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A review by abbsentminded
Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation by Andrew Marantz
4.0
Here's a quote that I think summarizes Marantz's thesis: "To change how we talk is to change who we are. More and more every day, how we talk is a function of how we talk on the Internet" (p. 357)
And how we talk on the Internet, Marantz demonstrates through encounter after encounter, is increasingly characterized by misinformation, extremism, hate-speech, racism, sexism, etc. The internet is changing how we talk; what does that say about who we are? Ultimately though, we choose how we talk, and we choose who we are; Marantz sides conclusively with human agency in the big tech determinism discussion.
In support of this, Marantz spends a lot of time hanging out with alt-right, alt-light, white supremacists, and more generic internet shitposters, and just shares and reflects on his experiences. This is beneficial for you, the reader, because you can get the scoop without having to hang out with these people. In fact, I'd say most of the value of this book comes from those small candid personal experiences. Get to know people like Cassandra Fairbanks and Mike Cernovitch as people. . . what drives them?
For those reasons too, I thought this served as a good introduction to the alt-right movement in general. The movement isn't a monolith, and Marantz characterizes the various subgroups well. Not only that, but he also allows these subgroups to characterize themselves, while maintaining distance as a journalist.
And how we talk on the Internet, Marantz demonstrates through encounter after encounter, is increasingly characterized by misinformation, extremism, hate-speech, racism, sexism, etc. The internet is changing how we talk; what does that say about who we are? Ultimately though, we choose how we talk, and we choose who we are; Marantz sides conclusively with human agency in the big tech determinism discussion.
In support of this, Marantz spends a lot of time hanging out with alt-right, alt-light, white supremacists, and more generic internet shitposters, and just shares and reflects on his experiences. This is beneficial for you, the reader, because you can get the scoop without having to hang out with these people. In fact, I'd say most of the value of this book comes from those small candid personal experiences. Get to know people like Cassandra Fairbanks and Mike Cernovitch as people. . . what drives them?
For those reasons too, I thought this served as a good introduction to the alt-right movement in general. The movement isn't a monolith, and Marantz characterizes the various subgroups well. Not only that, but he also allows these subgroups to characterize themselves, while maintaining distance as a journalist.