Internet, digital media and society Books

Book Synopsis''Levy portrays a tech company where no one is taking responsibility for what it has unleashed'' Financial Times''This fascinating book reveals the imperial ambitions of Facebook''s founder'' James Marriott, Sunday Times''The inside story of how Facebook went from idealism to scandal'' Laurence Dodds, TelegraphToday, Facebook is nearly unrecognizable from the simple website Zuckerberg''s first built from his dorm room in his Sophomore year. It has grown into a tech giant, the largest social media platform and one of the biggest companies in the world, with a valuation of more than $576 billion and almost 3 billion users. There is no denying the power and omnipresence of Facebook in daily life. And in light of recent controversies surrounding election-influencing fake news accounts, the handling of its users'' personal data and growing discontent with the actions of its founder and CEO, never has the company been more central to the national conversation. Based on years of exclusive reporting and interviews with Facebook''s key executives and employees, including Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Steven Levy''s sweeping narrative digs deep into the whole story of the company that has changed the world and reaped the consequences.Trade ReviewThis absorbing book will inspire important conversations about big tech and privacy in the twenty-first century * Booklist *This fascinating book reveals the imperial ambitions of Facebook's founder * James Marriott, The Sunday Times *A tour de force of access journalism * Natasha Singer, The New York Times *Steven Levy is the founding guru of technology journalism * Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store and The Upstarts *Levy's narrative is richly detailed, thanks to interviews with Facebookers past and present...His account of Zuckerberg's abbreviated Harvard tenure and Facebook's early years feel fresh, with plenty of colour that reminds you the HBO show Silicon Valley did not have to reach far for its satire * NPR.org *Comprehensive and captivating history * Wall Street Journal *Levy writes with verve... [he] is able to trace the origins of the Cambridge Analytica scheme to Facebook's disregard for the privacy concerns of the first users... He doesn't shy from asking the tough questions * Washington Post *Fresh, up-to-date and insiderish * The Economist *Levy portrays a tech company where no one is taking responsibility for what it has unleashed... The book closes with a recognition that Facebook is bulldozing ahead with new innovations - from Facebook dating to its Libra digital currency project - while Zuckerberg continues to shrug off any ethical queries about his past behaviour * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisHow companies like Amazon and Netflix know what “you might also like”: the history, technology, business, and social impact of online recommendation engines.Increasingly, our technologies are giving us better, faster, smarter, and more personal advice than our own families and best friends. Amazon already knows what kind of books and household goods you like and is more than eager to recommend more; YouTube and TikTok always have another video lined up to show you; Netflix has crunched the numbers of your viewing habits to suggest whole genres that you would enjoy. In this volume in the MIT Press's Essential Knowledge series, innovation expert Michael Schrage explains the origins, technologies, business applications, and increasing societal impact of recommendation engines, the systems that allow companies worldwide to know what products, services, and experiences “you might also like.”Schrage offers a history of recommendation that reaches back

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Book SynopsisFrom the upheavals of recent national elections to the success of the #MyDressMyChoice feminist movement, digital platforms have already had a dramatic impact on political life in Kenya – one of the most electronically advanced countries in Africa. While the impact of the Digital Age on Western politics has been extensively debated, there is still little appreciation of how it has been felt in developing countries such as Kenya, where Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and other online platforms are increasingly a part of everyday life. Written by a respected Kenyan activist and researcher at the forefront of political online struggles, this book presents a unique contribution to the debate on digital democracy. For traditionally marginalised groups, particularly women and people with disabilities, digital spaces have allowed Kenyans to build new communities which transcend old ethnic and gender divisions. But the picture is far from wholly positive. Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics explores the drastic efforts being made by elites to contain online activism, as well as how ‘fake news’, a failed digital vote-counting system and the incumbent president's recruitment of Cambridge Analytica contributed to tensions around the 2017 elections. Reframing digital democracy from the African perspective, Nyabola’s ground-breaking work opens up new ways of understanding our current global online era.Trade ReviewChallenges existing scholarship on ‘tech in Africa’ by exploring how state agency and the politics of offline spaces have consequences for what happens online. This beautifully written book is a must-read for all researchers and journalists writing about Kenya today. * LSE Review of Books *The book is fascinating. As an added bonus, Digital Democracy is also a highly readable introduction to Kenyan society and politics. * Oxfam Blog *Digital Democracy delivers a powerful read on politics and social media in Africa. Nyabola’s execution and writing are clear and sharp. This well-researched work marshals illustrative stories of social media in Kenya, making it an easy, quick read. * Washington Post *Incisive, deft, and innovative, this book describes viral trends and critically expands the scholarship on Kenyan politics while bringing the social histories of marginalized Kenyans into sharper focus. * Brenda N. Sanya, Colgate University *In this highly accessible and timely account, Nyabola moves Kenya and Kenyans from the margins of analysis to the very centre, revealing how local realities help to bring out both the worst and best of the new digital age. * Gabrielle Lynch, University of Warwick *Anchored in an eloquent grasp of Kenyan history, Nyabola maps the contours of advances, innovations and regressions across Kenya’s digital sphere. This is essential reading for understanding contemporary Kenya. * Grace A. Musila, University of the Witwatersrand *A timely and hugely important work. It chronicles how digital disruption is also an African emancipation, allowing a generation to leapfrog from the so called Third World into the First and into an exciting beyond. * John Githongo, journalist and founder of the Inuka Kenya Trust *A fascinating and insightful journey into Kenya’s digital spaces. It is one of the few studies of social media that goes beyond the digital sphere to provide in-depth social, political, and historic context. * Maggie Dwyer, University of Edinburgh *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Part I: Analogue Politics 1. 2007: The Violent Origins of Kenya's Digital Decade 2. Avatars in the Square: Theorising the Kenyan Public Sphere 3. Collision Course: Where Analogue Meets Digital 4. Rattling the Snake without Getting Bitten: New Media usurping Traditional Media in Kenya Part II: Digital Politics 5. An African Country in the Digital Age: The Making and Uses of #KOT 6. Redefining Community: The Politics of Public Performances of Empathy 7. Women at Work: Kenyan Feminist Organising on Social Media 8. Politics, Predators and Profit: Ethnicity, Hate Speech and the Threat of Digital Colonialism Part III: History Not Learned From 9. 2017: The Most Expensive Election in the World 10. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Smith has given readers a fresh interpretation of the history of technology . . . and a keen sense that we don’t always know what the internet is doing to us."---Christine Rosen, Wall Street Journal"Smith traces the early internet through the outlandish ideas of Renaissance inventors, ill-fated fraudsters and forgotten polymaths. It’s a provocative reframing of the internet, a lament for what might have been, and a fresh way of thinking about what we’re doing when we spend endless hours scrolling online. . . . Smith avoids offering easy solutions to the current crisis but suggests that we might be able to reach back into the past in order to reorient the internet towards a more meaningful end."---Joshua Gabert-Doyon, Financial Times"This heady, unusual book sets out to view the internet—idealistic experiment, revolutionary communication tool, repository of amusing cat memes—through a longer conceptual history. Instead of the expected trips to research laboratories and US university campuses, there are detours via Buddhist thought and a 19th-century hoax involving a ‘snail telegraph.’ Idiosyncratic, fascinating stuff."---Rhiannon Davies and Matt Elton, BBC History Magazine"The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is begins as a negative critique of online life. . . . But the book’s second half progresses into deeper philosophical inquiries. . . . [Smith] ends by recognizing that the interface of the Internet, and the keyboard that gives him access to it, is less an external device than an extension of his questing mind."---Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker"While Smith addresses what is wrong with the web—especially compelling is his exploration of how it affects our attention and how it encourages us to trade our sense of self for 'an algorithmically plottable profile'—he is also offering a big picture vision of this machine-assisted communication as an extension of all forms of communication in nature."---Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald"Smith wants to make us think differently about the internet and much of his book is spent explaining that many of the ideas behind its uses are, in fact, ancient, and he gives myriad fascinating examples."---Peter Neville-Hadley, South China Morning Post"Smith examines the alarming problems of the Internet in its contemporary incarnation and insightfully explores some of the historical antecedents of this technology."---Harvey Freedenberg, Shelf Awareness"In a book that meditates upon networks, webs, and connections, Smith’s astounding range becomes something of a method for revealing the interconnectedness of everything between stars and modems."---Trevor Quirk, Bookforum"[Smith] draws on centuries’ worth of philosophy to examine the pervasive reach of the internet in this enlightening survey. . . . A capable guide to why what’s online is there, and how it came to be." * Publishers Weekly *"Thoughtful. . . . A worthy critique of a technology in need of rethinking—and human control that seeks to free and not enchain." * Kirkus Reviews *"An accessible philosophy of the internet, taking stock along the way of the faults and dangers resulting from the internet's invasion into people's lives. Whatever one’s preconceptions about the internet, Smith makes a convincing case that the internet is something more than what one might have thought." * Choice *"One of the pleasures of Smith’s philosophical tour is to note how frequently the implementation of ideas and their consequences jump domains. . . . One of the great achievements of Smith’s book is to permit us to honor [Ada Lovelace’s] legacy, ambition, and achievement. . . while buttressing a healthy and necessary skepticism toward the claims of tech transcendence and the uniqueness of our moment."---Eric Banks, 4Columns"Smith wants to show that the internet is not new, it is just a refinement in the gossamer of perceptual probing that our species has woven into the world’s fabric to make near the distant. This arresting thesis is aided by the excellent writing. . . . The book is mostly enchantment."---Graham McAleer, Law & Liberty"Fascinating. . . .The book is an impressive and necessary reality check that situates the Internet in a historical context."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A New Yorker Best Book of the Year""A Financial Times Best Politics Book of the Year""A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year""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 Synopsis**HOW TO WIN AN INFORMATION WAR: THE PROPAGANDIST WHO OUTWITTED HITLER AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW**WINNER OF THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2020A TIMES and GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR''Quietly frightening.'' Guardian''Essential reading.'' Irish Times''Consistently chilling.'' Herald''Shocking and entertaining.'' Daily TelegraphWhen information is a weapon, everyone is at war.We live in a world of influence operations run amok, a world of dark ads, psy-ops, hacks, bots, soft facts, ISIS, Putin, trolls, Trump. We've lost not only our sense of peace and democracy but our sense of what those words even mean. As Peter Pomerantsev seeks to make sense of the disinformation age, he meets Twitter revolutionaries and pop-up populists, behavioural change' salesmen, Jihadi fan-boys, Identitarians, truth cops, and much more. Forty years after his dissid

