[Air-L] Reverse Engineering Social Media

[Robert W. Gehl]

Hello, all -

I hope you don't mind, but I want to announce the publication of my
book, Reverse Engineering Social Media.

You can read the first chapter online for free:
http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/2275_reg.html (scroll down to
"Excerpt").

The book is a critical exploration of social media, using concepts from
software engineering to place social media into larger historical and
economic contexts, including histories of online surveillance, the
management of knowledge and creative labor, and the use of artificial
intelligence to shape online discourse. After doing this work, the book
builds criteria for socialized media systems that challenge dominant,
corporate systems, and I then survey existing alternative social media
sites to demonstrate that a better Web is possible.

Thus, what I try to do is take the object "social media architecture"
seriously, historicize it, contextualize it, consider it in terms of
political economy and day-to-day life, and then use that critique to
call for media justice in specific forms. I believe the book will be
useful to those in cultural studies and media studies.

If you want to purchase the book, use Temple's site and the promo code
T20P for 20% off. The book is also available from Powell's in the US
(https://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781439910351-1) as well as the big
online store with the bad labor practices. I am also sure Temple will
send review copies to those who might use it for classes.

Hardcover is now available, with paperback and an e-version in a matter
of days.

Regards,

Rob Gehl

Robert W. Gehl
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication
Affiliated Faculty, University Writing Program
The University of Utah
www.robertwgehl.org | @robertwgehl
Sent from our OS on our Internet

Watch for my book, Reverse Engineering Social Media, from Temple in 2014