Bartlett, author of The People Vs Tech and The Dark Net‘Enormously wide-ranging and deeply researched, this is the definitive account of how digital technology has changed the entire political landscape, with profound consequences for democracy. From Brexit to Trump, and from Estonia to the Philippines, Martin Moore uncovers the real stories behind the fake ones. You’ll discover that the truth is often stranger than fiction and that the future is more open than you think.’ -- David Runciman, author of How Democracy Ends‘The world is belatedly waking up to some frightening realities about the intersection of digital technologies and the health of democracies. Martin Moore’s book is a sharp wake-up call – ambitious in its sweep and urgent in its important message.’ -- Alan Rusbridger, author of Breaking News‘Eye-opening… An important, timely, and clearly written look at a crucial subject.’ * Booklist *‘Moore demonstrates how data has affected elections across the world, in the Philippines, Turkey, India, Iran, Britain and beyond... Engrossing, instructive, and urgently necessary.’ * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisA 2021 BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR' THE INDEPENDENTA mouthpiece for our anxieties and a tonic for our hearts.' Charly CoxFunny and honest.' Pandora SykesOffers readers of all stripes and ages a great overview of relationships in the digital era'. Matt HaigHave you ever been ghosted?Found yourself stalking your partner's ex for days on Instagram?Spent hours swiping right (or left) to no avail?Yep, us too.Finding love today is overwhelming. Thanks to apps, social media, and even reality TV, the way we date is constantly changing. But how is it possible that, despite having so much technology designed to aid connection, it feels harder to meet someone now than ever before?In Millennial Love, journalist Olivia Petter expertly investigates this question, providing a reassuring and relatable exploration of modern dating.Trade Review’An insightful, honest guide to the vagaries of modern love.’ ELIZABETH DAY AUTHOR OF MAGPIE & HOST OF HOW TO FAIL ‘All’s not fair in love and dating, and Petter is here to remind us that even when we are single, we are not alone. This book is a modern guide for falling in love (and in lust) in the digital era, where the lines of toxic behaviour (consent, ghosting, stalking, etc) are blurred. This love addict thoroughly enjoyed it.’Camille Charriere ‘An important read for anyone dating in the time of dating apps.’ Aja Barber, author of Consumed ‘Millennial Love is easy to read and Petter is an engaging guide to sensitive, personal subjects. The author is also remarkably candid about her own insecurities and mistakes, and brave enough to detail some of her own harrowing experiences. Hopefully, this honest, important book will leave a lot of young readers feeling more reassured and better informed about their own lives.’ THE INDEPENDENT ‘A mouthpiece for our anxieties and a tonic for our hearts, Petter perfectly dissects why we’re not insane when it comes to love, the realities are their own madness.’ CHARLY COX ‘Funny and honest.’ PANDORA SYKES ‘Olivia Petter is a great journalist and a sharp-eyed chronicler of modern life and offers readers of all stripes and ages a great overview of relationships in the digital era’. MATT HAIG ‘This is a sharp, funny and reassuring memoir-cum-chronicle of the modern dating landscape, charting everything from the trope of “the cool girl” to the tribulations of contraception in a voice that melds journalistic scrutiny with commendable frankness. Petter’s is a world in which Sylvia Plath, Love Island, Pandora Sykes and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days collide with satisfying verve…’ Vanity Fair London ‘Honest, hilarious and heart-breaking’ Mail Plus

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Book SynopsisMedia has long been considered a primary site for political discourse in Western liberal democracies, but now, with the advent of social media, giant multinational digital platforms such as Google, and online journalism, the way we do politics, talk politics, and cover politics has completely transformed.Trump, Trudeau, Tweets, Truth considers the ways that technology has led to an irreversible transition in power distribution, political journalism, and public discourse. Discussing how the military-industrial complex of the 1950s gave way to today''s celebrity-distribution complex, Bill Fox examines the amount of power accorded to people well-known for being well-known, from Donald Trump to Justin Trudeau. Taking on a Canadian perspective, Fox addresses the disturbing cries of fake news in the post-truth age and demonstrates how journalism, no longer the domain of a select few political reporters and editors, has become decentralized and disaggregated.In a world tTrade Review“Not only propellingly readable, [Trump, Trudeau, Tweets, Truth] is also written in a style appropriate to its subject matter. A living sponge for everything he has read and heard over the course of his formal studies of the subject, Fox unspools key points and observations in one long filament of aperçus.” The Hill Times

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing'Reading this book might make you wish to set fire to your smartphone, but it might also make you wish to call for reform. If you do the latter you might consider the former, as long as that thing is on, they know where you live.' Margaret Atwood How to comprehend and correct the negative impact of the internet on politics, the economy, the environment and humanity? Reset is a fast-paced, compelling expose; and a rallying call for clear change. Drawing on the cutting-edge research of the Citizen Lab, the world-renowned digital security research group he founded, Ronald J. Deibert exposes the influence of the communications ecosystem on civil society. He tracks a mostly unregulated surveillance industry, innovations in technologies of remote control, superpower policing practices, dark PR firms and highly profitable hack-for-hire services feeding off rivers of poorly secured personal data. He also unearths how dependence on social media and its expanding universe of consumer electronics creates immense pressure on the natural environment.  Determined to find solutions, Deibert has written a unique, readable and forward-looking book. In order to combat authoritarian practices, environmental degradation and rampant electronic consumerism, Deibert urges for very specific restraints on tech platforms and governments to reclaim the internet for civil society. It's time for us to push RESET. 'Deibert is a rare hybrid who combines an advanced understanding of computer technology with a rich background in political science. He is also a legend in security and tech circles.' Misha GlennyTrade Review'No one has done more than Ron Deibert and his lab to expose the enemies of the internet ... Reset is the definitive narrative of where we went wrong and a last chance to make things right.' Edward Snowden - 'Deibert is a rare hybrid who combines an advanced understanding of computer technology with a rich background in political science. He is also a legend in security and tech circles.' Misha Glenny, McMafia - 'Tech is at a crossroads between oppression and liberation, and Ronald J. Deibert is our leading expert on the forces steering it in either direction. Reset is a road map revealing the secret alleys and byways that brought us to this juncture, and the ways ahead that we could navigate to a better future.' Cory Doctorow, author of Radicalized and Walkaway - 'Ron Deibert has been at the heart of analysing the harms of technology to human rights, and increasingly to the human condition, for decades. His deep research and clear moral compass make his plea for a "reset" an urgent one ... Essential reading.' Marietje Schaake, international policy director of the Cyber Policy Center, Stanford University, and president of the CyberPeace Institute

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Book SynopsisThe wave of uprisings and revolutions that swept the Middle East and North Africa between 2010 and 2012 were most vividly transmitted throughout the world not by television or even social media, but in short videos produced by the participants themselves and circulated anonymously on the internet.In The People Are Not An Image, Snowdon explores this radical shift in revolutionary self-representation, showing that the political consequences of these videos cannot be located without reference to their aesthetic form. Looking at videos from Tunisia, Bahrain, Syria, Libya, and Egypt, Snowdon attends closely to the circumstances of both their production and circulation, drawing on a wide range of historical and theoretical material, to discover what they can tell us about the potential for revolution in our time and the possibilities of video as a genuinely decentralized and vernacular medium.Trade ReviewThroughout the book, Snowdon practices an ethics of close reading that rejects critical habits of regarding images with suspicion. The People Are Not an Image charts hopeful trajectories for several areas of inquiry, from the politics of protest media and self-representation to networked distribution, operational images, and the digital remaking of subjectivity. Yet Snowdon's ultimate project is more ambitious-to reshape his readers' political imaginaries. -- Sasha Crawford-Holland * Critical Inquiry *Peter Snowdon provides a radical philosophical approach to the daily videos produced by the ordinary people of the Arab spring -- Habib A. Moghimi * Visual Studies *The People Are Not an Image has significance for scholars but will also find wider audience appeal with, for example, digital media activists, filmmakers, and human rights advocates. It will be especially relevant to digital media and communication scholars and students with an interest in activism, social movements, and visual politics. -- Kelly Lewis * E-International Relations *This book makes a much-needed intervention in media studies in the Arab regions since 2011, and is a crucial read for all students of media and film studies. -- Zaher Omareen * Screen *

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Book SynopsisFOREWORD BY DON TAPSCOTT CEO of the Tapscott Group, executive chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute, and world-leading authority on the impact of technology on business and society. The Internet is now, but the future is the metaverse. The metaverse is a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and others. The prediction is that the next ten years will be the golden era of the metaverse, and everyone's life, entertainment, social interaction, and work will increasingly take place in the metaverse world. This book outlines six important trends in the era of the metaverse, that will see dramatic changes in technology and the bringing together of digital and physical worlds. People will experience a great migration of their social life and economic activities into the metaverse. Furthermore, the authors argue that, in the metaverse, we can get rid of many of the constraints of the physical world, achieve a better self in the new digital space, and truly maximize our own value as human beings. This book sets out how you can seize the opportunity of the metaverse era.

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Book SynopsisThe Element aims at unpacking these resources and at interpreting how they make meanings to improve and encourage active and responsible participation in the current digital scenarios.Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Familiar, reconfigured, and emergent uses of speech and writing; 3. Translanguaging practices as meaning-making resources; 4. The repurposing of gaze in video-mediated scenarios; 5. The onscreen distribution of movement and the construction of distance; 6. Conclusions; References.