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Book SynopsisThe Charlatans'' Tim Burgess invites you to the greatest listening party of all time. In 2020 when the world was forced to hit pause on live in-person gigs, Tim Burgess found an ingenious way to bring people together by inviting artists and bands, from Paul McCartney and New Order to Michael Kiwanuka and Kylie, to host real-time album playbacks via Twitter.Relive 100 of the most memorable listening parties here with stories from bands and fans, rarely seen backstage images, and unique insider info from those who created these iconic albums.Hey Twitter, let''s all say a big thanks to Tim for these brilliant events this year! We really needed them. So much great music being talked about.'' - Sir Paul McCartney Twitter being used for something really positive. - Mary BeardTrade Review...The Listening Party is a refreshingly different rock book, as it gained interviews that would never normally have been approved... In years to come when artefacts are gathered to represent the 2020-21 Pandemic, The Listening Party will be pride of place. * Record Collector *

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Book SynopsisFrom hidden connections in big data to bots spreading fake news, journalism is increasingly computer-generated. Nicholas Diakopoulos explains the present and future of a world in which algorithms have changed how the news is created, disseminated, and received, and he shows why journalists—and their values—are at little risk of being replaced.Trade ReviewMoves us forward and spells out with absolute clarity just why algorithms are rewriting the media, and where the wins and the potential losses are. -- Sharon Wheeler * Times Higher Education *It deserves praise for shedding light on such an important subject…At a time of general anxiety about the future of media, Diakopoulos’ can-do attitude is a refreshing antidote. -- Andrew Lynch * Business Post *Diakopoulos provides deep discussion of the theory and practice of journalism automation, grounded in significant research and interviews with leading practitioners. The result is a trailblazing book full of information that has not appeared anywhere else. -- Jonathan Stray, Columbia Journalism SchoolAlgorithms are changing the ways stories are discovered, told, and distributed—for good and for ill. Automating the News expertly explains how the combination of computation and journalism is evolving, with insights of great interest to reporters, researchers, and readers. -- James T. Hamilton, Stanford UniversityThis book provides a comprehensive, evidence-based, and cautiously optimistic analysis of how automation is changing journalism—and how journalism in turn needs to change to make better use of automation. Diakopoulos documents how technology is increasingly supplementing—not replacing—human work in newsrooms, discusses the potential and very real limitation of new tools, and identifies ways in which reporting can evolve to better hold algorithms and those behind them accountable. An important and actionable analysis. -- Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Reuters Institute, University of Oxford

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Book SynopsisThis book explores how the Internet presents radical ways of organising and producing media that offer political and cultural alternatives to ways of doing business and to how we understand the world and our place in it.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The Internet, Power and Transgression; 2. Radical Online Journalism; 3. Far-Right Media on the Internet: Culture, Discourse and Power; 4. Radical Creativity and Distribution: Sampling, Copyright and P2P; 5. Alternative Radio and the Internet; 6. Fan Culture and the Internet; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis book offers the first comprehensive philosophical account of digital technology. It provides a detailed explanation of how the internet and digital technology are transforming culture, politics, aesthetics, and human relationships. It argues that digital technology is different from all prior technologies: the first 'natural technology.'Trade Review'There have been plenty of books written about the digital age, but Antón Barba-Kay gives us something genuinely new. With a clinical yet passionate intelligence, he explains how the fusion of technology and being has forever changed who we are and how we live. A Web of Our Own Making is fierce, uncompromising, and essential.' Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows and The Glass Cage'In compelling, elegant prose, Antón Barba-Kay lucidly diagnoses the full extent of our current technocultural crisis. His analysis is unflinching, and does not settle for any facile reassurances. But do not call his approach nostalgic, or, even worse, 'Luddit'. For Barba-Kay is not seeking to go back to anything, but rather is helping to advance the very urgent project of finding a way forward that preserves the irreducibly human within a complex and unprecedented technological landscape. This book is timely and necessary indeed.' Justin E. H. Smith, professor of history and philosophy of science at the University of Paris, author of The Internet Is Not What You Think It IsTable of Contents1. Left to our own devices; 2. Led by our own lights; 3. The sound of our own voice; 4. Realities of our own contrivance; 5. From my inbox.

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Book SynopsisFusing the academic with the applied, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to social media for future communications professionals.While most social media texts approach the subject through either a theoretical, scholarly lens or a professional, practical lens, this text offers a much-needed linkage of theory to the practical tactics employed by social media communicators. Concise and conversational chapters break down the basics of both social media theory and practice and are complemented by sidebars written by scholars and industry professionals, chapter summaries and end-of-chapter exercises.This book is ideal for introductory social media courses in communication, public relations and mass communication departments, as well as courses in digital media and public relations.Online resources include social media writing templates, sample posts and content calendar templates. Please visit www.routledge.com/9781032185873.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part 1: What is Social Media? 1. Defining Social Media 2. Evolution of Social Media 3. Categories of Social Media 4. Social Media by Demographics, Psychographics and Region Part 2: Social Media and Theory 5. Theory and Communication Research 6. Mass Communication Approaches 7. Human Communication Approaches 8. Integrated Approaches Part 3: Social Media Practice and Strategy 9. Developing a Strategic Social Media Presence 10. Social Media Projects, Programs and Campaigns 11. Content Strategies 12.Writing for Social Media 13. Customer Service and Crisis Management 14. Social Media Law and Ethics

