Trolling Ourselves to Death

Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Oxford Studies in Digital Politics)

Narrated by Ray Greenley
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Pub Date Feb 13 2024 | Archive Date Feb 13 2024

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Description

Almost forty years ago, Neil Postman argued that television had brought about a fundamental transformation to democracy. By turning entertainment into our supreme ideology, television had recreated public discourse in its image and converted democracy into show business. In Trolling Ourselves to Death, Jason Hannan builds on Postman's classic thesis, arguing that we are now not so much amusing, as trolling ourselves to death.

Contrary to the popular view of the troll as an exclusively anonymous online prankster, Hannan asserts that trolls have emerged from the cave, so to speak. Trolls now include politicians, performers, patriots, and protesters. What was once a mysterious phenomenon limited to the darker corners of the Internet has since gone mainstream, eroding our public culture and changing the rules of democratic politics.

Synthesizing media ecology with historical materialism, Hannan explores the disturbing rise of political unreason in the form of mass trolling and sheds light on the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy theory, "cancel culture," and digital violence. Taking inspiration from Robert Brandom's innovative reading of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Trolling Ourselves to Death makes a case for building "a spirit of trust" to curb the epidemic of mass distrust that feeds the plague of political trolling.

Almost forty years ago, Neil Postman argued that television had brought about a fundamental transformation to democracy. By turning entertainment into our supreme ideology, television had recreated...


Advance Praise

"Democracy comes with an abundance of enemies, and lately with trolls. In this engaging read, Jason Hannan historicizes trolling with and without technology and walks us through its impact on civic cultures. This lucid and informed book is a must-read for those curious about what trolling is, why and how it manifests, and how we may survive it." —Zizi Papacharissi, author of After Democracy
 
"A tour-de-force, essential analysis, and call to action of a book that becomes more relevant by the hour. Hannan's high-energy, meticulously researched tract is vivid, well-reasoned, morally astute, and rightly outraged, and should be required reading for anyone who wants to get at least a glimpse of the roiling factors and forces that are bending and rending our world to the breaking point." —Paul Levinson, author of McLuhan in an Age of Social Media

"Democracy comes with an abundance of enemies, and lately with trolls. In this engaging read, Jason Hannan historicizes trolling with and without technology and walks us through its impact on civic...


Available Editions

EDITION Audiobook, Unabridged
ISBN 9781696614382
PRICE $19.99 (USD)
DURATION 7 Hours, 5 Minutes

Available on NetGalley

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