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Book SynopsisWhat does research tell us about how to grapple with the onslaught of graphic and distressing imagery that floods our newsfeeds daily? This book is designed for professionals and everyday people, legislators and social media policymakers who are making sense of trauma and meaning in our online lives.Trade Review'We live in a world where too few people have stopped to think of the shattering impact of the way cell phones, video and audio technology, and the internet bring horrendous violence, often instantly, to our offices, our homes, our safest spaces. It is splendid to have this thoughtful, compassionate analysis of this situation, replete with practical suggestions, from two of our finest human rights workers.' Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis'In the groundbreaking book Graphic, Alexa Koenig and Andrea Lampros explore the ever-evolving information landscape and its effects on our lives in the digital age. Meticulously researched and brimming with practical advice, this timely guide delves into the complex world of online content and reveals best practices for safely navigating it. Drawing from their pioneering work at the world's first university-based digital investigations lab, the authors address crucial questions about our engagement with graphic news, and the responsibilities of newsrooms, social media platforms, and social justice organizations in today's world. Graphic is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand and mitigate the challenges of the digital era while staying connected to the human stories that matter most.' Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat'In Graphic, Alexa Koenig and Andrea Lampros brilliantly navigate the complicated and ethical landscape of our digital lives in which violent content is readily accessible at any time of day, anywhere in the world. Koenig and Lampros contend we should not necessarily look away from this material, but rather look differently. Thoroughly researched and compelling written, Graphic is a groundbreaking book with important insights about ways to be a digital witness to injustice that minimize the harmful and devastating impact this material can have on people who view it.' Sylvanna Falcón, Associate Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies, University of California, Santa CruzTable of ContentsIntroduction: Taking in Trauma from Our Newsfeed; 1. A Short Summary of a Long History of Graphic Witnessing; 2. Images and the Brain; 3. Images and Identity; 4. Agency and Control; 5. Community as a Protective Force; 6. Meaning in our Online Lives; 7. Policy and Practice: What Next? Conclusion: Lessons on Resilience from San Miguel.

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Book SynopsisWhile the working lives of tech entrepreneurs and delivery platform workers seem far removed, both are engaged in digital labor. What unites their experience and allows us to speak of their work under the same umbrella? Is it even possible to talk about digital labor as if it were a single form of work? Digital Labor explores these questions and critically examines the economics, politics, and experiences of workers in these new modes of employment. Using a novel definition of the term "digital labor," Kylie Jarrett explores unpaid user activity, platform-mediated gig work, and formal employment within the digital media industries, mapping the common features of these varied practices. Applying a critical Marxian lens, the book interrogates the structures of exploitation in this sector, the organisation of the labor process, the dynamics of alienation associated with this work, and the commodification of workers' lives. It also documents the struggle of digital laborers to resist the iniquities and inequalities of their working environments. Ultimately, the book identifies what is specific about this form of labor and, in doing so, offers insight into the nature of work as it is being reconstituted in digital capitalism. Synthesising an extensive range of studies and sources, Digital Labor offers a comprehensive overview – and a rich critical appraisal – of work in the high-tech economy. It is suitable for students and scholars of media and communication, sociology, labour studies, and anyone interested in emerging forms of work.Trade Review"Kylie Jarrett provides a profound and indispensable analysis of digital labor. The book is an absolute must-read for everyone wanting to understand how labor has changed in the digital age."—Christian Fuchs, author of Digital Labour and Karl Marx "In this clear-eyed, crisp meditation on the meaning of 'digital labor', renowned feminist media scholar Kylie Jarrett delivers a cogent, necessary intervention in what counts as work and value in a digital world."—Mary L. Gray, co-author of Ghost WorkTable of ContentsAcknowledgments1 Defining Digital Labor2 Exploitation: Digital Deeds Done Dirt Cheap3 Process: Of Autonomy and Algorithms4 Alienation: The Romance of Entrepreneurialism5 Commodification: Affective Attachment and Inalienable Assets6 Struggle: The Workers United(ish)7 Conclusion: Digital Labor on the EdgeBibliographyIndex

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Book Synopsis'I wish it was science fiction, but I know it's not.' Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype'If you read just one book that makes you confront scary high-tech realities that we'll soon have no choice but to address, make it this one.' Washington Post Corporations and government agencies around the world have for years been pouring billions into achieving AI's Holy Grail - human-level intelligence. But once AI has attained it, scientists argue, it will have survival drives much like our own. We may be forced to compete with a rival more cunning, more powerful, and more alien than we can imagine.First published ten years ago, Our Final Invention predicted much of the artificial 'intelligence explosion' that is now ripping through our culture, and was named by Elon Musk as one of five books everyone should read about the future. Now with an urgent new preface, James Barrat's landmark work explores the ethics, history and future perils of the heedless pursuit of advanced AI. Until now, human intelligence has had no rival. Can we coexist with beings whose intelligence dwarfs our own? And will they allow us to?Trade ReviewOur Final Invention is a thrilling detective story, and also the best book yet written on the most important problem of the twenty-first century -- Luke Muehlhauser, Executive Director, Machine Intelligence Research InstituteThe compelling story of humanity's most critical challenge. A Silent Spring for the twenty-first century. -- Michael Vassar, former President, Singularity InstituteAn important and disturbing book -- Huw Price, co-founder, Cambridge University Centre for the Study of Existential RiskEnthusiasts dominate observers of progress in artificial intelligence; the minority who disagree are alarmed, articulate and perhaps growing in numbers, and Barrat delivers a thoughtful account of their worries -- Kirkus ReviewsThis book makes an important case that without extraordinary care in our planning, powerful "thinking" machines present at least as many risks as benefits . . . Our Final Invention makes an excellent read for technophiles as well as readers wishing to get a glimpse of the near future as coloured by rapidly improving technological competence -- New York Journal of BooksA dark new book by James Barrat, Our Final Invention lays out a strong case for why we should be at least a little worried -- NewYorker.comYou can skip coffee this week - Our Final Invention will keep you wide-awake -- Singularity HubScience fiction has long explored the implications of humanlike machines (think of Asimov's I, Robot), but Barrat's thoughtful treatment adds a dose of reality -- Science NewsBarrat has talked to all the significant American players in the effort to create recursively self-improving artificial general intelligence in machines. He makes a strong case that AGI with human-level intelligence will be developed in the next couple of decades . . . His thoughtful case about the dangers of ASI gives even the most cheerful technological optimist much to think about. -- ReasonBarrat's book is excellently written and deeply researched. It does a great job of communicating to general readers the danger of mistakes in AI design and implementation. -- Bill Hibbard, author of 'Super-Intelligent Machines'

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Book Synopsis Haven’t you got something better to do?Our streets are filled with down-facing zombies, blocking up the pavements.We’d rather Instagram our food than eat it.We've forgotten how to have real actual conversations .And in the bedroom… well, that’s no place for Candy Crush Saga.It’s time we all repeated the life-changing maxim: STOP LOOKING AT YOUR PHONE. In his wonderfully deadpan instruction manual for our increasingly tunnel-visioned lives, illustrator Son of Alan taps into the strange truth of our obsession with the tiny screen. Revealing how ludicrous we've all become, and what wonders lie in stall for us a whole metre from our faces, this book will make you want to reclaim your life, your friends and your family from the tyranny of the backlit screen. You’ll laugh, sure, but it might also change your life.

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Book SynopsisThis book investigates the growing politicization of Mumsnet and its use by politicians to influence middle-class women in the UK. The site's discussion topics go far beyond traditional 'mothering' subjects and encompass politics, feminism and current affairs. Understood as a safe space for gender-critical voices, the site has spawned real-life activism and continues to be both praised and attacked for its support of free speech on controversial subjects. Sarah Pedersen investigates how Mumsnet has become a central part of a resurgent women's rights movement in the UK. She argues that its openness to discussion around this subject has allowed the site to function as a subaltern counter-public - a space where gender-critical feminists have been able to share information and make plans for action and agitation.Trade Review'This book dispels two myths about mumsnet: that it is heaving with entitled, middle-class yummy mummies, or drowning in hate and bigotry. What Sarah Pedersen illustrates is that mumsnet is today a key route into feminism for both women stuck at home with toddlers, and those who understand that women do have some shared experiences -and not just having children or not. This book is informative, amusing and a call to feminist action.' -- Julie BindelTable of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Women and political debate Chapter 3. Wooing the Mumsnet vote Chapter 4. A dominant theme emerging Chapter 5. What is a woman? Chapter 6. “Came for the babies – stayed for the feminism” Chapter 7. Words and deeds Chapter 8. Feeling homeless

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Book SynopsisThis Open Access book investigates the methodological and ethical dilemmas involved when working with digital technologies and large-scale datasets in relation to ethnographic studies of digital migration practices and trajectories. Digital technologies reshape not only every phase of the migration process itself (by providing new ways to access, to share and preserve relevant information) but also the activities of other actors, from solidarity networks to border control agencies. In doing so, digital technologies create a whole new set of ethical and methodological challenges for migration studies: from data access to data interpretation, privacy protection, and research ethics more generally. Of specific concern are the aspects of digital migration researchers accessing digital platforms used by migrants, who are subject to precarious and insecure life circumstances, lack recognised papers and are in danger of being rejected and deported. Thus, the authors call for new modes of caring for (big) data when researching migrants’ digital practices in the configuration of migration and borders. Besides taking proper care of research participants’ privacy, autonomy, and security, this also spans carefully establishing analytically sustainable environments for the respective data sets. In doing so, the book argues that it is essential to carefully reflect on researchers’ own positioning as being part of the challenge they seek to address.Table of Contents