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Book SynopsisWhere have emoji come from? Why are they so popular? What do they tell us about the technology-enhanced state of modern society? Far from simply being an amusing set of colourful little symbols, emoji are in the front line of a revolution in the way we communicate. As a form of global, image-based communication, they''re a perfect example of the ingenuity and creativity at the heart of human interaction. But they''re also a parable for the way that consumerism now permeates all parts of our daily existence, taking a controlling interest even in the language we use; and of how technology is becoming ever more entangled in our everyday lives. So how will this split-identity affect the way that online communication develops? Are emoji ushering in a bold new era of empathy and emotional engagement on the internet? Or are they a first sign that we''re handing over the future of human interaction to the machines?Trade Review'Emoji are a significant development in contemporary communication, deserving serious attention for their impact on both language use and society. The book comes at them from a variety of complementary angles, elucidating their specific nature and function while simultaneously showing how they reflect and influence important developments in the modern globalised world. This insightful integration of the general and the specific places this book among the very best academic work in the field.' Guy Cook, Emeritus Professor of Language in Education, King's College London'The Emoji Revolution is required reading for anyone with interest in emoji, or communication in general. While the subject matter might seem trivial on the surface, Philip Seargeant takes emoji and its impact very seriously in his book by rigorously examining the historical, political and social contexts of emoji use. Seargeant has produced a tremendous work of scholarship that is also a fun and engaging to read.' Jane Solomon, author of The Dictionary of Difficult Words'In his book, The Emoji Revolution, Philip Seargeant argues that emojis have become a powerful new way of getting a message across - not just for young people, but for everyone. He provides a fresh perspective on these pictograms and challenges us to think beyond their silliness or simplicity.' Forbes'The Emoji Revolution adeptly establishes emoji within a broader legacy of language and communication systems. The book is written in a highly engaging style that is peppered with Seargeant's wit and observational humor. The absence of jargon and extensive technical language makes this an accessible text which will appeal to lay audiences, academics, and student readers in a number of humanities and social science disciplines.' Miriam E. Sweeney, New Media and Society'There is an element of fun and lightness throughout the narrative. However, the topic's overall treatment is serious and scholarly, so we find a mix of serious and fun, and a bit of the best of both worlds.' Jeanette Evans, Technical CommunicationTable of Contents1. The what, the why and the where of emoji; 2. Emoji and the history of human communication; 3. Making faces; 4. Metaphors and moral panics; 5. The shaping force of digital technology; 6. People, politics and interpersonal relationships; 7. Diverse identities; 8. Creativity and culture; 9. The emojification of everyday life.

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Book SynopsisJohn Cayley is Professor of Literary Arts at Brown University, USA. He has practiced as a poet, translator, publisher, and bookdealer, practices which have often intersected with his training in Chinese culture and language. In addition to his internationally recognized writing on networked and programmable media, he has written two printed books of poetic work, Ink Bamboo (1996) and Image Generation (2015).Trade ReviewAn essential book for many reasons. The quality of the author’s theoretical sharpness and reflection is of course one of them, and one will find in this book an in-depth but often somewhat polemic dialogue with all the major critics and theoreticians in the field ... One can only be admiring of the pioneering and visionary dimension of these essays, often much ahead of their times. * Leonardo Music Journal *John Cayley has been a respected figure in digital language art since his first works appeared in the 1970s. For decades, his distinctive creative approach has combined with careful, critical, erudition to continually chart new directions in the field of emerging literary practices. This collection of essays, many of which are now canonical references, tracks twenty years of Cayley’s thinking about poetics, code, and composition. As for this radical new concept–grammalepsy­– as a way to understand how language is “grasped and read”—it will no doubt have a long-term ripple effect through the multiple domains of linguistic discourse. * Johanna Drucker, Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies, UCLA, USA *John Cayley has already had a deep and lasting influence on the fields of new media studies, electronic literature, conceptual writing, and poetics – and this long-awaited volume elegantly frames his most important critical essays as well as his artistic practice. No one has done more to theorize, and translate, the philosophical and aesthetic complexity of digital language art, and this volume will endure as the definitive compilation of Cayley’s work. * Rita Raley, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA *Table of ContentsList of Figures Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: Grammalepsy 01. Beyond Codexspace: Potentialities of Literary Cybertext 02. Pressing the “Reveal Code” Key 03. Of Programmatology 04. The Code Is Not the Text (Unless It Is the Text) 05. Hypertext/Cybertext/Poetext 06. Writing on Complex Surfaces 07. Time Code Language 08. The Gravity of the Leaf 09. Writing to Be Found and Writing Readers 10. Weapons of the Deconstructive Masses 11. Terms of Reference & Vecotralist Transgressions 12. Reading and Giving / Voice and Language 13. Reconfiguration 14. An Instance of Aurature at the End(s) of Electronic Literature Bibliography Notes

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Book SynopsisAvailable Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. As social media is increasingly becoming a standard feature of sociological practice, this timely book rethinks the role of these mediums in public sociology and what they can contribute to the discipline in the post-COVID world. It reconsiders the history and current conceptualizations of what sociology is, and analyzes what kinds of social life emerge in and through the interactions between ‘intellectuals’, ‘publics’ and ‘platforms’ of communication. Cutting across multiple disciplines, this pioneering work envisions a new kind of public sociology that brings together the digital and the physical to create public spaces where critical scholarship and active civic engagement can meet in a mutually reinforcing way.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. Defining ‘the Public’ Chapter 2. The History of Platforms Chapter 3. Between Publics and Platforms Chapter 4. Sociology and its Platforms Chapter 5. The Past, Present, and Future of Public Sociology Chapter 6. Making Sociology Public Chapter 7. Making Platforms Public Chapter 8. Assembling Public Sociology

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Book SynopsisThe health and fitness industry has experienced a meteoric rise over the past two decades, yet its slick exterior conceals a darker side. Using ethnographic data from gyms, interviews, and social media platforms, this book investigates the growing consumption of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs), the motivations behind their use, and their role in masculine body image. Addressing a gap in the literature, Nick Gibbs also interrogates both the offline and digital drug supply chains with important insights for IPED harm reduction practitioners, law makers and policy advisors.Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Situating the Research 3. Reimagining the Health and Fitness Industry as a Site of Deviant Leisure Part 1 – Consumption 4. Desire and Dissatisfaction in the Gym 5. Instrumentality, Competitiveness, and Hyper-conformity 6. The Pleasures of Consumption: The Curious Case of Phillip 7. #Ripped: Social Media, Prosumption, and Bodily Desire Part 2 – Supply-side 8. Production 9. The Offline IPED Marketplace 10. The IPED Market in Transition: Commercialization, Normalization, and Digitization 11. The Online IPED Market 12. Conclusion

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe second edition of this best-selling classroom guide helps students understand why digital literacy is a crucial skill for their education, future careers, and participation in democracy. Offering practical strategies for assessing information online, this guide provides students with the tools to locate reliable sources and websites among the clickbait and viral videos that pervade the web. The guide's hands-on activities, germane readings, and lesson plans give students strategies for reading and analyzing data visualizations; finding and evaluating credible sources; learning how to spot fake news; fact-checking; crafting a research question; effectively conducting searches on Google and on library catalogs and databases; finding peer-reviewed publications; evaluating primary sources; and understanding disinformation and misinformation, filter bubbles, propaganda, and satire in a variety of sources—including websites, social media posts, infographics, videos, and more (on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube). New to the second edition:• attention to the ethical dimensions of digital technology, including privacy issues and bias in search algorithms—with an accompanying lesson plan• an emphasis on how digital literacy can help stem racism, sexism, ableism, and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes• instruction on inclusive research and citation practices to avoid perpetuating systemic bias • a new chapter, "Composing in Digital Spaces," that offers instruction in multimodal composition and foregrounds accessibility • a new and up-to-date reading, "The Real History of Fake News" • a section on avoiding plagiarism • updated references and examples • resource lists of digital tools, platforms, and software that can support the practices described in the guide

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Book SynopsisThe purpose of this book is to examine the influence of sWOM and provide guidance on how to operationalize its growing power.Each day, millions of consumers venture online to search and exchange product information, seek out, and share opinions.Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication has been shown to influence consumer actions across a variety of industries. A significant portion of eWOM occurs on social media platforms. Social word of mouth (sWOM)—a subset of eWOM—has incredible reach with the potential to influence over 4.6 billion active social media consumers.The purpose of this book is to examine the influence of sWOM and provide guidance on how to operationalize its growing power. Our goal in writing this book is to bring together industry best practices and academic research to help you construct social media content that speaks with your brand voice, stimulates engagement, inspires consumers to #share, and complies with industry and federal guidelines.

