3.0
The People's Platform
ByPublisher Description
The Internet has been hailed as an unprecedented democratizing force, a place where everyone can be heard and all can participate equally. But how true is this claim? In a seminal dismantling of techno-utopian visions,
argues that for all that we "tweet" and "like" and "share," the Internet in fact reflects and amplifies real-world inequities at least as much as it ameliorates them. Online, just as off-line, attention and influence largely accrue to those who already have plenty of both.
What we have seen so far, Astra Taylor says, has been not a revolution but a rearrangement. Although Silicon Valley tycoons have eclipsed Hollywood moguls, a handful of giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook remain the gatekeepers. And the worst habits of the old media model—the pressure to seek easy celebrity, to be quick and sensational above all—have proliferated on the web, where "aggregating" the work of others is the surest way to attract eyeballs and ad revenue. When culture is "free," creative work has diminishing value and advertising fuels the system. The new order looks suspiciously like the old one.
We can do better, Taylor insists. The online world does offer a unique opportunity, but a democratic culture that supports diverse voices and work of lasting value will not spring up from technology alone. If we want the Internet to truly be a people's platform, we will have to make it so.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe People's Platform Reviews
3.0
“The second great book in a row I've read about understanding the impact of various new technologies of the "digital age." The prior book, "The Shallows," really focuses narrowly on the impact had on our neurology - our thinking, our memory, our mindfulness. In this book, Taylor gives a much more expansive and encompassing look at the impact.
She discusses it from the perspective of "old media" versus "new media," from politics and psychology, to economics, sociology, culture, and environmentalism. Similar to "The Shallows," she establishes that so many of these swift changes have occurred with little thought as to the impact it would have; though at times she argues persuasively that society was sold a bill of goods as to the impact, but ultimately got a raw deal.
While she makes convincing, and timely, arguments about the often disastrous economic impact of the new digital media, the lasting impact for me from Taylor's work is the discussion of environmentalism. She very effectively broadens the scope and shows why the contentions that the digital age were an improvement for the environment (we all use less paper, right?), are very much false. Reading it, and reflecting it, gives me pause on my own use of technology - not from the perspective of how it impacts me (which is what reading "The Shallows" did) - but in how it impacts my world and neighbors. The consumerism culture, of which I am often guilty of succumbing too, shares much blame and responsibility for the disastrous effects on our environment.
"The Shallows" made me want to reduce how much I use technology for the sake of my own mental well-being. Taylor's work makes me want to rethink how I use and re-use technology for the sake of my society, and my world.”
About Astra Taylor
is a writer and documentary filmmaker. Her films include
, a feature documentary about the world's most outrageous philosopher, which was broadcast on the Sundance Channel, and
, a series of excursions with contemporary thinkers. Her writing has appeared in
,
,
,
, and other publications. She lives in New York City.
Other books by Astra Taylor
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