The People's Platform
Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From a cutting-edge cultural commentator and documentary filmmaker, a bold and brilliant challenge to cherished notions of the Internet as the great democratizing force of our age.
The Internet has been hailed as a place where all can be heard and everyone can participate equally. But how true is this claim? In a seminal dismantling of techno-utopian visions, The People's Platform 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 in the virtual world 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 still dominate our lives. And the worst habits of the old media model--the pressure to be quick and sensational, to seek easy celebrity, to appeal to the broadest possible public--have proliferated online, where every click can be measured and where "aggregating" the work of others is the surest way to attract eyeballs and ad revenue. In a world where culture is "free," creative work has diminishing value, and advertising fuels the system, the new order looks suspiciously just like the old one.
We can do better, Taylor insists. The online world does offer an unprecedented opportunity, but a democratic culture that supports diverse voices, work of lasting value, and equitable business practices will not appear as a consequence of technology alone. If we want the Internet to truly be a people's platform, we will have to make it so.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With compelling force and manifestlike style, writer and documentary filmmaker Taylor lays out one of the smartest and most self-evident arguments about the nature and effect of technology in our digital age. "Technology alone," she acknowledges, "will not deliver the cultural transformation we have been waiting for; instead, we need to first understand and then address the underlying social and economic forces that shape it." Despite the illusion of a level digital playing field, she observes, there are really only a handful of gatekeepers that provide access to information. "Amazon controls one-tenth of all American online commerce," for example. She acknowledges that while the Internet allows us to witness amazing feats of inventiveness, "real cultural democracy means more than everyone with an Internet connection having the ability to edit entries on Wikipedia or leave indignant comments." Taylor suggests that we can promulgate a more democratic culture by "supporting creative work not because it is viral but because it is important, focusing on serving needs as well as desires, and making sure marginalized people are given not just a chance to speak but to be heard." Taylor's provocative book has the power to help shape discussions about the role of technology in our world.