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Book SynopsisSponsored by the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (CITAMS), this volume focuses on media and social movements. Contributing authors draw on cases as diverse as the Harry Potter Alliance to youth oriented, non-profit educational organizations, in order to assess systematically how media environments, systems, and usage affect collective action in the 21st century. The volume demonstrates that the study of media and social movements has developed into a vibrant sub-field stretched across Communication Studies, Political Science, and Sociology, and illustrates the need for serious interdisciplinary research. Chapters in the volume reinforce the need to examine many kinds of media (such as fiction) for social movements, particularly in terms of recruitment and framing. They show the critical importance of connecting classic and contemporary social movement research when trying to understand topics such as recruitment, identity, and discourse, even when these are playing out in the digital world. Chapters explore the difficulties that organizations face in organizing whether or not they are primarily offline or online; the ways that digital media usage affects various organizational functions and effectiveness; and the importance of examining the role of youth in social movements across all of these topics.Trade ReviewSponsored by the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association, this volume contains eight essays on social movements and mass media. Sociology, media studies, education, and other scholars from the US address the influence of mass media on activist recruitment, including the power of story and the relevance of family, friends, and school for youth mobilization; discursive activism and the implications of online participation and identity, including the #YesAllWomen hashtag and its interaction with media and blogs, and the civic identities of youth online; and organizational dynamics in the digital age, with discussion of youth nonprofits, the relevance of leadership in the anti-genetically modified organisms movement, and the use of media tools and participant inclusion in youth-oriented organizations and factors influencing organizational beliefs about effectiveness. -- Annotation ©2018 * (protoview.com) *'The main audience for this volume is social movement scholars or those studying movements and civic engagement. However, readers from a wide swath of disciplinary leanings will find Social Movements and Media useful, as will practitioners and social movement leaders.' -- Alison Dahl Crossley, Stanford University; in “Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 2019"Table of ContentsIntroduction, The Past, Present, and Future of Media and Social Movements Studies: Introduction to the Special Issue on Media and Social Movements; Jennifer Earl and Deana Rohlinger. Part One: Media and Recruitment into Activism 1, Turning Fans into Heroes: How the Harry Potter Alliance Uses the Power of Story to Facilitate Fan Activism and Bloc Recruitment; Jackson Bird and Thomas V. Maher 2, Pathways to Contemporary Youth Protest: The Continuing Relevance of Family, Friends, and School for Youth Micromobilization; Thomas V. Maher and Jennifer Earl Part 2: Media, Participation, and Identity 3, Twitter as a Feminist Resource: #YesAllWomen, Digital Platforms, and Discursive Social Change; Bernadette Barker-Plummer and Dave Barker-Plummer 4, Speaking Up Online: Civic Identity and Expression in the Digital Age; Carrie James and Ashley Lee Part Three: Media and Movement Organizations 5, Breaking Through and Burning Out: The Contradictory Effects of Young Peoples’ Participation in Institutionalized Movements; Hava Rachel Gordon 6, Inclusive and Exclusive Organizational Identity and Leadership Online: The Case of the Anti-GMO Movement; Deana Rohlinger and Shawn Gaulden 7, Media Use and Participant Inclusion: Influences on Efficacy in Paid Staff Youth Non-Profit Civic Organizations; Sarah Gaby

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Book SynopsisThe ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. Transnational illicit markets have been transformed by the digital revolution. They take advantage of encryption technologies, smartphones, social media applications and cryptocurrencies that protect the digital traces of buyers and sellers, posing new challenges to drug control policies and public health alike. Digital Transformations of Illicit Drug Markets: Reconfiguration and Continuity considers how the digital revolution has changed the selling and buying of illicit substances through increased convenience and anonymisation. Providing a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective, chapters show how the digital transformation of illicit drug markets combines a reconfiguration of how sellers and buyers interact in new markets. Emphasising that illicit digital markets are embedded in societal structures and power relations in general, contributors also recognise the importance of critical perspectives on inequalities between the Global North and South as well as issues of gender. Digital Transformations of Illicit Drug Markets: Reconfiguration and Continuity challenges the field of criminology to recognise the limits of its traditional knowledge and move beyond the preoccupations that restrict crime to certain fixed spaces in order to develop new explanations.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: The digital transformations of illicit drug markets as a process of reconfiguration and continuity; Meropi Tzanetakis and Nigel South Part I: Embeddedness of digital drug markets Chapter 2. Social media applications and ‘surface web’ mediated supply of illicit drugs: Emergent and established market risks and contradictions; Ross Coomber, Andrew Childs, Leah Moyle, and Monica Barratt Chapter 3. Trust in cryptomarkets for illicit drugs; Kim Moeller Chapter 4. Drugs and the dark web: The Americanisation of policing and online criminal law from an Australian perspective ; Ian J. Warren and Emma Ryan Part II: Understanding drug demand online Chapter 5. ‘Waiting for the delivery man’: Temporalities of addiction, withdrawal, and the pleasures of drug time in a darknet cryptomarket; Angus Bancroft Chapter 6. When home delivery trumps a shady warehouse deal. An exploratory study of Belgian cryptomarket buyers’ profile and their motives to buy online; Charlotte Colman Part III: Power relations Chapter 7. Cultural politics, reciprocal relations, and operational agility in online drug markets; Nicolae Craciunescu and Nigel South Chapter 8. Gender representations in online modafinil markets; Jennifer Fleetwood and Caroline Chatwin Chapter 9. Cryptomarkets and drug market gentrification; James Martin Chapter 10. The dark side of cryptomarkets: Towards a new dialectic of self-exploitation within platform capitalism; Meropi Tzanetakis and Stefan A. Marx

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Book SynopsisThe COVID-19 pandemic crisis has changed the way we live and communicate. The phases of lockdown brought about by the pandemic fundamentally changed the way we work, lead our everyday lives, and how we communicate, resulting in Internet platforms becoming more important than ever before. Communicating COVID-19 explores the impact of these changes on society and the way we communicate, and the effect this has had on the spread of misinformation. Critical communication and Internet scholar Christian Fuchs analyses the changes of everyday communication in the COVID-19 crisis and how misinformation has spread online throughout the pandemic. He explores the foundations and rapid spread of conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination discourse on the Internet, paying particular attention to the vast amount of COVID-19 conspiracy theories about Bill Gates. He also interrogates Internet users' reactions to these COVID-19 conspiracy theories as well as how Donald Trump communicated about COVID-19 on Twitter during the final year of his Presidency. Communicating COVID-19 is an essential work for anyone seeking to understand the role of digital technologies, changes in communication and the Internet, and the spread of conspiracy theories in the context of COVID-19.Trade ReviewThe world of Covid-19-related conspiracy theories is a murky one, and Fuchs is an excellent guide. His examination of some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic is fascinating and alarming in equal measure. -- The Scotsman, September 2021Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: Pandemic Times Chapter 2. Everyday Life and Everyday Communication in Coronavirus Capitalism Chapter 3. Conspiracy Theories as Ideology Chapter 4. Bill Gates Conspiracy Theories as Ideology in the Context of the COVID-19 Crisis Chapter 5. Users' Reactions to COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories on Social Media Chapter 6. Donald Trump and COVID-19 on Twitter Chapter 7. Conclusion: Digital Communication in Pandemic Times and Commontopia as the Potential Future of Communication and Society

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Book SynopsisIntergenerational Locative Play: Augmenting Family examines the social, spatial and physical impact of the hybrid reality game (HRG) Pokémon Go on the relationship between parents and their children. The ubiquity of digital media correlates with a mounting body of work that considers the part digital technologies, such as video games, play in the lives of children. Consequently, commentators have deliberated the effects of rising levels of screen time and the association of this trend with antisocial behaviour, mental health-related problems, and the interference of family life. Yet, recent studies have demonstrated that the intergenerational play of video games can in fact strengthen familial connections by facilitating communication between adults, and children, and allowing adolescents to experiment with a range of roles. Research on intergeneration play, however, has tended to focus on video games played within the domestic sphere. In contrast, Locative games, such as Pokémon Go involve players physically interacting and moving through their surroundings. Through an original study of Pokémon Go this book extends developing research on intergenerational play to the field of locative games.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: Locative Games and Intergenerational Play; Chapter 2. Familial Locative Play: Spatial Practices and Mobilities; Chapter 3. Familial Locative Play: Family Life; Chapter 4. Familial Locative Play: Social Relationships and Communities; Chapter 5: Familial Locative Play: Digital Economy and Surveillance Capitalism; Chapter 6: Familial Locative Play: Looking to the Future;

