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A review by aasplund
Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest by Zeynep Tufekci
5.0
This is, by far, one of the most important books I've read in awhile and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Tufekci discusses how social media has changed the culture, processes, and organizations of protesting and activism. Using examples from around the world, she shows how social media originally changed activism - and also how activism is threatened by social media.
I wasn't sure what I'd think of this book. Tech isn't my usual reading topic, but the husband raved enough about Tufekci's work that I felt I needed to read it to get a better idea of what he was talking about. And he was absolutely right. This book (and her work) is incredible and very needed today.
This book put a lot of things into perspective for me and gave me so much to think about. First of all, Tufekci is from Turkey, so many of her examples are centered around Middle Eastern activities and events. This was hugely beneficial for me - not only did I learn about social media, but I learned about Middle East history and culture. I also appreciated the perspective it gave me on many movements in the USA that I was either too young to care much about or that I didn't educate myself on as much as I could have. The details related in this book (shared for purposes of explaining the movement and how they used media) did more to bring me to action than any news article did. This book got me fired up and it isn't often that nonfiction gets me this ready to do something. I also feel like this book taught me about how to use social media. I had no idea just how many algorithms Facebook uses to decide what I view or why some Twitter accounts take off while others remain in the dark. I didn't realize that, as Tufekci often noted, an activist tweet in an authoritarian country can be a far braver act than marching in a more democratic one. My entire perspective on protesting has shifted. And this book is to blame.
I'm still not entirely sure what to do with all the new information I have - it'll take me some time to fully process it. But in the meantime, I'll be following the sentiment that Tufekci closes her book on - "We will keep walking and keep asking questions." That's what I plan to do.
Highly recommended for readers interested in history, sociology, or politics.
Tufekci discusses how social media has changed the culture, processes, and organizations of protesting and activism. Using examples from around the world, she shows how social media originally changed activism - and also how activism is threatened by social media.
I wasn't sure what I'd think of this book. Tech isn't my usual reading topic, but the husband raved enough about Tufekci's work that I felt I needed to read it to get a better idea of what he was talking about. And he was absolutely right. This book (and her work) is incredible and very needed today.
This book put a lot of things into perspective for me and gave me so much to think about. First of all, Tufekci is from Turkey, so many of her examples are centered around Middle Eastern activities and events. This was hugely beneficial for me - not only did I learn about social media, but I learned about Middle East history and culture. I also appreciated the perspective it gave me on many movements in the USA that I was either too young to care much about or that I didn't educate myself on as much as I could have. The details related in this book (shared for purposes of explaining the movement and how they used media) did more to bring me to action than any news article did. This book got me fired up and it isn't often that nonfiction gets me this ready to do something. I also feel like this book taught me about how to use social media. I had no idea just how many algorithms Facebook uses to decide what I view or why some Twitter accounts take off while others remain in the dark. I didn't realize that, as Tufekci often noted, an activist tweet in an authoritarian country can be a far braver act than marching in a more democratic one. My entire perspective on protesting has shifted. And this book is to blame.
I'm still not entirely sure what to do with all the new information I have - it'll take me some time to fully process it. But in the meantime, I'll be following the sentiment that Tufekci closes her book on - "We will keep walking and keep asking questions." That's what I plan to do.
Highly recommended for readers interested in history, sociology, or politics.