[Air-L] New book (again): The Age of Sharing by Nicholas John

[Nicholas John]

Hello AoIR
I know I did this already, but that was the before the book was published in the US. It has now been published in the US, so I’m doing it again…

I’m delighted to announce the publication of my book, The Age of Sharing.
Culture Digitally has put up an excerpt: http://culturedigitally.org/2016/11/the-age-of-sharing-by-nicholas-john-an-excerpt/ <http://culturedigitally.org/2016/11/the-age-of-sharing-by-nicholas-john-an-excerpt/>
And there’s also a dialogue piece in which some of your favourite internet researchers respond to that excerpt: http://culturedigitally.org/2016/12/dialogue_nikjohn/ <http://culturedigitally.org/2016/12/dialogue_nikjohn/>
Polity also has a short blog post: http://politybooks.com/the-age-of-sharing/ <http://politybooks.com/the-age-of-sharing/> 
If you order it from polity, you can use the code PY794 to get a 20% discount, or order an examination copy.
Or there’s always Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Age-Sharing-Nicholas-John/dp/074566251X <https://www.amazon.com/Age-Sharing-Nicholas-John/dp/074566251X> (though how they’re offering 2nd hand copies already is beyond  me…)

The blurb on the back says:
Sharing is central to how we live today: it is what we do online; it is a model of economic behavior; and it is also a type of therapeutic talk. Sharing always comes with a warm glow around it, embodying positive values such as empathy, communication, fairness, openness and equality. The Age of Sharing shows how and when sharing became caring, and explains how its meanings have changed in the digital age.
Sharing, though, is also a word used to camouflage commercial or even exploitive relations, leading many to bemoan that ‘It isn’t really sharing’. Websites say they share data with advertisers, though actually they sell it, while parts of the sharing economy look much like rental services. But The Age of Sharing ultimately argues that practices described as sharing and critiques of those practices have common roots. Consequently, the powerful metaphor of sharing now constructs significant swathes of our social practices and provides the grounds for critiquing them; it is a mode of participation in the capitalist order and a way of resisting it.
Taking in nineteenth century literature, Alcoholics Anonymous, the American counterculture, reality TV, hackers, Airbnb, Facebook and more, The Age of Sharing offers a rich account of a complex contemporary keyword.
Nancy Baym said this: 
“The word ‘sharing’ has become so ubiquitous that we rarely stop to inquire into its meanings, let alone the ideological work it does in the diverse contexts of its use. John’s engaging historical analysis of ‘sharing’ across three domains is essential reading, offering deep insight into the implicit values that shape our interactions and economies.”
And Russell Belk, groundbreaking scholar of consumption, said: 
“The Age of Sharing is an insightful and careful excavation of the concept and practice of sharing both material and immaterial things.  It broadly interrogates primates and early humans to the latest social media and “sharing” apps, for clues about our basic human nature.”

Consider giving yourself this book as a gift!

Enjoy,
Nik


Nicholas John 
Department of Communication 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
T +972 54 7906073 
@nicholasajohn <http://www.twitter.com/nicholasajohn> 
nicholasjohn.huji.ac.il <http://nicholasjohn.huji.ac.il/>

Check out my new book,The Age of Sharing, at Amazon <https://www.amazon.com/Age-Sharing-Nicholas-John/dp/074566251X> or directly from Polity <http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9780745662503> 
Read an excerpt at Culture Digitally <http://culturedigitally.org/2016/11/the-age-of-sharing-by-nicholas-john-an-excerpt/>.