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the ways in which handheld networked devices can be used to enhance and augment interpersonal communication. The author examines in depth how the addition of visual and multimodal input, access to online search engines and the inclusion of participants from distant geographical locations (either synchronously or asynchronously) affects our face to face interactions. Presenting research data from several years of autoethnographic observation, this balanced work reveals the consequences, both positive and negative, of technology-dependent forms of discourse. In doing so, this sociolinguistic perspective fills a gap in the current literature and indicates possible future directions for the study of augmented communication. It will appeal in particular to students and scholars of sociolinguistics, applied linguistics and digital humanities.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: History of Augmented Communication: technology and disability.- Chapter 3: Augmented Communication as a modern phenomenon in ordinary speech.- Chapter 4: Types of Augmented Communication.- Chapter 5: Stepping Back: Analysis and Discussion of ICT and language change.- Chapter 6: Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis volume provides new approaches to the concept of media logics – developed by Altheide and Snow – by drawing on theoretical and empirical perspectives from international scientists working in the field of communications, media, political science, and sociology. In an increasingly digitized and globalized world, powerful media structures and technologies influence our daily lives in many respects. It is not only mass media but ‘poly media channels’ that become more and more contextualized in everyday lives. Therefore, it is necessary to revisit the theory of media logics, which focuses on the strong intercorrelation of media technologies, media institutions and media power. Media Logic(s) Revisited attends to this by critically reflecting on the idea of media logic, a much needed input in light of current developments and strong cultural embedding of media in various social contexts.Trade Review“The work is handsomely illustrated, with many line drawings, maps and sections, charts and colour images on all scales from the continental to the microscopic, including samples, outcrops and mines. This book is very worthwhile, most notably for its description of the mineral endowment of India, the mining sector in the country, and the social context and regulatory framework in which mines operate across India.” (Graham C. Wilson, Mineralium Deposita, Vol. 53, 2018)Table of Contents1. General Introduction: Media logic or media logics? An introduction to the field; Caja Thimm, Mario Anastasiadis, Jessica Einspänner-Pflock.- 2. The Media Syndrome and Reflexive Mediation; David L. Altheide.- 3. Media Logic and the Mediatization Approach: A good Partnership, a Mésalliance or a Misunderstanding?; Friedrich Krotz.- 4. The logics of the media and the mediatized conditions of social interaction; Stig Hjarvard.- 5. Mediatization as structural couplings: Adapting to media logic(s); Mikkel Fugl Eskjær.- 6. Media technology and media logic(s): The media grammar approach; Caja Thimm.- 7. Media Logic as (Inter)Action Logic. - Interaction Interdependency as an Integrative Meta-Perspective; Katrin Döveling & Charlotte Knorr.- 8. On the Media Logic of the State; Jens Schröter.- 9. Media logic revisited. The concept of social media logic as alternative framework to study politicians’ usage of social media during election times; Evelien Dheer.- 10. Perceived Media Logic: A Point of Reference for Mediatization; Daniel Nölleke & Andreas M. Scheu.- 11. News Media Logic 2.0 – Assessing commercial news media logic in cross-temporal and cross-channel analysis; Maria Karidi.- 12. New(s) Challenges! - Old Patterns? Structural Transformation and TV News in a Mediatized World; Mirko Liefke.- 13. Algorithms and digital media: measurement and control in the mathematical projection of the real; Tales Tomaz.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the recent evolution of online spaces and their impact on networked democracy. Through an illuminating mix of theoretical and methodological analysis, contributors provide an understanding of how a range of individuals and groups, including activists and NGOs, governments and griefers, are using digital technologies to influence public debates. Contributions consider these phenomena in a global contemporary context, providing within the same volume rigorous examinations of the design of digital platforms for deliberation, users’ attempts to manipulate those platforms, and the ways activists and governments are responding to emerging threats to democratic discourse. Providing diverse, global case studies, this collection is a valuable tool for academics within and beyond the fields of new media, communication, and information policy and governance.Table of Contents1. Introduction.- 2. Platform Utopianism after Democracy.- 3. Inside the Swarm: Cognition, Conformity, and the Affective Instruments of the Social Web.- 4. The Unfulfilled Promise of Digital Networks: Heterogeneity in the Effect of Technology on Collective Action Mobilization.- 5. Social Media Effects: Hijacking Democracy and Civility in Civic Engagement.- 6. Reasons of the Heart: Political Applications of Emotion Analytics.- 7. Cyber Creeps: The Alt-right and the Evolution of Social Media Hatemakers.- 8. Third Spaces, Sequencing, and Intertextuality: (De)Constructing Misinformation and Fake News.- 9. Subverting the Platform Flexibility of Twitter to Spread Misinformation.- 10. Creation of an Alt-Left Boogeyman: Information Economics and the Emergence of ‘Antifa’.- 11. Tweeting Inequity: @realDonaldTrump and the World Leader Exception.- 12. Extrapolating Ideological Divisions in the Indian Public Sphere through Online Twitter Conversations.- 13. Digital Solidarity in Times of Crisis: The Case of Greece.- 14. #Metoo in China: Affordances and Constraints of Social Media Platforms.- 15. Trump Daddy.- 16. Censorship and Digital Dissent in the Kashmir Conflict.- 17. The Fifth Estate Joins the Debate: The Political Roles of Live Commentary in the First Televised Presidential Debate of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.- 18. “Just Don’t Put It on Our Mauna”: Sovereignty and Algorithms in Digital Democracy.

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Book SynopsisThis book interrogates the role of quantification in stories on social media: how do visible numbers (e.g. of views, shares, likes) and invisible algorithmic measurements shape the stories we post and engage with? The links of quantification with stories have not been explored sufficiently in storytelling research or in social media studies, despite the fact that platforms have been integrating sophisticated metrics into developing facilities for sharing stories, with a massive appeal to ordinary users, influencers and businesses alike. With case-studies from Instagram, Reddit and Snapchat, the authors show how three types of metrics, namely content metrics, interface metrics and algorithmic metrics, affect the ways in which cancer patients share their experiences, the circulation of specific stories that mobilize counter-publics and the design of stories as facilities on platforms. The analyses document how numbers structure elements in stories, indicate and produce engagement and become resources for the tellers’ self-presentation. This book will be of interest to students and scholars working in the fields of narrative and social media studies, including narratology, biography studies, digital storytelling, life-writing, narrative psychology, sociological approaches to narrative, discourse and sociolinguistic perspectives.Trade Review“Georgakopoulou, Iversen, & Stage invite readers to rethink concepts such as narrative, interaction, tellership, and tellability, as well as the active role of numbers IN and AS social media stories. … The book stands for an imperative necessity to reflect about equating participation in digital media with democratization, engaging readers in new narrative formats and the pervasive way quantification has entered our lives. It mobilizes a rethinking of key concepts, contributing to storytelling research and social media studies.” (Meiriane Martins Aguiar, Language in Society, Vol. 51 (3), 2022)Table of ContentsChapter 1: Analyzing Quantified Stories on Social Media.- Chapter 2: Measuring and Narrating the Disrupted Self on Instagram.- Chapter 3: Making Memes Count: Platformed Rallying on Reddit.- Chapter 4: Curating Stories - Curating Metrics: Directives in the Design of Stories.- Chapter 5: Conclusion.

