[Air-L] My book, Twitter and Tear Gas, on networked social movements is almost out! And a plea!

Mon May 15 08:21:44 PDT 2017

I’m impressed that the hardcover is under $US20 at Amazon! (Listed at $US26 at Yale.)

Affordable, I was expecting library pricing for it. Nice!

-Nat
-------------------------------
Nathaniel Poor, Ph.D.
http://github.com/natpoor
http://natpoor.blogspot.com/
http://sites.google.com/site/natpoor/
http://www.underwood-institute.org/

> On May 15, 2017, at 10:39 AM, Zeynep Tufekci <socnetres at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Friends,
> 
> My book, *Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked
> Protest*, is officially out on May 16th! That is tomorrow! It is published
> with an academic press, and has a lot of conceptual work and engages
> theories social movements, public sphere and technology, but I tried to
> write it with as much narrative structure as possible to make it readable
> to broadest audiences.
> 
> Some news: there will be a free creative commons copy of my book. It will
> be available as a free PDF download in addition to being sold as a bound
> book. This is with the hopes that anyone who wants to read it can do so
> without worrying about the cost. However, this also means that I need to
> ask that a few people who can afford to do so to please consider purchasing
> a copy
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428745-www.amazon.com/twitter-tear-gas-fragility-networked/dp/0300215126?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>.
> This is not just so that Yale University Press can do this for more
> authors, but also because if it is not sold (at least a little bit!) in the
> initial few weeks, bookstores will not stock it and online algorithms will
> show it to fewer people. No sales will mean less visibility, and less
> incentive for publishers to allow other authors creative commons copies.
> 
> Another request I have is that, if you do read it  (and especially if you
> liked it, heh!), please consider leaving a review on Amazon
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428745-www.amazon.com/twitter-tear-gas-fragility-networked/dp/0300215126?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>
> or Goodreads
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428749-www.goodreads.com/book/show/32714239-twitter-and-tear-gas?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>.
> This is not an attempt to inflate its reviews but a request to help me
> fight back the inevitable attempts to suppress books like mine that talk
> about about repressive governments and censorship and other hot-button
> topics. (If you follow me on Twitter, you can see that I constantly do
> engage with negative criticisms and welcome feedback, good or bad). Given
> my topics, my book is likely to be targeted by a deliberate campaign to
> suppress its visibility because the trolls who game algorithms know that
> books that are negatively rated are shown to fewer people, and also that
> even when people know that some reviews are just shills, the initial
> impression means something. If you search for a book on Google, all you see
> is the number of stars with no context whether a good deal of those are
> one-star reviews that are purposefully malicious, and are not by readers of
> the book. This has happened to other books like this, and I've already
> started seeing a few signs targeting my book. A flood of actual reviews not
> only fights that off and averages out the "one star ratings" of trolls, it
> signals that it's not worth the effort to try to torpedo it this way. (On a
> side note! What a world!)
> 
> I negotiated the creative commons copy with my (wonderful!) publisher Yale
> University Press because I really wanted to do what I could to share my
> insights as broadly as I could about social movements and the networked
> public sphere. If I make a penny more from this book because it sells well
> by some miracle, I will donate every extra penny to groups supporting
> refugees, and if I ever meet you in person and you purchased a copy of the
> book in support, please let me know and I'll buy the coffee or beer. :-D
> This isn't at all about money for me.
> 
> Encouraging more free creative commons copies is especially important
> people in developing countries for whom book delivery and cost is an issue,
> and I was such a person until I came over to the United States. I was never
> able to afford or find all the books I wanted to read. This also helps
> undergraduate and graduate students help pay less for books that they need.
> If some of you buy this book, publishers can feel more empowered to let
> other authors also provide free copies online. It is not as easy as "just
> blog your material." I do a lot of that, but writing a book that is
> coherent and more readable takes a lot of effort and editing from the
> publisher, and they can't just do that for free.
> 
> So if you can afford it: please consider purchasing my book. Amazon link is
> here
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428745-www.amazon.com/twitter-tear-gas-fragility-networked/dp/0300215126?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>,
> and Yale University Press link with other options for purchase is here
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428757-yalebooks.com/book/9780300215120/twitter-and-tear-gas?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>.
> (Ordering it today counts as a "pre-order", a stronger signal to the
> algorithms and bookstores!). I will announce the website and the creative
> commons copy soon, on social media and on my next newsletter
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428761-tinyletter.com/zeynepnotes?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>
> .
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me and interacted with me
> through the years. If you do end up reading the book, please do know that I
> would love to hear from you. I may need to fight back trolls online, but I
> truly appreciate feedback and consider it a gift.
> 
> best,
> -zeynep
> 
> Review of Twitter and Tear Gas from Inside Higher Education
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428765-www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/when-internet-angry?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>
> :
> 
> If you’re interested in what’s happening in the world today, this book is a
> fascinating read. Even if you’re not, it's an unusually informative book
> about digital platforms usually examined apart from political life.
> Social interactions in the digital world in the context of political
> activity is insightfully explored through this wonderfully readable
> academic study.
> 
> Publishers Weekly
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428769-www.publishersweekly.com/9780300215120?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>
> :
> 
> This insightful and analytical account of mass protest in the 21st century
> focuses on the “intertwined” power and weaknesses of new technologies that
> can be used to galvanize large numbers of people. ... This comprehensive,
> thought-provoking work makes a valuable contribution to understanding
> recent political developments and provides a clear path by which grassroots
> organizers can improve future efforts.
> 
> Financial Times
> <http://mail01.tinyletterapp.com/zeynepnotes/my-book-twitter-and-tear-gas-is-out-some-news-about-it-and-a-small-plea/8428773-www.ft.com/content/8eb634ce-2f36-11e7-9555-23ef563ecf9a?c=ac41426a-ff61-4d79-bab6-4799c56fb03a>
> :
> 
> The author is also insightful on how governments and politicians are moving
> from censorship, no easy task on social media, to attention-grabbing and
> misinformation. “Just as attention is under-appreciated as a resource for
> social movements, distractions and ignorance are under-appreciated as
> methods of repression through denial of attention,” she writes. Sowing
> cynicism is a powerful tool against protest: “If everything is in doubt,
> while the world is run by secret cabals that successfully manipulate
> everything behind the scenes, why bother?”
> 
> Twitter and Tear Gas is packed with evidence on how social media has
> changed social movements, based on rigorous research and placed in
> historical context.
> 
> -- 
> ----
> Zeynep Tufekci, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor, University of North Carolina
> Contributing Opinion Writer <http://www.nytimes.com/column/zeynep-tufekci>,
> The New York Times
> Faculty Associate Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society
> 
> Newsletter: http://tinyletter.com/zeynepnotes
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@zeynep
> Website: http://www.technosociology.org
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