"Since the nineties, platforms have invited users to create in return for connection. From blogs to vlogs, tweets to memes, and so much else: for the first time in history, making art became the fundamental form of communication. What started as fun soonbecame currency, something vital to finding friends, work, and love. Then, as 'meatspace' job security eroded, online creativity became work itself. Now, an internet presence is no longer optional, and platforms increasingly charge users. Whatever it is we're creating online, it isn't amateur anymore. But is it art? Do our everyday creations under Internet capitalism make the grade?"-- Provided by publisher.
The story of how you created internet culture and why it matters
Since the nineties, platforms have invited users to create in return for connection. From blogs to vlogs, tweets to memes: for the first time in history, making art became the fundamental form of communication.
What started as fun soon became currency, something vital to finding friends, work, and love. Then, as meatspace job security eroded, online creativity became work itself. Now an internet presence is no longer optional, platforms increasingly charge users. Whatever it is were creating online, it isnt amateur anymore. But is it art?
In this scintillating philosophical history of the internet, Joanna Walsh, author of Girl Online, examines how and why creativity became the price of digital existence.