![]() No one was talking about the role of finance and the way business imperatives shape the development of tech. But there was a disconnect between this chatter from a fundamental characteristic of our world, just sitting there, and I just felt like somebody had to address it. The other camp would say the internet's amazing, we're all connected, and it's going to bring about a new age of democratization of culture, and creativity. One would say the internet is ruining everything, or distracting, or addictive. In the mainstream pundit world, there are two camps. It makes no sense to talk about the internet as separate from the economy. Can you boil down for me the main reason you think the internet isn't the "democratizing" force we were promised?īecause of money. She's also going to join us in the comments this afternoon if you have questions for her directly. Taylor was kind enough to answer a few questions by phone about her ideas and her book. Though writers sometimes buck the trend to post sharp and sardonic opinion pieces and the occasional stand-alone reported essay, the overwhelming majority of what goes up on the site is composed under the glow of a large, prominently placed screen that keeps real-time tabs on the number of views, comments, and "uniques" (new visitors, who are even more valuable to than page views to advertisers), metrics that determine staff bonuses and advancement. New media gossip juggernaut Gawker also pays tribute to churnalism's animating spirits: shortness, sensationalism, superficiality, and speed. Oh, and she has this to say about Gawker: The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains Her preferred solutions involve public institutions. But she makes the case, over 230 dense pages, that things could be different, if we wanted them to be. She's not sure that the internet has done much more than consolidate the power (and profits) of corporations. She's skeptical that the advent of "free culture" has actually made it easier for musicians to make art. Taylor is not the first to point out the problems of digital utopianism, but she's not quite in line with the shallow-internet/ You Are Not A Gadget crowd either. You can't just walk in and start plucking freedom from liberation trees to snack on. Or, put differently: It is not like the Chocolate Room in the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age ET here in Kinja to take questions and talk about her book. In her new book, The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Taylor argues the Internet isn't as liberating a force as its initial boosters promised. Astra Taylor began her career making documentaries about thinkers ( Zizek! and Examined Life). ![]()
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