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Book Synopsis#MeToo. Digital networking. Facebook groups. Social media continues to be positioned by social movement scholars as an exciting new tool that has propelled feminism into a dynamic fourth wave of the movement. But how does male power play out on social media, and what is the political significance of women using male-controlled and algorithmically curated platforms for feminism? To answer these questions, Megarry foregrounds an analysis of the practices and ethics of the historical Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM), including the revolutionary characteristics of face-to-face organising and the development of an autonomous print culture. Centering discussions of time, space and surveillance, she utilises radical and lesbian feminist theory to expose the contradictions between the political project of women’s liberation and the dominant celebratory narratives of Web 2.0. This is the first book to seriously consider how social media perpetuates the enduring logic of patriarchy and howdigital activism shapes women’s oppression in the 21st century. Drawing on interviews with intergenerational feminist activists from the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as archival and digital activist materials, Megarry boldly concludes that feminists should abandon social media and return to the transformative powers of older forms of women-centred political praxis. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Women’s and Gender Studies, Lesbian and Queer Studies, Social Movement Studies, Critical Internet Studies and Political Communication, as well as anyone with an interest in feminist activism and the history of the WLM.Table of Contents1. A Fourth Wave or a Fools’ Errand?.- 2. Unravelling the Web of Equals.- 3. 'By Women, For Women, About Women': The Women’s Liberation Movement as a Free Space.- 4. 'On the Internet, there is no Women-only space': Male Power in Digital Networks.- 5. 'I don’t see any strategy really, I see more […] personal venting': Consciousness-Raising, Theory-Building and Activism in Digital Space.- 6. 'It just doesn’t feel as transparent and accountable': Social Media and Feminist Ethics.- 7. ‘Female Performers on a Male Stage’.

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Book SynopsisThis volume investigates our dissonant and exuberant existences online. As social media users we know we’re under surveillance, yet we continue to click, like, love and share ourselves online as if nothing was. So, how do we overcome the current online identity regime? Can we overthrow the rule of Narcissus and destroy the planetary middle class subject? In this catalogue of strategies, the reader will find stories on hacker groups, gaming platforms in the occupied territories, art objects, selfies, augmented reality, Gen Z autoethnographies, love and life. The authors of this anthology believe we cannot simply put vanity aside and a rational analysis of platform capitalism is not going to convince the youngs on TikTok nor liberate us from Zuckerbergian indentured servitude. Do we really need to wade through the subjective mud and ‘learn more’ about online aesthetics? The answer is yes.Writing by Wendy Chun, Franco Berardi “BIFO”, Julia Preisker, Katherine Behar, Rebecca Stein, Fabio Cristiano, Emilio Distretti, Natalie Bookchin, Ana Peraica, Mitra Azar, Donatella Della Ratta, Gabriella Coleman, Marco Deseriis, Alberto Micali, Daniel de Zeeuw, Giovanni Boccia Artieri, Jodi Dean.Table of Contents1. Introduction.- 2. Authentic Actions Within Network Algorithms.- 3. Can the Dividual Self Be Organized?.- 4. The Divided Subject – New Forms of the Online Self Regarding “Hate Speech”.- 5. Personalities Without People.- 6. Art Entr’acte I.- 7. Militant Proximity: Digital Cameras and State Violence in Israel/Palestine.- 8. Observations on Potency and Self.- 9. Aesthetics by Algorithms: Sovereignty and Disappearance in Palestine.- 10. Selfies as Augmentation of Reality.- 11. Perspective Collectives of the Shared Self.- 12. Art Entr’acte II.- 13. Saving Anonymous.- 14. Anyone-subjectivity and the Grotesque Media Body: Alternative Configurations of the Online Self on the Deep Vernacular Web.- 15. Selfie Communism.- 16. Networked Participation: Selfie Protest and Ephemeral Public Spheres.- 17. Heretical Facial Machines, or the Ambivalence of Faciality in the Politics of Digital Dissent of Anonymous.- 18. Art Entr’acte III.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the diverse range of practical and theoretical challenges and possibilities that digital technologies and platforms pose for Holocaust memory, education and research. From social media to virtual reality, 360-degree imaging to machine learning, there can be no doubt that digital media penetrate practice in these fields. As the Holocaust moves beyond living memory towards solely mediated memory, it is imperative that we pay critical attention to the way digital technologies are shaping public memory and education and research. Bringing together the voices of heritage and educational professionals, and academics from the arts and humanities and the social sciences, this interdisciplinary collection explores the practicalities of creating digital Holocaust projects, the educational value of such initiatives, and considers the extent to which digital technologies change the way we remember, learn about and research the Holocaust, thinking through issues such as ethics, embodiment, agency, community, and immersion. At its core, this volume interrogates the extent to which digital interventions in these fields mark an epochal shift in Holocaust memory, education and research, or whether they continue to be shaped by long-standing debates and guidelines developed in the broadcast era.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction: Defining the Digital in Digital Holocaust Memory, Education and Research.- SECTION I: (NEW) DIMENSIONS IN TESTIMONY.- Chapter 2: Virtually Part of the Family: The Last Goodbye and Digital Holocaust Witnessing.- Chapter 3: Realms of Digital Memory: Methodological Approaches to 360° Testimony on Location.- Chapter 4: The Production of German and Russian-Language Interactive Biographies: (Trans)National Holocaust Memory between the Broadcast and Hyperconnective Ages.- SECTION II: (WEB)SITES OF MEMORY.- Chapter 5: MEMOZE: Memory Places, Memory Spaces: ‘Glocal’ Holocaust Education through an Online Research Portal.- Chapter 6: Visualising Evidence and Landscapes of Atrocities: An Ethical Perspective.- Chapter 7: Active Learning in Digital Heritage: Introducing Geolocalisation, VR and AR at Holocaust Historical Sites.- SECTION III (VIRTUAL) MEMORY COMMUNITIES.- Chapter 8 Becoming the ‘Holocaust Police’? The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum’s Authority on Social Media.- Chapter 9 i-Memory: Selfies and Self-Witnessing in #Uploading_Holocaust (2016).- Chapter 10 Playing Pretend on Social Media.- Chapter 11 AFTERWORD: Digital Holocaust Memory Futures: Through Paradigms of Immersion and Interactivity and Beyond.

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Book SynopsisThis open access book brings together a range of contributions that seek to explore the ethical issues arising from the overlap between counter-terrorism, ethics, and technologies. Terrorism and our responses pose some of the most significant ethical challenges to states and people. At the same time, we are becoming increasingly aware of the ethical implications of new and emerging technologies. Whether it is the use of remote weapons like drones as part of counter-terrorism strategies, the application of surveillance technologies to monitor and respond to terrorist activities, or counterintelligence agencies use of machine learning to detect suspicious behavior and hacking computers to gain access to encrypted data, technologies play a significant role in modern counter-terrorism. However, each of these technologies carries with them a range of ethical issues and challenges. How we use these technologies and the policies that govern them have broader impact beyond just the identification and response to terrorist activities. As we are seeing with China, the need to respond to domestic terrorism is one of the justifications for their rollout of the “social credit system.” Counter-terrorism technologies can easily succumb to mission creep, where a technology’s exceptional application becomes normalized and rolled out to society more generally. This collection is not just timely but an important contribution to understand the ethics of counter-terrorism and technology and has far wider implications for societies and nations around the world.Table of Contents1. Drones As A Tool In Counter-Terrorism.- 2. Deception Strategies In Autonomous Warfare.- 3. Rethinking Drones As Terrorist Weapons.- 4. Proportionality, Surveillance And Counter-Terrorism.- 5. Privacy, Encryption And Counter-Terrorism.- 6. The Rise Of The Modern Intelligence State.- 7. Acceptability Of Bulk Facial Recognition for Counter-Terrorism: The Case For A Total Ban.- 8. “No cracks, no blind spots, no gaps”: Technologically-enabled “Preventive” Counterterrorism and Mass Repression in Xinjiang, China.- 9. Media Ecologies, On-Line Radicalisation And Bottom-Up CVE Approaches.- 10. The Ethics of Regulating Extremist Content Online.- 11. Terrorism And The Internet Of Things: Cyberterrorism Will Happen.- 12. Violent Non State Actors And The Technology Adoption Curve.