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Book SynopsisFeminism in Play focuses on women as they are depicted in video games, as participants in games culture, and as contributors to the games industry. This volume showcases women’s resistance to the norms of games culture, as well as women’s play and creative practices both in and around the games industry. Contributors analyze the interconnections between games and the broader societal and structural issues impeding the successful inclusion of women in games and games culture. In offering this framework, this volume provides a platform to the silenced and marginalized, offering counter-narratives to the post-racial and post-gendered fantasies that so often obscure the violent context of production and consumption of games culture.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Reframing Hegemonic Conceptions of Women and Feminism in Gaming Culture (Kishonna L. Gray, Emma Vossen, and Gerald Voorhees) Part I. Neither Virgin Nor Vixen: Representations of Women 2. Women by Women: A Gender Analysis of Sierra Titles by Women Designers (Angela R. Cox) 3. The Material Undermining of Magical Feminism in Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea (James Malazita) 4. “From Sirens to Cyborgs:The media politics of the female voice in games and game cultures (Milena Droumeva) 5. The Magnificent Memory Machine: The Nancy Drew Series and Women’s History (Robyn Hope) 6. The Sexual Politics of Videogame Graphics (Robert Mejia & Barbara LeSavoy) Part II. All Made Up: Gendering Assemblages 7. Women’s Experiences on the Path to Game Development (Johanna Weststar & Marie-Josée Legault) 8. Rule Makers versus Rule Breakers: The Impact of Legislative Policies on Women Game Developers in the Japanese Game Industry (Tsugumi Okabe) 9. Sexism and the WoWGirl: A Study of Perceptions of Women World of Warcraft (Thaiane Oliveira, Reynaldo Gonçalves, Alessandra Maia, Julia Silveira, and Simone Evangelista) 10. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Video Game Live Streaming and its Potential Risks and Benefits for Female Gamers (Lena Uszkoreit) Part III. Beyond Feminization: Gaming and Social Futures 11. Doing/Undoing Gender with the Girl Gamer in High Performance Play (Emma Witkowski) 12. The Magic Circle and Consent in Gaming Practices (Emma Vossen) 13. Shoot the Gun Inside: Doubt and Feminist Epistemology in Video Games (Elyse Janish) 14. Women Agents and Double-Agents: Theorizing Feminine Gaze in Video Games (Stephanie C. Jennings) 15. Feminism and Gameplay Performance (Emma Westecott)

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Book SynopsisSince the boom of social media in the mid-2000s, tens of millions of people have started their own platforms in hopes of creating success on their own terms. But with great visibility comes great vulnerability. We become riddled with self-doubt and trapped performing a version of what they believe will be acceptable to others—optimized for more external approval and algorithmic success. What if the mere act of being followed—including the criticism, judgment, and expectation social media creates—could actually become a tool for your personal growth? Enter Followed: The Content Creator's Guide to Being Seen, Facing Judgment, and Designing a Thriving Digital Brand. By embracing self-discovery through self-expression, you can learn to see exposure as an opportunity for personal development—and break free from the imaginary boxes that were always too small for you, anyway. As a content creator and well-known business and life coach, Amanda Bucci has dealt with imposter syndrome, oceans of criticism, and multiple identity crises trying to fit into a box. Today, she’s successfully pivoted her brand to stay aligned with her purpose, having coached hundreds of clients, dozens of companies, and thousands of community members in their journeys of creating success while staying authentic. In Followed, she shares her unique, effective process to: -- Find your unique niche without feeling imprisoned by your online persona -- Overcome your fear of judgment, imperfection, and rejection -- Use social media as a personal development tool for your internal growth -- Decrease your social media related stress and anxiety -- Stop comparing yourself to others and define success on your own terms. Empowering, perspective-shattering, and validating, Followed proves that even on social media, it is never necessary to sacrifice self for success.

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Book SynopsisDavid Ogilvy is remembered as one of the most influential admen of all time. His bestselling book Ogilvy on Advertising gave no-nonsense, essential advice to those in marketing, PR, advertising and other related industries wanting to improve their success rate. It has become the industry handbook. Ogilvy wrote his book before the Digital Revolution, and in this sequel, Miles Young brings the same erudite scrutiny to advertising in the digital age as he examines the challenges that agencies and their clients have faced with the arrival of 'digital'. He demonstrates how to respond astutely and successfully to the myriad possibilities the digital world has to offer. The book is comprehensive in its reach, touching on all areas, from brand response to social media, pervasive creativity, smart content and good storytelling, to cautions about the power of big data, and what we can learn from the latest neuroscience findings and emerging markets. Backed up by sound research and an illustrious career working out of offices in the UK, US and Hong Kong, Young cuts through the 'noise' surrounding digital to outline some essential truths and offer sound practical advice. Trade ReviewIn this stylish textbook for students of advertising, Ogilvy & Mather nonexecutive chairman Young offers a smart take on the current state of advertising and how his storied firm has evolved as society has been transformed by the internet … Publishers Weekly Table of ContentsOverture • Section I Content and the New World: The Digital Revolution, Pervasive Creativity, The Post-Modern Brand, Globalization 3.0, Today's Brand • Section II The Faces of Content/How to Bring Content to Life: Storytelling, The Taxonomy of Content, Creativity and Technology, Distribution Systems of Content, Creating Content • Section III The Fuel of Content Data: Levers of Content • Section IV Clients, Culture and Courage • Epilogue: Agility and the Agency of the Future.

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Book SynopsisA firsthand account and incisive analysis of modern protest, revealing internet-fueled social movements’ greatest strengths and frequent challengesTrade Review“Tufekci believes that digital-age protests are not simply faster, more responsive versions of their mid-century parents. They are fundamentally distinct.”—Nathan Heller, New Yorker"This comprehensive, thought-provoking work makes a valuable contribution to understanding recent political developments and provides a clear path by which grassroots organizers can improve future efforts."—Publishers Weekly"Twitter and Tear Gas is packed with evidence on how social media has changed social movements, based on rigorous research and placed in historical context."—Hannah Kuchler, Financial Times“Tufecki has written an important book that offers a granular assessment of contemporary digital protest. . . Altogether, Tufecki offers a textured chronicle of the dynamics of several movements and the hopes of activists.”—Silvio Waisbord, Social Forces"A striking and original conclusion: today’s low barrier for organizing a movement can also lead to its long-term frustrations. Tufekci’s superb book will define the debate on social protest for years to come."—Dani Rodrik, author of Economic Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science"Tufekci is undoubtedly the most qualified person in the world to explain the meaning of political collective actions catalyzed and coordinated by social media. She knows the technology, the social science, and the politics—and she is the rare academic observer who was at the scene, from Istanbul to Cairo to New York."—Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution"Incisive and illuminating, Tufekci’s book arrives at the perfect moment, right when we desperately need our activism to become smarter and more effective than ever before, or else."— Astra Taylor, author of The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age and co-founder of the Debt Collective"Many have asked why people rebel, but few describe how. Here, Tufekci uses firsthand observation to offer an intelligent and informed examination of the tools and nature of today’s political protests."—Vali Nasr, author of The Dispensable Nation and The Shia Revival"For all the claims that new technologies afford grassroots movements new power, research on the topic is rare. Tufekci's book provides just that—and a cautionary conclusion."—Doug McAdam, author of Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Postwar America

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Book SynopsisSAVE THE INTERNET, SAVE THE WORLD (OF MUSIC)! It’s 1999 and Chris is living her dream: working at Vinyl Destination by day and fighting for (musical) justice by night (okay, maybe during the day too) in the world’s coolest teen girl vigilante fight club. But when the girls of Vinyl Destination enter a Battle of The Bands – to investigate and, of course, win – they learn that the shadowy corporate masters of the music industry plan to destroy the fledging world of digital music and blame it on Y2K. Now it’s time for Chris and the gang to dial up 56k (or more, pretty please) of justice so they can save the day once again! The critically-acclaimed team of writer Carly Usdin (The Avant-Guards) and Russ Manning Award-nominated artist Nina Vakueva (League of Legends: Ashe) reunite for a follow-up to Heavy Vinyl: Riot on The Radio, which was recognized as one of the 2018 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

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Book SynopsisA David and Goliath story about Ireland's role as prime real estate for the world's largest tech multinationals, and the considerable impact it has had on us as individuals.At the start of the millennium, the Tech giants landed on Ireland's shores. Dublin, once one of Europe's poorest cities, became a beacon of Silicon Valley's promise of progress and power. As the face of the capital was remade in the image of Big Tech, Irish society embraced technology like no other. Romantic Ireland was dead and gone: social media was here to stay.In this provocative account, Aoife Barry explores the human cost of Ireland's Faustian pact with Big Tech, from the local communities uprooted by Google to the traumatised moderators squirrelled in the capital's pockets, keeping the internet safe at a terrible price. Unsettling, insightful, and wryly funny, she paints a portrait of a country addicted to the internet, refreshing the news, refreshing Twitter, scrolling and scrolling towards a feverish future

