Of course, you’ve heard this all before, and may indeed share these opinio. Some interesting stuff here about, say, how the thing you’re addicted to is not the explanation for the addiction, and about how you slide into a certain kind of relationship with a technology. A metaphoric image of The Twittering Machine is ambitious in its scope, attempting to develop a language for describing what is happening in our world with social media. We use cookies and similar tools to enhance your shopping experience, to provide our services, understand how customers use our services so we can make improvements, and display ads, including interest-based ads. The platforms was deliberately designed to mimic the dynamics of slot machines and casinos, keeping you hunting for some sort of symbolic rewards and trapped in a virtual zone insulated from the flows of natural time. Maybe 3.5. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2021. Surprisingly, 317 of them – about 76% of all API-using accounts – follow at least one other user, and some follow over 5,000. It very much delves into examples which illustrate the more abstract claims in Byung-Chul Han's Psychopolitics, another important read on contemporary capitalism. A damning analysis of our morbid acquiescence to the Pink Jesus of social media. Algorithms read and use our writing to feed us with more content. And if you’re not amongst the screaming, you’re being cossetted by the soothing sounds of an echo chamber agreeing with your every word, one of the people for whom the soma of shared opinions raises “a quite impenetrable wall between the actual universe and their minds”. This book is much more compact and mostly limited to Twitter though. All stars. The book is a directory of people who have discussed the issues of data, society and social media better than Seymour has and much of his analysis are tired, milquetoast takes read in the voice of a very annoying first year philosophy student. Clue: "Twittering Machine" artist "Twittering Machine" artist is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 14 … It might just save your life. Mind-expanding stuff. 100% Money Back Guarantee. So one would expect the API-using accounts not to follow any other users. This book is not easy to read. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family—and from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. From the Album The Off The End Of The Pier Show Listen Now Buy song $0.99. Richard lays the internet on a couch and starts at the beginning. 5.0 out of 5 stars Superb. Richard Seymour claims to have written this book in a state of "monastic isolation." You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Top www.goodreads.com. The Twittering Machine is unique in that it succinctly synthesizes information from the aforementioned perspectives and asks the question: what does our usage say about us? As it aims to examine the virtual machinery of the social media industry, there are moments it goes deep into the theories, and if you don't have a background in new media communication it might be a little difficult to follow. Simply a must read. The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour, 9781999683382, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. Twittering Machine, 1922, by Paul Klee. I love the ideas under this book, which the author describes as an essay. This is a work of theory and not self help (ie how to unplug etc). August 29th 2019 Using the word hegemony or ontology frequently does not elevate t. Extremely disappointing. Your Amazon Music account is currently associated with a different marketplace. Unable to add item to List. – is not an easy read. Please try again later. It doesn't really matter if people are using their platforms out of rage, depression, or joy – all that matters is that they use them. Twittering Machine (Die Zwitscher-Maschine) is a 1922 watercolor and pen and ink oil transfer on paper by Swiss-German painter Paul Klee. Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists, The Value Industry: Reflections on Art, Money and Celebrity, Brand Storytelling: Put Customers at the Heart of Your Brand Story, The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI, The Musical Human: A History of Life on Earth, Algorithms Illuminated: Part 1: The Basics. To see what your friends thought of this book. Search. What is this so-called fake news? The story gave interesting insight into the media machine, but I found Tamara to be more of a caricature than a character. A brilliant essay on what we are really doing when we scroll through social media feeds. • The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour is published by Indigo (£12.99). Top reviews. That might suggest a certain disconnect between the relentlessly social nature of the "Twittering Machine" and the standpoint of the author himself. This is an incredibly well researched book that draws on so many sources and although alarming is very even handed - doesn't accept the easy answers. What is the Real -- the main insta or the finsta? I've been reading a lot of books critical of technology and social media over the past few years; the "The Twittering Machine" is one of the best of this genre, and it is the most artfully written. 42 likes. The Twittering Machine is made of us. The Twittering Machine is unique in that it succinctly synthesizes information from the aforementioned perspectives and asks the question: what does our usage say about us? How are ratings calculated? The voice is indeed given a new, written embodiment, but it is massified”. Previous page of related Sponsored Products. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Social media and the data behemoth is described as the 'twittering machine' that we feed our lives into, with its constant need to consume our time and attention as its fuel. Filter by. This is the smart, intelligent, theory-filled book I wanted on social media/technology/industry. From the United States Fulano Mengano. Completely escaping the influence social media use is not really possible or necessarily desirable for most people today. In surrealist artist Paul Klee’s The Twittering Machine, the bird-song of a diabolical machine acts as bait to lure humankind into a pit of damnation. View PDF. – Tatler.com. It absolutely blew me away. One in particular is calling Tommy Robinson part of the "Intellectual Dark Web", an affiliation i have never seen before given Robinson is a white supremacist and the defining feature of most of the Intellectual Dark Web is that they are at heart, leftists. It situates social media's emergency in terms of variety of political, social-psychological, and capitalist forces. