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Networks Without a Cause: A Critique of Social Media
With the vast majority of Facebook users caught in a frenzy of ‘friending�, ‘liking� and ‘commenting�, at what point do we pause to grasp the consequences of our info-saturated lives? What compels us to engage so diligently with social networking systems? Networks Without a Cause examines our collective obsession with identity and self-management coupled with the fragmentation and information overload endemic to contemporary online culture.
With a dearth of theory on the social and cultural ramifications of hugely popular online services, Lovink provides a path-breaking critical analysis of our over-hyped, networked world with case studies on search engines, online video, blogging, digital radio, media activism and the Wikileaks saga. This book offers a powerful message to media practitioners and let us collectively unleash our critical capacities to influence technology design and workspaces, otherwise we will disappear into the cloud. Probing but never pessimistic, Lovink draws from his long history in media research to offer a critique of the political structures and conceptual powers embedded in the technologies that shape our daily lives.
With a dearth of theory on the social and cultural ramifications of hugely popular online services, Lovink provides a path-breaking critical analysis of our over-hyped, networked world with case studies on search engines, online video, blogging, digital radio, media activism and the Wikileaks saga. This book offers a powerful message to media practitioners and let us collectively unleash our critical capacities to influence technology design and workspaces, otherwise we will disappear into the cloud. Probing but never pessimistic, Lovink draws from his long history in media research to offer a critique of the political structures and conceptual powers embedded in the technologies that shape our daily lives.
220 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2012
12 people are currently reading
368 people want to read
About the author
Geert Lovink
69Ìýbooks53ÌýfollowersGeert Lovink is a Research Professor of Interactive Media at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA) and a Professor of Media Theory at the European Graduate School. Lovinl is the founding director of the Institute of Network Cultures, whose goals are to explore, document and feed the potential for socio-economical change of the new media field through events, publications and open dialogue. As theorist, activist and net critic, Lovink has made an effort in helping to shape the development of the web.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 23, 2016
Non mi capita molto spesso di abbandonare libri che leggo per lavoro o per studio all'oblio. È in genere qualcosa che capita con i romanzi che leggo per puro caso. Difficilmente un saggio è un libro scelto a caso.
Se le frasi precedenti vi sembrano slegate, non è niente rispetto a Ossesioni collettive. Ero molto interessata al testo e non solo perché parte di un percorso di studi. Mi sembrava interessante e informativo un saggio di critica dei social.
Il problema è che questo volume è tutto fuorché un saggio, è un flusso di coscienza, un vomito di parole di cui si comprende con difficoltà lo scopo o il fine. Faccio onestamente fatica anche a definirlo un testo "scientifico", nel senso che offre molte opinioni e molti pochi fatti o dati concreti. Ogni capitolo, ma quel che è peggio ogni discorso, salta di palo in frasca. Cita libri, persone, opinioni altrui senza legarle in un discorso proprio chiaro ed espressivo.
Forse è la nuova bibbia dei social, ma scritto così mi dispiace ma non è per me. A pagina 82 mi sono fermata.
Onestamente c'è un solo aggettivo che mi viene in mente. È un libro brutto.
PS Il libro è del 2012/13, faccio fatica a capire come il traduttore italiano abbia potuto tradurre il wall di Facebook con il muro (e non la bacheca). :(
For the English language reader: I have no idea if you'll like it. I didn't. It might be the best book on the market, but the way it's written is completely outputting. Weird, disjointed, confused.
Se le frasi precedenti vi sembrano slegate, non è niente rispetto a Ossesioni collettive. Ero molto interessata al testo e non solo perché parte di un percorso di studi. Mi sembrava interessante e informativo un saggio di critica dei social.
Il problema è che questo volume è tutto fuorché un saggio, è un flusso di coscienza, un vomito di parole di cui si comprende con difficoltà lo scopo o il fine. Faccio onestamente fatica anche a definirlo un testo "scientifico", nel senso che offre molte opinioni e molti pochi fatti o dati concreti. Ogni capitolo, ma quel che è peggio ogni discorso, salta di palo in frasca. Cita libri, persone, opinioni altrui senza legarle in un discorso proprio chiaro ed espressivo.
Forse è la nuova bibbia dei social, ma scritto così mi dispiace ma non è per me. A pagina 82 mi sono fermata.
Onestamente c'è un solo aggettivo che mi viene in mente. È un libro brutto.
PS Il libro è del 2012/13, faccio fatica a capire come il traduttore italiano abbia potuto tradurre il wall di Facebook con il muro (e non la bacheca). :(
For the English language reader: I have no idea if you'll like it. I didn't. It might be the best book on the market, but the way it's written is completely outputting. Weird, disjointed, confused.
November 14, 2013
The style of the writing took me a while to get used to, but I'm glad I did. Looking at more than just social networks with a critical eye this book explores most aspects of the new digital frontier and the role it plays in our lives. From Amsterdam based radio stations, to blogging in Germany, France, and Iraq, commenting, anonymity, the multiple self, and information overload; it is a thought provoking read on something most of us just fell into.
August 14, 2021
This collection could have had some better direction. Instead there is some history, and a desire to explore this new phenomenon -- this not well studied thing, "social media"
What we get is some examination of some aspects... video images, culture and networks, politics and networks, wikileaks... these are all very tackable topics within a limited academic scope. What we are missing is to get at the heart of social media and how it is a new commons for interaction -- and how the novel interactions it enables and the traditional interactions it suppresses are changing our lifeworld.
Because the majority of these articles are just fragments, its on the reader to try and make sense of how to put all this together; difficult since the boundaries between different organizational levels (national, international, corporate, personal, private, public, &c) are all blurring.
Instead we need a frame that highlights the interaction between technology and culture, agency and representation... although all of this leads directly to the title, as networks appear seemingly facilitated by nothing, held together by nothing and yet defining everything... because networks are the product.
What we get is some examination of some aspects... video images, culture and networks, politics and networks, wikileaks... these are all very tackable topics within a limited academic scope. What we are missing is to get at the heart of social media and how it is a new commons for interaction -- and how the novel interactions it enables and the traditional interactions it suppresses are changing our lifeworld.
Because the majority of these articles are just fragments, its on the reader to try and make sense of how to put all this together; difficult since the boundaries between different organizational levels (national, international, corporate, personal, private, public, &c) are all blurring.
Instead we need a frame that highlights the interaction between technology and culture, agency and representation... although all of this leads directly to the title, as networks appear seemingly facilitated by nothing, held together by nothing and yet defining everything... because networks are the product.
March 19, 2018
Non solo risulta piuttosto superato, con riferimenti più recenti datati 2011, ma con il procedere l'esposizione risulta più inutilmente difficile e anodina. Ho interrotto a metà e per un po' non l'ho più riaperto. Poi ho attuato una lettura più selettiva, scremando tra i capitoli che mi ispiravano di più e in effetti così ho potuto ricavare qualcosa di interessante, anche se, ripeto, riferito ormai ad anni che seppur non troppo lontani, quando si parla di tecnologie e di social risultano irrimediabilmente superati.
April 28, 2012
Just finished, one of the best contemporary critical work on social media.
Shallow digital narcissism of Facebook
Implications of information overload
Need to bring anonymity back
Wikileaks, YouTube aesthetics, many many interesting and relevant topics...
I unreservedly recommend it to all who are interested in media, society, technology, etc...
Shallow digital narcissism of Facebook
Implications of information overload
Need to bring anonymity back
Wikileaks, YouTube aesthetics, many many interesting and relevant topics...
I unreservedly recommend it to all who are interested in media, society, technology, etc...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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