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A review by samwescott
Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet by Taylor Lorenz
4.0
This was really interesting! As someone who didn't get a smartphone until 2018, I have always been behind on internet shifts and technology-induced social changes, so parts of this were honestly just helpful info for me on parts of the early internet and mobile apps that I straight up missed. Ultimately, it was more of an overview of internet history than I was hoping, since I was really looking forward to more analysis by Lorenz.
For what it does, though, it does well and engagingly. The book moves swiftly and it was interesting to see the same patterns repeat in different corners of the internet. There's something worth noting about how someone will make a social media, app, or service with one intention and then inevitably creators will show up and develop a method of celebrity and influence. Watching the power struggle between developers and creators repeat over and over was really compelling. The lesson seems to be that in every case, some of your consumers will become celebrities and creators and they will want compensation for the immense value they add to your app and if you don't find a way to keep them happy, you're doomed.
My one area of minor expertise in this book was that I've been a Tumblr user since like 2011 and have watched the many changes (and lack of changes) that makes the service unique. Honestly, follow counts being hidden is my favorite thing about Tumblr because it makes the app so hard to monetize, which in my opinion is a large part of why it still feels vibrant, creative, and communal. But Lorenze blames Tumblr's decline on a general "failure to innovate" and never once mentions the porn bans of 2017 than completely squashed the thriving sex work scene on the site and drove away NSFW and queer blogs in droves. It was devastating. In fact, the way that this entire book never once mentioned SESTA/FOSTA and the censorship of the internet and erasure of sex work online led by banks and credit card companies was deeply weird to me. How can you spend so much time on the tension between creators and developers trying to make money off the same pool of users without talking about sex work? It makes me question what other major events and factors were ignored or skipped over by this author. I don't have the topical expertise to know.
That said, this book was entertaining and easy to read. It was worth the cost of admission just to see YouTube's Adpocalypse laid out in chronological order. If you're looking for a good overview of social media with a pretty comprehensible timeline and entertaining storytelling style, I think this will serve you well.
For what it does, though, it does well and engagingly. The book moves swiftly and it was interesting to see the same patterns repeat in different corners of the internet. There's something worth noting about how someone will make a social media, app, or service with one intention and then inevitably creators will show up and develop a method of celebrity and influence. Watching the power struggle between developers and creators repeat over and over was really compelling. The lesson seems to be that in every case, some of your consumers will become celebrities and creators and they will want compensation for the immense value they add to your app and if you don't find a way to keep them happy, you're doomed.
My one area of minor expertise in this book was that I've been a Tumblr user since like 2011 and have watched the many changes (and lack of changes) that makes the service unique. Honestly, follow counts being hidden is my favorite thing about Tumblr because it makes the app so hard to monetize, which in my opinion is a large part of why it still feels vibrant, creative, and communal. But Lorenze blames Tumblr's decline on a general "failure to innovate" and never once mentions the porn bans of 2017 than completely squashed the thriving sex work scene on the site and drove away NSFW and queer blogs in droves. It was devastating. In fact, the way that this entire book never once mentioned SESTA/FOSTA and the censorship of the internet and erasure of sex work online led by banks and credit card companies was deeply weird to me. How can you spend so much time on the tension between creators and developers trying to make money off the same pool of users without talking about sex work? It makes me question what other major events and factors were ignored or skipped over by this author. I don't have the topical expertise to know.
That said, this book was entertaining and easy to read. It was worth the cost of admission just to see YouTube's Adpocalypse laid out in chronological order. If you're looking for a good overview of social media with a pretty comprehensible timeline and entertaining storytelling style, I think this will serve you well.