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Book SynopsisWe live in the midst of a revolution in communication technologies that affects the way in which people feel, think, and behave. The media have become the space where power strategies are played out. In the current technological context mass communication goes beyond traditional media and includes the Internet and mobile communication. In this wide-ranging and powerful book, Manuel Castells analyses the transformation of the global media industry by this revolution in communication technologies. He argues that a new communication system, mass self-communication, has emerged, and power relationships have been profoundly modified by the emergence of this new communication environment. Created in the commons of the Internet this communication can be locally based, but globally connected. It is built through messaging, social networks sites, and blogging, and is now being used by the millions around the world who have access to the Internet.Drawing on a wide range of social and psychologicTrade ReviewReview from previous edition Manuel Castells has shaped himself into the most prominent and influential theorist and analyst of the modern communications and network age. He is the Marshall McLuhan of our time. * John Lloyd, Financial Times *a challenging and intriguing work [in its] ambitions, scope and concepts. * Paschal Preston, Media, Culture & Society, Volume 32 (6), 2010 *A sustained inquiry into the nature of political and economic power in the modern world. * Steven Livingston, Political Communicatoin (27) *Castells has done it again, a masterpiece of global perspective and enviable erudition. Moving beyond his trilogy on the information age, Castells focuses on how cultural, economic and particularly political power relationships are constituted and sustained through systematic communication flows. A new line of analysis draws on neuroscience and cognitive psychology to track the role of emotion in political communication. Case studies include global media deregulation, the politics of scandal, framing the war in Iraq, ecological social movements, the Obama presidential candidacy and a fascinating comparison of media control dynamics in Russia and China. * Advance praise from W. Russell Neuman, Evans Professor of Media Technology, University of Michigan *How could Manuel Castells have predicted that now is the time of the perfect storm? I do not know. But I do know that his new book coincides with the largest downturn in global economies since the 1930s, with the most important American election since the 1960s, with a most radical transformation of world politics in many generations, and with the most profound reevaluation of the lives of modern citizens, from what they value to how they communicate. We have become used to Castells' careful scholarship and penetrating analyses but in this new book he cuts deeper into the heart of the matter. Sometimes he provides illuminating answers and where he cannot, he frames the questions that must be answered. This is a powerful and much needed book for a world in crisis. * Advance praise from Antonio Damasio, David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, Director, Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California *Manuel Castells unites the mind of a social scientist with the soul of an artist. His trilogy took us to the edge of the millennium. This book takes us beyond to the critical crossroads of the 21st century, where technology, communication, and power converge. * Advance praise from Rosalind Williams, Dibner Professor and Director, Program on Science, Technology and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology *In this timely book, Professor Castells turns his attention from the impact of the internet on the economy to its impact on communications and politics. I can warmly recommend it to all communications practitioners. But his clear analysis and vivid case studies make this book of interest to anyone who wants to understand the nature of power in today's democracy and the meaning of the campaign that swept Barack Obama into the White House. * Advance praise from Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Communication Policy *Table of ContentsOpening ; Introduction to the Revised Edition ; 1. Power in the Network Society ; 2. Communication in the Digital Age ; 3. Networks of Mind and Power ; 4. Programming Communication Networks: Media Politics, Scandal Politics, and the Crisis of Democracy ; 5. Reprogramming Communication Networks: Social Movements, Insurgent Politics, and the New Public Space ; 6. Toward a Communication Theory of Power

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Book SynopsisFrom Wall Street Journal columnist Spencer Jakab, the real story of the GameStop squeeze - and the surprising winners of a rigged game. ''Jakab adeptly skewers the popular but dangerously wrong narrative of Reddit''s David thumping Wall Street''s Goliath, and shows how the casino always wins in the end. DeepF***ingRespect for an important book with lessons far more durable than GameStop''s stock market levitation.'' Robin Wigglesworth, author of Trillions During one crazy week in January 2021, a motley crew of retail traders on Reddit''s r/wallstreetbets forum had seemingly done the impossible - they had brought some of the biggest, richest players on Wall Street to their knees. Their weapon was GameStop, a failing retailer whose shares briefly became the most-traded security on the planet and the subject of intense media coverage. The Revolution That Wasn''t is the riveting story of how the meme stock squeeze unfoldeTrade ReviewJakab adeptly skewers the popular but dangerously wrong narrative of Reddit's David thumping Wall Street's Goliath, and shows how the casino always wins in the end. * Robin Wigglesworth, author of Trillions *Ever since the GameStop saga erupted into the headlines in the winter of 2021, we've all been waiting for the definitive take. This book is it. * Bethany McLean, bestselling co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room and All The Devils Are Here *The saga of GameStop and other meme stocks is revealed with the skill of a thrilling whodunit. Jakab writes with an anti-Midas touch. If he touched gold, he would bring it to life. * Burton G. Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street *The real story of the GameStop short squeeze. Jakab walks us through every twist and turn with nuanced insight and sheds a clarifying light on the shifts happening in today's retail revolution. * Jaime Rogozinski, founder of Reddit’s WallStreetBets *An unputdownable post-mortem of the freakiest tale of pandemic-age finance - and of how investing became gamified. Jakab speaks with the key characters and highlights the structural issues, deploys the nihilistic "degen" jargon and recounts priceless anecdotes, cutting through the narrative to tell us what really happened during the GameStop short squeeze * Gian M. Volpicelli, Senior Writer, Wired *A gripping account of the social movement that took over the investing world in 2020-2021. The heroes here thought they were sticking it to the man, but became the man's stick. Jakab tells this story with warmth and humor, making financial concepts accessible to a lay audience. You will be entertained. * Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, and New York Times bestselling author of The Four and Post Corona *A timely and hugely important book. The GameStop saga shows what happens when the little guy takes on Wall Street at its own game: there can only be one winner. Spencer Jakab is a top-drawer journalist who understands this industry inside out. I can't recommend this book highly enough. * Robin Powell, journalist, author and editor of The Evidence-Based Investor *An important look at how markets - and people - defy prediction and occasionally lose their minds. * Morgan Housel, bestselling author of The Psychology of Money *When an ailing video games retailer saw its shares soar into the stratosphere for no reason other than that newbie traders wanted to put one over on arrogant hedge funds, it was hard not to cheer David's felling of Goliath. But in this meticulous examination of the Gamestop saga, Spencer Jakab reminds us of a simple truth - the house, or in this case Wall Street, always wins in the end. * Rory Cellan-Jones, former BBC technology correspondent *Thrumming narrative ... Anybody who buys and sells stocks, and anyone who "invests" in anything old or new, should read this book. * Los Angeles Times *

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Book SynopsisIncluding a wide range of fascinating examples taken from social media, this unique book provides a comprehensive framework for analysing how we use emoji to convey meaning, and how emoji function in social bonding. It is essential reading for anyone wishing to investigate the role of emoji in digital communication.Table of ContentsNote on the text; Abbreviations; 1. Social media paralanguage and emoji; 2. Technical dimensions: the encoding and rendering of emoji; 3. Modelling emoji-text relations; 4. Emoji SYNCHRONISING with textual meaning; 5. Emoji CONCURRING with ideational meaning; 6. Emoji RESONATING with interpersonal meaning; 7. DIALOGIC AFFILIATION: the role of emoji in negotiating social bonds; 8. COMMUNING AFFILIATION: the role of emoji in communing around bonds; 9. Beyond emoji-text relations: factoring in images and other semiotic resources; 10. Conclusion; Glossary.

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Book SynopsisXie and Chao present a collection of research on mobile communication in Asian communities and countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, and South Korea. With chapters written by scholars from diverse cultural and institutional backgrounds, this book provides both localized and comparative perspectives on mobile communication research. Exploring the way mobile apps are used in daily life in Asian countries, Xie, Chao, and their contributors analyze how mobile apps improve lives, help people build relationships, sustain communities, and change society for the better. They look at areas including the role of mobile apps in public service delivery and access, family communication, cultural norms and identities, organizational communication, and intercultural communication. The investigation of these topics elevates the understanding of the cultural, familial, interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural consequences of mobile communication in a global context. ThrouTable of ContentsTable of ContentsList of illustrationsAcknowledgementsList of contributors Introduction Ming Xie Part I Mobile Communication in the Private Sphere WeChat Gaming, Learning, and Midlife Empty Nest Dongdong Yang, Kenneth Lachlan, Ye Chen Social Media Portrayal of Housewives and Gender Issues in Chinese Society: A Perspective of Digital Feminism Framework Ming Xie and Chin-Chung Chao Facebook-Based Mental Health Discourse in Bangladesh: Self-Disclosure, Social Support, Consultation Simu Dey and Josh Averbeck Part II Mobile Communication in the Organizational Sphere Mobile Communication as Disaster Response Infrastructure for Cross-Sector Coproduction: A Field Study of Mobile Apps in China Flood Seasons Minshuai Ding Livestream E-Commerce: The New Social Norm and Its Impact on Chinese Culture Ping Yang How do Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in India Focusing on Mental Health use Instagram? Roma Subramanian Part III Mobile Communication in the Public Sphere A comparative analysis of mobile-use and laptop-use on Indian Health Promotions on Twitter: An application of LDA topic model Md Enamul Kabir and Louisa Ha Health Information Seeking via WeChat, Social Determinants, and COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions: An Exploratory Study Li Chen, Yafei Zhang, Ge Zhu Mobile Media and Social Movements: From Shahbag to Shaheen Bagh Shudipta Sharma Part IV Mobile Communication in the Networked Society Reclaiming Power on Social Media: A Networking Analysis of #VeryAsian Movement on Twitter Lei Guo and Jeremy Lipschultz Mobilized Cultural Identities: Digital Friendship and Identity Maintenance among Immigrant Japanese Wives Min Wha Han "Respectfully, Pls Ask Someone Else": Pride & Shame in International K-Pop Fandom Samantha James Forward Looking of Mobile Communication in Asian Society Ming Xie