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Book SynopsisThis book, geared towards both students and professionals, examines the synthesis of artificial intelligence (AI) and psychology in detecting mis-/disinformation in digital media content, and suggests practical means to intervene and curtail this current global ‘infodemic’. This interdisciplinary book explores technological, psychological, philosophical, and linguistic insights into the nature of truth and deception, trust and credibility, cognitive biases and logical fallacies and how, through AI and human intervention, content users can be alerted to the presence of deception. The author investigates how AI can mimic the procedures and know-hows of humans, showing how AI can help spot fakes and how AI tools can work to debunk rumors and fact-check. The book describes how AI detection systems work and how they fit with broader societal and individual concerns. Each chapter focuses attention on key concepts and their inter-connection. The first part of the book seeks theoretical footing to understand our interactions with new information and reviews relevant empirical findings in behavioral sciences. The second part is about applied knowledge. The author looks at several known practices that guard us against deception, and provides several real-world examples of manipulative persuasive techniques in advertising, political propaganda, and public relations. She provides links to the downloadable executable files to three AI applications (clickbait, satire, and falsehood detectors) via LiT.RL GitHub, an open access repository. The book is useful to students and professionals studying AI and media studies as well as library and information professionals. Examines how artificial intelligence (AI) and psychology can aid in detecting mis-/disinformation and the language of deceit in digital media content; Suggests practical computational means to intervene and curtail the global ‘infodemic’ of fake news; Presents how AI can sift, sort, and shuffle digital content, to reduce the amount of content needed to be reviewed by humans. Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Infodemic in the Digital Media Content.- Part I. Human Nature of Deception and Perceptions of Truth.- Psychology of Mis-/Disinformation and Language of Deceit.- Library and Information Science on Credibility and Trust in Computing.- Philosophies of Truth.- Part II. Applied Practices and Artificial Intelligence (AI).- Investigation in Law Enforcement, Journalism, and Sciences.- Manipulation in Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations.- Artificially Intelligent Solutions: Detection, Debunking, Fact-Checking.- Lessons for Infodemic Control and Future of Digital Content Verification.- Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisDuring the early days of the COVID-19 health crisis, Fang Fang’s Wuhan Diary provided an important portal for people around the world to understand the outbreak, local response, and how the novel coronavirus was impacting everyday people. But when news of the international publication of Wuhan Diary appeared online in early April of 2020, Fang Fang’s writings became the target of a series of online attacks by “Chinese ultra-nationalists.” Over time, these attacks morphed into one of the most sophisticated and protracted hate Campaigns against a Chinese writer in decades. Meanwhile, as controversy around Wuhan Diary swelled in China, the author was transformed into a global icon, honored by the BBC as one of the most influential women of 2020 and featured in stories by dozens of international news outlets. This book, by the translator of Wuhan Diary into English, alternates between a first-hand account of the translation process and more critical observations on how a diary became a lightning rod for fierce political debate and the target of a sweeping online campaign that many described as a “cyber Cultural Revolution.” Eventually, even Berry would be pulled into the attacks and targeted by thousands of online trolls. This book answers the questions: why would an online lockdown diary elicit such a strong reaction among Chinese netizens? How did the controversy unfold and evolve? Who was behind it? And what can we learn from the “Fang Fang Incident” about contemporary Chinese politics and society? The book will be of interest to students and scholars of translation, as well as anyone with special interest in translation, US-Chinese relations, or internet culture more broadly.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction: Origins Chapter 2: Viral Diary Chapter 3: Translation and the Virus Chapter 4: Attack the Title Chapter 5: Unleash the Trolls Chapter 6: Witch Hunt Chapter 7:Pop Goes Fang Fang? Chapter 8: Wuhan Diaries Chapter 9: The Strange Chapter 10: Reasons Chapter 11: Lessons Chapter 12 :Coda: The Light

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Book SynopsisCommunication about vaccination has become a public battleground. The global adoption of social media has increased the visibility and influence of groups that were previously considered fringe. With the goal of understanding vaccination-related misinformation’s online spread and ways of effectively countering it, this book explores its reception, resistance, and reproduction by a range of stakeholders around the globe. Chapters cover a rich array of topics, including vaccine misinformation’s history, its use as political propaganda, and its manipulation by both pro- and anti-vaccine groups. They apply a wide range of research methods, including historical literature and scoping reviews; advanced computational analysis, including machine learning; and reviews that incorporate the authors’ personal, professional, and practice-based experiences. Chapter authors include leading US and international scholars as well as practitioners of Communication, Computer Science, Health and Science Education, Political Communication, Public Health, Sociology, and other fields, making this book the most comprehensive and diverse collection of studies on vaccine misinformation—online and offline—currently available. Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Vaccine Misinformation on Social Media: Historical Contexts, Lessons Learned, and Paths Forward.- Chapter 3. HPV Vaccine Misinformation Online: A Narrative Scoping Review.- Chapter 4. Analyzing Social-Cyber Maneuvers for Spreading COVID-19 Pro- and Anti- Vaccine Information.- Chapter 5. Vaccine Support and Hesitancy on Twitter: OpposingViews, Similar Strategies, and the Mixed Impact of Conspiracy Theories.- Chapter 6. Online Foreign Propaganda Campaigns and Vaccine Misinformation: A Comparative Analysis.- Chapter 7. Online Public Outreach to Promote Public Health: Insights from Israeli Non-Governmental Organizations.- Chapter 8. From Polio to Covid-19: Anti-Vaccine Misinformation and Rumors in Pakistan.- Chapter 9. Promoting Dialogue by Thinking Differently about Framing and Correcting Misinformation.- Chapter 10. Conclusion./

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Book SynopsisDrawing across Games Studies, Childhood Studies, and Children’s Literature Studies, this book redirects critical conversations away from questions of whether videogames are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for child-players and towards questions of how videogames produce childhood as a set of social roles and rules in contemporary Western contexts. It does so by cataloguing and critiquing representations of childhood across a corpus of over 500 contemporary videogames. While child-players are frequently the topic of academic debate – particularly within the fields of psychology, behavioural science, and education research - child-characters in videogames are all but invisible. This book's aim is to make these child-characters not only visible, but legible, and to demonstrate that coded kids in virtual worlds can shed light on how and why the boundaries between adults and children are shifting. Table of ContentsChapter One: Dreaming the Myth Onwards - A Seat at the Kid’s Table - Childish Violence and Violent Children - Adult Joy - Destabilising Age-Based Identities - Chapter Overview Chapter Two: A Survey of Child-Characters in Contemporary Videogames - The Invisible Child - The Invincible Child - Playable Child-Characters - Central, Supporting, Background - Age, Race, Gender - Supporting Child-Characters - Death - Child-Antagonists - A Shared Shorthand - Approaches to Generating a Taxonomies of Child-Characters - Laying Bare the Faults - Critical Ekphrasis Chapter Three: The Child as a Social Construct - Coded Kids - Boy or Blob? - History of The Child - Who Thinks Beating a Child is Entertainment? - Misogyny and Infantilisation Chapter Four: Child Killers and Killer Children - Agency and Eeriness - Little Monsters - Authority and Autonomy - The Waif as an Indecipherable Cipher - Who Won? - Stereotyping as Conditioning Chapter Five: Child Heroes - An Unheroic Medium? - The Spaces Between Oppositions - It’s Dangerous to Go Alone - The Child Hero - An Inventory System Theory of Fiction - Symbiotes and Parasites Chapter Six: Plushies, Dollies, and Action Figurines - Cuddly Code - The Cute-Aggression Response - Playgrounds of Cruelty - Sensory Nostalgia as an Unscratchable Itch - Spectral Nostalgia - Intergenerational Bridges - A Distant Someplace Else - Childhood as a Magic Circle of Play Chapter Seven: The Kid in the Fridge - The Sacrificial Child - Types of Child Death - Affection, Anxiety, and Agency - Violent Retribution and the Hardness of Masculinity - Lights, Child Death, Action - Damn You, Ubisoft - The Case of Kassandra