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Book SynopsisFeaturing 125real-world activities across various social media platforms! Portfolio Building Activities in Social Media shows students how to communicate on social media professionally and strategically by giving them hands-on experiences with real-world challenges. From brand analyses to budget assignments to pitch activities, this practical exercise guide offers students multiple opportunities to create and build their portfolio of work. Designed to be used with Freberg's Social Media for Strategic Communication, but flexible enough to bundle with any PR textbook, these exercises are useful to any professor looking to incorporate more activities around social media and digital brand development.Table of ContentsPART I. FOUNDATION FOR CREATING A STRATEGIC MINDSET CHAPTER 1. Introduction to Social Media: An Art and Science Creative Exercise and Self-Awareness Assignments CHAPTER 2. Ethical and Legal Fundamentals of Social Media Individual Assignments Group Projects Workshops/Consulting CHAPTER 3. Personal and Professional Branding for Social Media Individual Assignments Workshop/Consulting Projects CHAPTER 4. Diversity and Inclusion in Social Media Individual Assignments Group Projects Workshop/Consulting Projects CHAPTER 5. Industry Qualifications and Roles in Social Media Individual Assignments Group Projects CHAPTER 6. Research in Social Media: Listening, Monitoring, and Analysis Individual Assignments Group Projects Workshop/Consulting Project PART II. UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY (CREATIVE AND SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES) CHAPTER 7. Strategic Planning for Social Media Individual Assignments Group Projects CHAPTER 8. Influencer Marketing Individual Assignments Group Assignments Workshop/Consulting Projects CHAPTER 9. Paid Media Individual Assignments Group Assignments Workshop/Consulting Projects CHAPTER 10. Strategic Writing for Social Media Individual Assignments Group Assignments Workshop/Consulting Projects CHAPTER 11. Audience Segmentation and Analysis Individual Assignments Group Assignments Workshop/Consulting Projects CHAPTER 12. Creating, Managing, and Curating Content: Strategies, Tactics, and Key Messages Individual Assignments Group Projects Workshops/Consulting Projects CHAPTER 13. Measurement, Evaluation, Budget, and Calendar Considerations for Social Media Individual Assignments Group Projects Workshop/Consulting Projects PART III. APPLICATION AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS CHAPTER 14. How Social Media Is Applied: Exploring Different Specializations + Case Studies I Individual Assignments Group Projects Workshop/Consulting Projects CHAPTER 15. How Social Media Is Applied: Exploring Different Specializations + Case Studies II Individual Assignments Group Projects CHAPTER 16. What Does the Social Media World Have That Is New? Individual Assignments Group Projects Workshop/Consulting Projects

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Book SynopsisObesity is a pressing social issue and a persistently newsworthy topic for the media. This book examines the linguistic representation of obesity in the British press. It combines techniques from corpus linguistics with critical discourse studies to analyse a large corpus of newspaper articles (36 million words) representing ten years of obesity coverage. These articles are studied from a range of methodological perspectives, and analytical themes include variation between newspapers, change over time, diet and exercise, gender and social class. The volume also investigates the language that readers use when responding to obesity representations in the context of online comments. The authors reveal the power of linguistic choices to shame and stigmatise people with obesity, presenting them as irresponsible and morally deviant. Yet the analysis also demonstrates the potential for alternative representations which place greater focus on the role that social and political forces play in tTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. The way in – shared keywords in the press; 3. Studying difference – comparing sections of the press; 4. Change over time; 5. Shaming and reclaiming; 6. Healthy body – diet and exercise; 7. General discourses of obesity; 8. 'A disease of the poor'? – obesity and social class; 9. Going 'below the line' – reader responses; 10. Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisCovid-19 has been described as a digital pandemic'. But who might the characterisation of the pandemic as digital' leave behind? This timely book reconsiders the pandemic as postdigital', examining tensions between a growing postdigital attitude of disenchantment with digital technologies and the increasing reliance on adapted modes of online practice mid-lockdown in both performance-making and healthcare.What emerged amidst the pandemic restrictions was a theatre that was unable to show its face, instead adapting into a variety of covid-safe' remote forms of engagement, from Zoom plays' to self-generating experiences sent by post. This book explores the ways that both performances and healthcare practices found proxies for direct touch and face-to-face encounters, deconstructing the way that care and resilience were spectacularized by political actors online.Liam Jarvis and Karen Savage explore aspects of care in relation to technology, spectacle and fTrade ReviewAs theatre and performance struggle to emerge in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Postdigital Performances of Care provides a distinct lens through which to review our collective experiences and to reimagine possibilities for the future. Critical, insightful and compassionate throughout, the book reflects on the many meanings of care and challenges us to reconsider the "new normal". The authors present a compelling provocation for the field and how we might rethink performance itself in the current context. * Sarah Bay-Cheng, York University, Canada *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Series Editors’ Preface Opening Provocation: Soft Spaces; Hard Edges By Proto-type Theater Introduction: A ‘Postdigital Pandemic’? Chapter 1: Spectacles of Resilience: Postdigital Online Theatre & Mid-pandemic Resilience A Postdigital Attitude: Blind Spots in Digital Culture Vacant Theatres as Nightingale Courtrooms Theatre as Social Services: Slung Low & Holbeck Food Bank Chapter 2: Theatre’s ‘Loss of Face’: The Levinasian Problem of Face-to-Face Encounters Mid-pandemic Ambivalent Otherness: Face Ethics Mid-lockdown Patching into the Past: Coney’s Telephone Lockdown as a Hotel Room Without a Door: Thaddeus Phillips’ Zoo Motel Chapter 3: The Spectacularization of Care Online Performing Handshakes: From Defiant Gestural Retail Politics to ‘Bioweapon’ Performing Applause: From Doorstep Clapping to Anti-Hero Worship Resilience Optics: Surveillance Technologies as Care Symbols in ‘Drone Captain Tom’ Chapter 4: Digital Care & Pandemic Care Ethics in Post-internet Cultures: ‘Caring about’ & ‘Caring for’ ‘Caring About’ Expanded: Webs of Interdependencies What Counts as ‘Digital Care’? Care as ‘Virtue Signaling’ on Social Media? Detached Touch: ‘Posting About’ as ‘Caring About’? Care and Memory in Miguel Angel Muñoz and Luisa Cantero's 100 Days with Tata Regressing in Care: Russell Howard’s Home Time Theatre as Care Package: Nightcap’s Handle With Care Chapter 5: Digital Twins, Avatars & the Metaverse AI-generated Avatars on Lensa Avatar Band Members in Aespa The Metaverse Conclusion: Meta-Resilience & the ‘New Normal’ Endnotes References Index

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Book Synopsis**Available now: Whistleblower Frances Haugen''s searing exposé of the internal workings of Facebook revealing the company''s struggles to regain control over its platform and to stop the spread of misinformation**__________In the spring of 2021, when news outlets feasted on the Facebook Files, Frances Haugen went public as the former employee who blew the whistle on the company by copying tens of thousands of documents. She testified to Congress and spoke to the media. She was hailed at President Biden''s first State of the Union Address. She made sure everyone understood exactly what the documents revealed: Facebook not only set its algorithm to reward extremism, it knew that its customers were using the platform to foment violence, to spread falsehoods, to diminish the self-esteem of young people, and more. But how was it that Frances was the only employee at the company who dared to step forward?The answer to that question is an inspiring tale o

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Book SynopsisExplains what happened to musicfor both artists and fanswhen music went online. Playing to the Crowd explores and explains how the rise of digital communication platforms has transformed artist-fan relationships into something closer to friendship or family. Through in-depth interviews with musicians such as Billy Bragg and Richie Hawtin, as well as members of the Cure, UB40, and Throwing Muses, Baym reveals how new media has facilitated these connections through the active, and often required, participation of the artists and their devoted, digital fan base.Before the rise of social sharing and user-generated content, fans were mostly seen as an undifferentiated and unidentifiable mass, often mediated through record labels and the press. However, in today's networked era, musicians and fans have built more active relationships through social media, fan sites, and artist sites, giving fans a new sense of intimacy and offering artists unparalleled informationTrade ReviewBaym's enthusiasm and experience makes this academic study accessible to professional musicians as well as musicology and communication scholars. * Library Journal *Nancy K. Baym was researching the impact of emerging technologies and music when most of us did not have the foresight to anticipate the changing music landscape. This is not her first pioneering work, and it certainly won't be her last, but it is, as always, fun and intriguing. An innovative wordsmith and an engaging storyteller, Baym explains how musicians transition from technologies designed to render them remote deities to those that invite them to be irrevocably intimate. Her observations carry weight and her interpretations are timely and timeless. She is a sharp researcher with a curious mindthe type that unfailingly seduces, educates and inspires you with their writing. -- Zizi Papacharissi,University of Illinois at ChicagoNancy K. Bayms Playing to the Crowdis a major advance in our understanding of new media, music and audiences. Through careful ethnographic and historical work, Baym offers a definitive reception history of popular music as it went online. She also offers a transformative theory of music in the age of social media. Methodologically rich, beautifully written, and full of great storytelling, Playing to the Crowdexplains the novel aspects of our emergent online environment, all while linking it to music as a cultural practice that transcends any one context, and insisting that we understand online relationships as fundamentally human relationships. It will change the way you think about music, technology and people. -- Jonathan Sterne,author of MP3: The Meaning of a FormatBaym’s book sheds light on the previously unexplored territory of musicians’ own management of their social media presence through ethnography, and for this reason many sections of this volume deserve a place in music and media syllabi for undergraduate and graduate studies, particularly to study Western cultural contexts and popular music scenes. * Yearbook for Traditional Music *