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Book SynopsisThis book offers an overview of social media usage in Japan and describes its role in society during mid-level disruptions by natural disasters. Conceived during and after the Great East Japan Earthquake that devastated large portions of the north-eastern area of Japan, this volume addresses the links between Japanese civil society and the social media scene, using both traditional hypothesis testing, social surveys and large-scale big data analysis to provide insight into the development of an online community for connecting citizens. Considering the connection of civil society organizations, citizens and local governments through online communication, notably social media, and how to promote higher levels of citizen engagement in Japan, it offers solutions for a more prepared, resilient communication network among citizens in case of another large scale disaster.Table of ContentsThe Japanese Internet Environment.- Social Media in Japan and the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.- Japanese Local Government Facebook Profiles.- Civil Society, Social Media and Facebook usage by local governments: Birth of the Tsukuba Study and the Tsukuba Civic Activities Cyber-Square.- Promotion and Care of Online Communities: Necessary Elements for a self-sustainable online Facebook community: Self-Reliance of the Tsukuba Civic Activities Cyber-Square.- Who Leads Advocacy through Social Media in Japan?.- Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A fascinating multidisciplinary essay collection that will appeal to information history junkies as well as history, journalism, and library science students." * Library Journal *"I did not want it to end. . . . It has thrown my personal information system out of equilibrium and reminded me how many things I still have to learn about my own field of study. There are not too many books I have read to the end and opened back to the introduction before setting it down. Well done. Information: A Historical Companion answers questions I did not know I had."---Jodi Kearns, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology"This book is an essential work of reference accessible to historians and scholars across the humanities and social sciences. A great deal of good work went into its development, and the results reward it"---James W. Cortada, Journal of Interdisciplinary History"Ultimately, Information offers an informative, and indeed fresh, perspective on a phenomenon that, historically and contemporaneously, has been so central to our lives, technologies, and societies. While expertly summarizing existing literature across diverse disciplines, it reveals many exciting convergences between hitherto disparate approaches and creates compelling connections between technology, information, and history."---Marc Kosciejew, Technology and Culture"Surely the definitive work on the overall subject."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer"Rollicking"---N.J. Enfield, Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""An important contribution. . . . [Algorithms for the People] should be in all technology and social science collections." * Choice *

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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 SynopsisThe ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online. Emerging alongside the progression of women's rights in the twenty-first century is the development of the men's rights movement, parts of which have culminated into the contemporary 'manosphere.' Consisting of online communities that ascribe to misogynistic ideologies, which objectify, disparage, and dehumanise women, the manosphere also houses those who identify as involuntary celibate (incel). Drawing on ethnographic research and interviews, this book provides an original and timely insight into the development of the manosphere, how and why people join and self-identify as incel, the extent to which the influence and philosophy of incel and the incelsphere draws on and is penetrating mainstream culture and political discourse, and its harmful impact. The Incel Rebellion is essential reading for a broad range of practitioners and scholars across criminology, sociology, terrorism studies, gender, media and cultural studies, and politics, as well as expanding the field of cybercrime research and beyond.Trade ReviewDrawing on extensive empirical research and a masterful use of socio-criminological understanding, Dr Sugiura's new book offers an incisive and timely analysis of the realities and the threats of the incel community. I hope this book will soon become a key reference point for anyone with an interest in the relationship between misogynistic ideologies and the wider socio-political climate, online harms, and qualitative digital research approaches. -- Dr Anita Lavorgna, Associate Professor in Criminology, University of SouthamptonIn Incel Rebellion Lisa Sugiura provides a rare empirical insight into the subcultures and practices of incel communities in the manosphere. The result is a compelling and innovative account of how some men find their way into incel communities, as well as the links between such spaces and wider misogyny in our increasingly digital society. This book is an outstanding contribution to the field of digital criminology and will be an essential resource for those studying cybercrime and other online harms. -- Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor Criminology & Justice Studies, RMIT University (Melbourne)The Incel Rebellion: The Rise of the Manosphere and the Virtual War Against Women is an extremely timely and brilliant exploration of a pressing and immediate area of concern; one that has direct implications for safety, security, policy, and the general moral health of society. Cutting across various disciplines, including gender studies, criminology, and terrorism studies, Dr Sugiura masterfully navigates a number of important and complex considerations, including why people self-identify as incels, and what motivates them to join these types of communities. The jewel in the crown is the author's collection and use of qualitative interviews with current and former incels. As far as I'm aware, this is the first empirical academic study of its kind, and the rich data brings this fascinating area of research alive. This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in this topic and should form part of the foundation for any future work. -- Dr Suraj Lakhani Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology, Sussex UniversitySugiura's Incel Rebellion is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the history and ideology around the Incel community. In a time where male supremacy is becoming an increasing security concern, Sugiura expertly details the links existing between the so-called 'manosphere', white supremacy, and the mainstream political arena. In addition to providing a stellar account of the history of male supremacism, Sugiura reflects on the methodological and ethical issues that come from being a woman studying misogyny, an account that will no doubt be extremely valuable for future researchers wishing to conduct similar studies. Most importantly, this book provides clear evidence that extreme misogyny is not just a problem for the fringe, but rather has crept into the mainstream infecting the normative culture of our western societies. -- Ashton Kingdon - Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Analysis of the Radical RightTable of ContentsChapter 1. An Introduction to Incel Chapter 2. The Emergence and Development of the Manosphere Chapter 3. Join the Incel Rebellion Chapter 4. Weirdos or Extremists? Chapter 5. Legitimising Misogyny Chapter 6. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. As digital technologies have become ever more ingrained in society, Media Use in Digital Everyday Life asks how our relationship with media has changed. After the proliferation of smartphones, social media and ubiquitous connectivity, what has happened to the ways we navigate across social domains and structure our daily routines? Filling a gap between classic discussions on everyday media use and recent studies of emergent technologies, this book untangles how media become meaningful to us in the everyday, connecting us to communities and publics. With analyses of media use in an ordinary day, as part of life transitions and in times of disruption, Ytre-Arne provides a comprehensive framework for studies of everyday media use, considering dilemmas of technological transformations and recent crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Media Use in Digital Everyday Life offers empirical, methodological and theoretical insight, building on extensive qualitative research and taking a cross-media perspective. Through the conceptual approaches of media repertoires and public connection, the book situates communication and changing media use in everyday contexts, showing how our more digital everyday lives intensify communicative dilemmas. Written in an accessible tone, Media Use in Digital Everyday Life will appeal to readers interested in digital media, and to students and scholars of audiences, datafication, journalism and digital platforms.Trade ReviewNow that digital media connect or disconnect our everyday lives within and across contexts, then the task of their users is to navigate these new opportunities, smartphone in hand, so as to enjoy new choices, face the at-time intense tensions and dilemmas that result, and orientate to a changing world as resourcefully as possible. In this carefully-researched book, Brita Ytre-Arne puts people at the heart of her insightful and empathetic dissection of modern life. -- Professor Sonia Livingstone, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political ScienceMedia Use in Digital Everyday Life, Brita Ytre-Arne provides an insightful account of how we have woven the smartphone into every fabric of our everyday lives, and how our lives have been variously reconstituted in this process. A most helpful read for scholars and students alike. -- Professor Pablo J. Boczkowski, Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern UniversityDigital media and their infrastructures have comprehensively changed everyday life for all of us. Brita Ytre-Arne's book provides an excellent basis for understanding these transformations, not only by clarifying the concept of everyday life in relation to media, but above all through the sophisticated analysis of the changing use of media and the associated dynamics and disruptions in the formation of everyday life. -- Professor Andreas Hepp, ZeMKI, University of BremenYtre-Arne carefully unwraps how smartphones have impacted the way we work, play, and interact with the world around us. By lifting the veil over the rituals, routines and often ambivalent and messy experiences of people, Ytre-Arne invites us to critically reflect upon the taken-for-grantedness of mobile communication in everyday life. As such, Media Use in Digital Everyday Life is a must-read for those wanting to understand digital culture in its full complexity. -- Associate Professor Mariek Vanden Abeele, MICT research group, Ghent UniversityTable of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: Media Use and Everyday Life in Digital Societies Chapter 2. Media Use - An Ordinary Day Chapter 3. Media Use in Life Transitions Chapter 4. Media Use in Disrupted Everyday Life Chapter 5. Conclusion: The Politics of Media Use in Digital Everyday Life

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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 HaigIn Millennial Love journalist Olivia Petter explores the questions, quirks and anxieties that consume the contemporary dating landscape.Olivia scrutinises the myths surrounding modern romance and asks why, despite having endless technology designed to aid communication, it's harder to meet someone now than ever before.The book is based on the Independent's chart-topping podcast of the same name and expands on some of the issues discussed on the show, including why contraception is a feminist issue, how dating apps have altered our understanding of attraction, and how ''Love Island'' became the unlikely lens through which the consequences of so many of these things were exposed.Other topics covered include read receipt anxiety, why we need tTrade Review‘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 ‘Olivia Petter archly discusses and deconstructs the trials and tribulations of dating today with the help of former podcast guests including Munroe Bergdorf and Elizabeth Day, to brilliant effect.’ BURO London

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