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Book SynopsisThis book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Software has replaced a diverse array of physical, mechanical, and electronic technologies used before 21st century to create, store, distribute and interact with cultural artifacts. It has become our interface to the world, to others, to our memory and our imagination - a universal language through which the world speaks, and a universal engine on which the world runs. What electricity and combustion engine were to the early 20th century, software is to the early 21st century. Offering the the first theoretical and historical account of software for media authoring and its effects on the practice and the very concept of 'media,' the author of The Language of New Media (2001) develops his own theory for this rapidly-growing, always-changing field. What was the thinking and motivations of people who in the 1960 and 1970s created concepts and practical techniques that underlie contemporary media software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya, Final Cut and After Effects? How do their interfaces and tools shape the visual aesthetics of contemporary media and design? What happens to the idea of a 'medium' after previously media-specific tools have been simulated and extended in software? Is it still meaningful to talk about different mediums at all? Lev Manovich answers these questions and supports his theoretical arguments by detailed analysis of key media applications such as Photoshop and After Effects, popular web services such as Google Earth, and the projects in motion graphics, interactive environments, graphic design and architecture. Software Takes Command is a must for all practicing designers and media artists and scholars concerned with contemporary media.Trade ReviewThe language of new media is embodied and expressed---lent visual and interactive form---through software. Software is the agent of our every digital experience. And software is a quintessentially human artifact. The fact that it is intangible---you can’t reach out and touch it---is the least interesting thing about it. This long-researched book, which synthesizes critical theory, human-computer interaction, and media history as well as newer approaches from the digital humanities, allows software to take its place as a commanding element in our conversations about computers, and how we work, play, learn, and create. -- Matthew Kirschenbaum, Associate Professor of English and Associate Director, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, University of Maryland, USWith Software Takes Command, Lev Manovich seeks to answer a central question: 'Why should humanists, social scientists, media scholars and cultural critics care about software?' His answer is a provocative, historically informed book that breaks new ground in digital humanities, in new media studies and in what Manovich defined in his earlier book The Language of New Media, as software studies. Through a theoretical analysis of the computer as cultural metamedium and a probing history of 'media software' such Photoshop and After Effects, among others, this is essential reading for anyone interested in how software has changed how we work, create, and perceive the world. -- Tanya Clement, Assistant Professor in the School of Information at the University of Texas, Austin, USComputers haven't transformed media--they've shattered the very idea of a medium. Lev Manovich connects the dots of software society, from layers in Photoshop to layers of data, interpretation, and meaning. -- Martin Wattenberg, Software Artist and ScientistThe chapter on motion graphics is the best thing I’ve ever read on the subject, and the final version is copiously illustrated. * RoyChristopher.com *...a valuable resource for anyone interested in contemporary media theory or the humanist study of software. It collects both the history of media's softwarization in the 1960's and 1970's and the cultural development of a metalanguage of motion graphics in the 1990's. In addition, it provides the theoretical framework necessary for a discussion of these histories and for future developments in media software. If it does not provide a single final answer to its catalyzing question, it is only because the use of 'media after software' is a cultural phenomenon in which we are still neck deep. -- Patrick Davison, New York University * International Journal of Communication *Currently, too many of us in education lack sophisticated and critical ways to think and talk about the role of software in our lives. Unlike previous technologies, software can push back into our worlds in unprecedented ways. In education, the danger is that software will begin to dictate pedagogy rather than the other way around. Manovich’s book can help us avoid this pitfall. The greatest value of Software Takes Command is that it helps frame the history and nature of software in a way that makes me more confident in identifying how and when to take command of software myself. -- Tom Liam Lynch, Pace University * Research in Review *The proposal involves such strength and conviction from Manovich. You have to have balls to wonder about the intellectual, philosophical, epistemological and conceptual origins of the software we use every day…This work is thus a secret history (by neglect rather than conspiracy) of the culture of software. Por eso la propuesta de Manovich conlleva tanta fuerza y convicción. Hay que tener cojones para preguntarse acerca de los orígenes intelectuales, filosóficos, epistemologicos y conceptuales del software que usamos cada día… Esta obra es pues una historia secreta (por desatención mas que por conspiración) de la cultura del software. -- Alejandro Piscitelli * Conectar Igualdad *Manovich’s book studies this management of information not so much from the overused perspective of the ‘digital revolution’, but more specifically via the analysis of software…identifying software as the new ubiquitous technology that structures everyday contemporary life – a life which has, thanks to the rise of software, become global…As such, Software Takes Command is a contribution to the emerging discipline of ‘software studies’. -- Warren Buckland, Oxford Brookes University, UK * New Review of Film and Television Studies *Today Manovich - one of the foremost authorities in research software and massive digital cultures - it comes with an even more radical and powerful theory: the software is the message, now a category imperative for new approaches to analysis and understanding of the contemporary. Hoy Manovich – una de las máximas autoridades en estudios de software y culturas digitales masivas –, viene con una teoría aún más radical y contundente: el software es el mensaje, convertida en una categoría imprescindible para los nuevos criterios de análisis y comprensión de la contemporaneidad. -- Margarita D'Amico * Toques de Contemporaneidaed *With significant contributions like Software Takes Command, software studies is sure to flourish as an area of scholarship within media studies, if not as a replacement. -- Yanni Loukissas, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University * Journal of Design History *Through a series of theoretically informed and empirically rich chapters, Manovich reflects on how different media became thoroughly infused with software, how it altered different practices, and how to make sense of software’s effects. He persuasively argues that softwarization has led to the formation of a new ‘metamedium’ in which what were previously separate media, and already existing and not-yet-invented media, become fused. -- Rob Kitchin, National University of Ireland Maynooth * Information, Communication & Society *….Manovich's work contributes as it unveils some of the invisible labour involved in media production hidden in the softwarization process, and deepens our understanding of the changing practices and aesthetics. -- Lin Yuwei * Information, Communication and Society *Reading Manovich is indeed useful, and worth putting in your toolbox of concepts along with Donald Norman’s affordance and Bruno Latour’s agency. Per leggere Manovich risulta utile infatti mettere nella propria cassetta degli attrezzi concetti quali quelli di affordance di Donald Norman e di agency di Bruno Latour. -- Tatiana Mazali, Politecnico di Torino * Mediascapes Journal *Software Takes Command shows that technical expertise can indeed lead to more intelligible technical description…Manovich’s background allows him to set priorities that resonate with the situated hierarchies of relevance that exist in every professional practice…This book focuses on some of the most fundamental features of some of the most common programs in the cultural software space and remains resolutely analytical and formalistic. In that sense, it can be considered as uncritical. There is no variant of false consciousness to be found and no bureaucratization of the creative mind through formalization or standardization. Software Takes Command is trying to understand what is, not what ought or ought not to be… Given [software’s] enormous significance for contemporary visual culture, one would expect there to be a number of published volumes that discuss Photoshop and similar programs in some depth. But besides Manovich’s work, there is preciously little…One can therefore only hope that Software Takes Command inspires others to take the approach to new domains and different types of software…Lev Manovich shows us how this could be done – and this is why Software Takes Command is such an important book. -- Bernhard Rieder, University of Amsterdam * Information, Communication and Society *The intelligence and breadth of Manovich's approach makes this book relevant for all those who, in the fields of computer science, art, design, history and theory of new media, and related disciplines, wish to understand the multiple forms and structures of interaction and manipulation encoded in the software we use in many of our creative and communicative practices. Manovich beautifully synthesizes a significant part of his work as programmer, designer and digital animator, media artist, researcher and professor, helping to strengthen and expand the field of cultural studies of software, one of the corollaries of his previous systematic analysis of the language of new media. This is an essential book in the canon, still in formation, of software studies. -- Manuel Portela * MATLIT *A broad range of examples combined with the author's own experience as a media designer, as well as his many careful observations and provocative ideas make this book a compelling and insightful take on a central pillar of digital culture. -- Martin E. Roth, Leiden University, The Netherlands * Asiascape: Digital Asia *Software Takes Command is impeccably organized and thorough, meant to be exhaustive and complete in its topology of the practices of new media production and consumption, from taking an Instagram pic of your boyfriend on holiday to the most advanced modes of graphic design, film and speculative architecture. * Red-Assiniboine Research Unit *Table of ContentsIntroduction PART 1: Inventing Media Software Chapter 1. Alan Kay’s Universal Media Machine Chapter 2. Understanding Metamedia PART 2: Hybridization and Evolution Chapter 3: Hybridization Chapter 4. Soft Evolution PART 3: Software in Action Chapter 5. Media Design Conclusion Index

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisChina is transforming Africa's information space. It is assisting African broadcasters with extensive loans, training and exchange programmes and has set up its own media operations on the continent in the form of CCTV Africa. In the telecommunications sector, China is helping African governments to expand access to the internet and mobile phones, with rapid and large-scale success. While Western countries have ambiguously linked the need to fight security threats with restrictions of the information space, China has been vocal in asserting the need to control communication to ensure stability and development. Featuring a wealth of interviews with a variety of actors – from Chinese and African journalists in Chinese media to Chinese workers for major telecommunication companies – this highly original book demonstrates how China is both contributing to the 'Africa rising' narrative while exploiting the weaknesses of Western approaches to Africa, which remain trapped between an emphasis on stability and service delivery, on the one hand, and the desire to advocate human rights and freedom of expression on the other. Arguing no state can be understood without attention to its information structure, the book provides the first assessment of China’s new model for the media strategies of developing states, and the consequences of policing Africa’s information space for geopolitics, security and citizenship.Trade ReviewA very original, rigorous and well-cited contribution to the wider field of China-Africa studies and the current global conversation on internet governance. China, Africa and the Future of the Internet provides a useful counter-perspective to the dominant discourse around internet governance which tends to focus on the global north, excluding the notable developments in internet governance taking place in the global south. * Cobus van Staden, Co-host of the China in Africa Podcast *Impressive and rigorous, China, Africa and the Future of the Internet respects different schools of thought regarding the internet and development, whilst providing a critique that is schooled and convincing. Gagliardone takes an issue of great importance and brings fresh and penetrating analysis to it. * Monroe E. Price, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania *Table of Contents1. China and the Shaping of Africa’s Information Societies 2. China as Partner: Financing Africa’s Information Societies 3. Innovative Democrats and Developmental States 4. China as a Model? The Multiple Faces of the Chinese Internet 5. Is it really About China? The Securitization of Development and It’s Influence on Africa’s Information societies 6. The Future of the Global Internet

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Book SynopsisYou are being lied to by people who don't even exist. Digital deception is the new face of information warfare. Social media has been weaponised by states and commercial entities alike, as bots and trolls proliferate and users are left to navigate an infodemic of fake news and disinformation. In the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East, where authoritarian regimes continue to innovate and adapt in the face of changing technology, online deception has reached new levels of audacity. From pro-Saudi entities that manipulate the tweets of the US president, to the activities of fake journalists and Western PR companies that whitewash human rights abuses, Marc Owen Jones' meticulous investigative research uncovers the full gamut of tactics used by Gulf regimes and their allies to deceive domestic and international audiences. In an age of global deception, this book charts the lengths bad actors will go to when seeking to impose their ideology and views on citizens around the world.Trade Review‘The scholarly passion of Marc Owen Jones on the pseudi-isation of reality has become a seminal study for understanding the rise of digital authoritarianism in the Arab world.’ -- AL SHARQ'A much-needed addition to the field of post-truth and disinformation studies.’ -- Bustan‘This readable volume is a highly educational warning to all those who may not be aware of the manipulations and sophisticated social media deception mechanisms deployed by states and private agencies to influence world politics.’ -- Asian Affairs'[Jones] looks beyond the large-scale influence campaigns of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates and exposes the far-reaching consequences of the digital tyranny to which global alliances subject us to this day.' -- The Dutch Review of Books'Jones's knowledge of media manipulation in the Middle East is unrivalled. Pioneering, surprising and entertaining, this book will be the central reference text for years to come.' -- Alexei Abrahams, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Citizen Lab, University of Toronto'With its flowing, engaging and catchy style, and its rich and timely content, "Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East" appeals to a wide audience. A welcome contribution to the growing literature on social and digital media, and their paradoxical implications.' -- Sahar Khamis, Associate Professor of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, and co-author of 'Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement, and Citizen Journalism''An insightful and entertaining tour of disinformation in the Middle East and beyond. Jones combines deep regional knowledge, sophisticated theoretical analysis and sometimes surreal personal experience to unpick a global web of shadowy actors in the service of digital authoritarianism.' -- James Shires, Assistant Professor in Cybersecurity Governance, Institute for Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University, and author of 'The Politics of Cybersecurity in the Middle East''Meticulously researched and engagingly written, Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East is a very timely and extremely accessible account of an emerging set of issues that have become such a feature of the regional and international landscape in recent years.' -- Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East, Rice University

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Book SynopsisSocial media and smartphones are criticised for being addictive, destroying personal relationships, undermining productivity, and invading privacy. In this book, Trine Syvertsen explores the phenomenon of digital detox: users taking a break from digital media or adopting measures to limit smartphone and social media use. Based on studies, documents, media texts and interviews with media users, Syvertsen discusses how media industries intensify the quest for attention, how companies and governments team up to get everybody online, and how the main responsibility for managing online risks and problems are placed on the users' shoulders. She provides a rich account of how users reduce their online engagement through time-limitations, restrictions on smartphone use, productivity apps, and use of analogue media. Syvertsen shows how digital detoxing has much in common with other forms of self-help such as mindfulness, decluttering and simple living and places digital detox within a culture of self-optimisation. But digital detox is also about sustaining face-to-face conversations, better work-life-balance, a deeper connection with nature and more meaningful interpersonal relationships. With a wealth of examples, analyses and stories, Digital Detox is a valuable guide to why digital detox and disconnection has become a topic, how it is practised, what it says about the state of media industries and how people express resistance in the 21st century.Trade Review‘Trine Syvertsen has again fascinated us with a reflexive and nuanced discussion of our guilt-ridden and ambivalent engagement with digital media. Situating the phenomenon of digital detox in the much longer history of media resistance, and its roots in the perceived pervasiveness of digital personal and mobile media, Syvertsen discusses how ”the problem” is framed, who is held responsible for solving it (spoiler: you!), what ”solutions” are offered, and how these are received among digital media users. A must-read for anyone who has ever owned a smart-phone!’ -- - Göran Bolin, Professor, Södertörn University, Author of Media Generations and Value and the Media: The Shaping of Culture in Media and Society‘Trine Syvertsen wisely considers the significance of both the societal and the individual dilemmas and influences. The author looks at the huge pressure on economic, political and culture-driven influences and, at a micro level, at the daily life anxieties and demands for detox periods, that can rely on ambivalence, self-determination and work. This tackles the need and struggle for an identity, often different from the mainstream digital culture, even with the most intimate persons as family and friends. Another aspect that that is very interesting is the reflection on the three Ps motivation for detox: Presence, Productivity and Privacy. Finally, I consider of extreme relevance the discussion on digital policies and on how they are driven to get us online at all time, without discussing how this might affect (negatively) our life.’ -- - Maria José Brites, Associate Professor at the Lusófona University of Porto (ULP) and Researcher at the Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies (CICANT)‘Syvertsen offers a valuable look at the social dimensions of digital detox, explaining why it is more than just a lifestyle trend or a tool for self-optimization. Her work confirms that we have much to learn about presence, productivity and privacy from media resisters who engage with devices and networks on their own terms.’ -- - Jennifer Rauch, Professor, Long Island University, Author of Slow Media: Why Slow is Satisfying, Sustainable and Smart‘In this timely and critical analysis of the growing industry of digital detoxing, Trine Syvertsen provides a compelling, historically informed account of how the commercial and political push for 24/7-connectivity intertwines and clashes with personal strategies of resistance. Locating digital detox in broader trajectories for responsibilizing individuals in digital society, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the everyday politics of digitalization and the digital battle for our attention.’ -- - Stine Lomborg, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen, Author of Social Media, Social Genres: Making Sense of the Ordinary, Editor of Ubiquitous InternetTable of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: Do we have a problem? Chapter 2. What is the problem? Intensifying the quest for attention Chapter 3. You are the problem! Everybody online and self-regulation Chapter 4. Managing the problem. Disconnection and detox Chapter 5. The problem is personal - and social: Making sense of digital detox

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Book SynopsisThe two most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia — a Malaysian and a Singaporean — are on the run in the Philippines, but they manage to keep their friends and family updated on Facebook. Filipinos connect with al-Qaeda-linked groups in Somalia and Yemen. The black flag — embedded in al-Qaeda lore — pops up on websites and Facebook pages from around the world, including the Philippines, Indonesia, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Australia, and North Africa. The black flag is believed to herald an apocalypse that brings Islam's triumph. These are a few of the signs that define terrorism's new battleground: the Internet and social media.In this groundbreaking work of investigative journalism, Maria Ressa traces the spread of terrorism from the training camps of Afghanistan to Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Through research done at the International Center for Political Violence & Terrorism Research in Singapore and sociograms created by the CORE Lab at the Naval Postgraduate School, the book examines the social networks which spread the virulent ideology that powered terrorist attacks in the past 10 years.Many of the stories here have never been told before, including details about the 10 days during which Ressa led the crisis team in the Ces Drilon kidnapping case by the Abu Sayyaf in 2008. The book forms the powerful narrative that glues together the social networks — both physical and virtual — which spread the jihadi virus from bin Laden to Facebook.Table of ContentsKidnapped; Crisis; Roots; A Piece of the Action; The Virus; Deadline; Ultimatum; Double-Cross; Breakdown; Homecoming.

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Book SynopsisThis book brings genre back to the forefront of the current transmedia trend. Genres are perhaps the most innately transmedial of media constructs, formed as they are from all kinds of industrial, technological and discursive phenomena. Yet, few have considered how genre works in a multiplatform context. This book does precisely that, making a uniquely transmedial contribution to the study of genre in the age of media convergence. The book interrogates how industrial, technological and participatory transformations of digital platforms and emerging technologies reshape workings of genre. The authors consider franchises such as Star Wars, streaming platforms such as Netflix, catch-up services such as ITV Hub, creative technologies such as virtual reality, and beyond. In setting the stage for the revival of genre theory in contemporary transmedia scholarship, this book pushes forward understandings of multiplatform media and the emerging form and function of genre across contemporary culture.Table of Contents1 Introduction or: Why We Still Need Genre PART I: Media Conglomerates 2 Transmedia Superhero: Marvel, Genre Divergence and Captain America 3 Transmedia Western: Lucasfilm, Genre Linking and The Mandalorian PART II: Digital Platforms 4 Transmedia Horror: Netflix, Genre Empowerment and Stranger Things 5 Transmedia Docudrama: ITV Hub, Genre Democratisation and Quiz 6 Transmedia Comedy: BBC Three, Genre Distribution and Pls Like 7 Transmedia Fantasy-JRPG: Kickstarter, Genre Leveraging and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes PART III: Emerging Technologies 8 Transmedia War: Virtual Reality, Genre Embodiment and The Day the World Changed 9 Transmedia Science Fiction: Deepfake Technology, Genre Fictioning and Reminiscence 10 Conclusion: Towards a Conceptual Framework of Transmedia Genre

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Book SynopsisThis book uniquely combines the authors’ personal experiences, deep cultural and professional experience of living and working in Russia and the former USSR, and interest and experience with language and computational analysis, to shed light on a highly contemporary question: what is motivating conflict and unrest in Russia and its surrounding countries? How does Russian government suppression of information manifest in practice today, and how does it fit into the historical cultural pattern for Russia? The authors take a computational look at social and traditional media in the original languages, from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and the English-speaking world, to glean insights and separate fact from fiction.This book helps readers interested in Eastern Europe to ‘take the temperature’ of the region today, but it is also of interest to readers in the policy and analysis community, because it offers a template, an analytical ‘how-to’ guide which aims to follow in the footsteps of CIA author Richards Heuer’s ‘Psychology of Intelligence Analysis’, to show how state-of-the-art computational analysis techniques could be applied to similar problems in other topic areas, with the human analyst and computational techniques each working together to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts.Table of ContentsInformation Maneuvers in and around Ukraine: What is Really Driving Conflict with Russia? 1 Background 1.1 A widespread Russian view of Ukraine: rooted in language, culture, and religion 2 Issues surrounding Ukraine 2.1 Russian troop buildup on the border 2.2 Russian hydrocarbons and their place in Europe 2.2.1 A cultural specific of the Russian hydrocarbon landscape 2.2.2 Russian dependence on hydrocarbons, and its pipelines and infrastructure 2.2.3 The Russia-EU co-dependency 2.2.4 Summary 2.3 NATO enlargement 3 What does social media say about the issues? 3.1 Discussion of ‘Ukraine’ in Russian-speaking Twitter 3.2 Discussion of ‘Ukraine’ in Ukrainian-speaking Twitter 3.3 Discussion of ‘NATO’ in both Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking Twitter 4 Conclusions and recommendations for strategic communications Information Maneuvers in the Baltic region 1 Contents 2 Background: brief history of the Baltics 3 A distillation of multiple threat assessments and perspectives 3.1 Brief background on threat assessment 3.2 Environmental Threats 3.3 Espionage Threats 3.4 Military Threats 3.5 Cyber Threats 3.6 Destabilizing Threats 3.7 Russian Limitations 4 Analysis of social media landscape 4.1 The ‘BEND’ framework 4.2 Research hypotheses 4.3 Topic selection 4.4 Data retrieval 4.5 Data processing 4.6 Exploration of results 4.7 Discussion 5 Conclusions and recommendations for strategic communications Information Maneuvers in and around Poland: Historical Revisionism and Rule of Law 1 Background 1.1 Language, culture, and religion as predictors of geopolitical fault lines 2 Current issues surrounding Poland 2.1 The EU versus Poland on primacy of law 2.2 Polish nationalism and World War II 2.3 The Polish-Belarus border 2.4 The Suwałki Corridor 2.5 The buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s border 3 Analysis of social media landscape in Poland versus East Slavdom 3.1 Interpretation of the maneuvers that have led to the current point 3.2 Twitter data collection and analysis 3.2.1 Data collection 3.2.2 Analytical approach 3.2.3 Results of analysis 4 Conclusions and recommendations for strategic communications 5 References Appendix 1: Polish ‘border’ tweets 49 Appendix 2: Russian ‘border’ tweets 62 Information Maneuvers for Soviet Union 2.0 1 Background 2 Features of everyday Soviet life in the twentieth century 2.1 The ‘information island’ created by the Iron Curtain 2.2 Soviet indoctrination 2.3 Repression 2.4 Soviet life – drab and dilapidated 2.5 The ideology of Soviet life 2.6 The bureaucracy of Soviet life 3 Social media analysis 4 Conclusions and recommendations for strategic communications Finding and Analyzing Information Maneuvers on the Fringe 1 Fringe narratives: an illustrative example involving Russia and its Eurasian ambitions 2 The ‘brotherhood of nations’ – a historical pattern, not an anomaly 3 Eurasian integration: coming in the near future? 4 How can we analyze fringe beliefs? 4.1 Why fringe beliefs matter: did they help end the Cold War? 4.2 The role of language in fringe beliefs 4.3 Connection to foundational computational linguistics concepts 4.3.1 Word probabilities 4.3.2 ‘Distinctiveness’ in words and combinations of words 4.3.3 From probability to pointwise mutual information 4.4 Problem statements with respect to fringe beliefs 4.4.1 Analytical approach to ‘known unknowns’ 4.4.2 Analytical approach to ‘unknown unknowns’ 4.5 Combining PMI and clustering to find ‘unknown unknowns’ 5 Demonstration and technical implementation 5.1 Dataset 5.2 Technical implementation 5.3 Key ‘waypoints’ in the approach 5.3.1 Pointwise mutual information 5.3.2 Singular value decomposition 5.3.3 Composition of adjacency matrix 5.3.4 Detection of anomalous clusters 6 Conclusions Appendix 1. The Scythians (by Aleksandr Blok) 54 Appendix 2. Hand-curated ‘fringe belief’ text 57 Appendix 3. Python Jupyter notebook for identifying fringe beliefs 59 Russian media narratives on Ukraine in 2022: a computational analysis 1 Background 2 Data used for this report, and method of collection 3 Our approach: signal processing (and SVD) fundamentals 4 Key narratives in 2022 in Russian media 4.1 Application of SVD to our data 4.2 Topics of interest: detailed discussion 4.2.1 A Russian fake about alleged Ukrainian incursion 4.2.2 Mockery of changing Ukrainian positions on NATO membership 4.2.3 ‘Humanitarian corridors’ propaganda, claims of Russian air superiority 4.2.4 Pre-invasion denials that an invasion would happen 4.2.5 Conspiracy theories about U.S. biolabs in Ukraine 4.2.6 Fears of sabotage in border regions of Russia 4.2.7 Mockery of gaffe by British Foreign Secretary 4.2.8 2014 events in Ukraine described as a ‘coup’ to justify the invasion before the fact 4.2.9 Putin’s NATO grievances 4.2.10 Putin’s ‘my beauty’ remark 4.2.11 Russian reaction to U.S. ‘pre-bunking’ of Russian false flag narratives 4.2.12 Russian comparisons of Ukrainian nationalism and terrorism 4.3 Key takeaways 5 What’s ‘mainstream’ and what’s ‘fringe’ in Russian media? 5.1 How we can answer this question with SVD 5.2 Digging deeper with Keyness analysis 5.2.1 What is a Keyness Relative Frequency Analysis? 5.2.2 Comparing RT and Meduza 5.3 Key takeaways 6 How topics changed over time in Russian media 6.1 January 1st-15th: Kazakhstan unrest 6.2 January 16th-31st: Fractious political relations between Ukraine and Russia 6.3 February 1st-15th: Mockery of Ukrainian and British politicians 6.4 February 16th-28th: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 6.5 March 1st-15th: Evacuating civilians; Ukraine-Russia peace talks 6.6 March 16th-31st: Ukrainian deaths; Chechen fighters in Ukraine 6.7 April 1st-15th: Ukrainians killed in Bucha; alleged terrorist threats within Russia 6.8 April 16th-30th: Russian media stops talking about Ukraine 6.9 May 1st-May 16th: Victory Day in Russia 6.10 Key takeaways 7 Conclusions Appendix 1. Scraping the web for Russian media articles Appendix 2. Full list of topics extracted from 2,838 Russian media articles, 1/1/2022-5/16/2022 Appendix 3. Jupyter Notebook code snippets Appendix 4. Russian stopwords used for Keyness analysis Appendix 5. Time Relative Frequency Analyses: full list of charts by half-month

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