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2020. Richard Seymour is a writer and broadcaster and the author of numerous books about politics, including The Liberal Defence of Murder (Verso, 2008), Against Austerity (2014), Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics (Verso, 2016) and The Twittering Machine (The Indigo Press, 2019). Sort by. Nobody comes to a Marxist critique of what Seymour rightly calls the “social industry” if they weren’t already aware of the fact that “what the Twittering Machine produces is in fact a new hybrid. A damning analysis of our morbid acquiescence to the Pink Jesus of social media. It's by far the most readable of Verso's books, but I think it could have actually benefited from being slightly longer. An incisive critical analysis of contemporary digital culture and its affects and effects, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 September 2019, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2020. If you can tear yourself away from a digital screen for a few minutes, buy and read this. This well-written essay looks a considerably wide range of internet phenomena from the celebrity culture of Instagram influencers to psychological and sociological consequences of online trolling to the social media algorithms that have aided the alt-right. Quite interesting; occasionally a little shrill :), The Twittering Machine is ambitious in its scope, attempting to develop a language for describing what is happening in our world with social media. Buy this product and stream 90 days of Amazon Music Unlimited for free. In Barn for Review: Cambridge Audio Edge A Integra. Of course, you’ve heard this all before, and may indeed share these opinions, otherwise you wouldn’t be interested in reading Richard Seymour’s book. How are ratings calculated? THIS IS THE BOOK I'VE BEEN WANTING TO READ. In surrealist artist Paul Klee’s The Twittering Machine, the bird-song of a diabolical machine acts as bait to lure humankind into a pit of damnation. To enjoy Prime Music, go to Your Music Library and transfer your account to Amazon.com (US). Like other artworks by Klee, it blends biology and machinery, depicting a loosely sketched group of birds on a wire or branch connected to a hand-crank. And there is a lot that is true in Seymour’s critique – that “the Twittering Machine invites users to constitute new, inventive identities for themselves, but it does so on a competitive, entrepreneurial basis”, or that “whether or not we think we are addicted, the machine treats us as addicts” – and he goes into great, well-written, detail about how the forces of late capitalism have warped the (admittedly utopian) promise of being able to connect more widely with people across the world via the internet. Approved third parties also use these tools in connection with our display of ads. A google search reveals that this book and one tweet are the source for this comment. In surrealist artist Paul Klee’s The Twittering Machine, the bird-song of a diabolical machine acts as bait to lure humankind into a pit of damnation.Leading political writer and broadcaster Richard Seymour, author of Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics argues that this is a chilling metaphor for our relationship with social media. Please try again. Join our online book group on Facebook at FTBooksCafe. This book about the iniquity of (and inequality behind) what its author calls the social industry – Twitter, Facebook et al. Leading political writer and broadcaster Richard Seymour, author of. We're lucky to be alive to witness doddering psychoanalysts grasping the spirit of the times and finally focusing their interpretive compulsion on the text that is the internet. Start by marking “The Twittering Machine” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Why is it that the more outlandish the news, the more completely readers give themselves over to sadist fantasies; checking pizzerias for Hillary Clinton sex trafficking tunnels, patrolling the streets of Louisville for antifa, etc. Interpretations of the work vary widely: it has been perceived as a nightmarish lure for the viewer or a depiction of the helplessness of the artist, but also as a triumph of nature over mechanical pursuits. Happy European Free Jazz Birthday, Evan Parker, bo . This book is sort of a condensed version of a much thicker book I just read, Shoshanna Zuboff's "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism," and this books cites hers, among others. On the strength of that passage alone I ordered the book, and perhaps expecting to spend the whole book being as blown. It very much delves into examples which illustrate the more abstract claims in Byung-Chul Han's Psychopolitics, another important read on contemporary capitalism. Always more. Photograph: The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo. Filter by. THIS. It reads like a series of somewhat discrete, yet related lectures in its attempt to answer these questions. Probably, but I'd hate to believe it. Please try again later. – China Miéville, author of October: The Story of the Russian Revolution, 'A brilliant and provocative reassessment of a technology that has become apparently indispensable to modern life.' I have *never* written an Amazon review before. Conditions apply. It is unique in its approach and focus, and while it's important to understand the various ways in which technology and social media is disrupting our society, it is also critically important to understand and question our desire for disruption itself. Read 1,318 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. The Twittering Machine. by Richard Seymour. We’d love your help. What tech companies seek is engagement, nothing more and nothing less. Write a review. Everything he writes is worth reading.' Paul Klee, Twittering Machine (Die Zwitscher-Maschine), 1922, 25 1/4 x 19" watercolor, ink, and gouache on paper (MoMA) Speakers: Dr. Juliana Kreinik and Dr. Steven Zucker I’m of two minds here, and trying to be fair to this actually rather good book and avoid faulting it for ultimately failing to be something it doesn’t actually set out to be: Completely escaping the influence social media use is not really possible or necessarily desirable for most people today. Sold by Better World Books. Top reviews. If you do not want to accept all cookies or would like to learn more about how we use cookies, click "Customise cookies". I chanced upon this book by the virtue of the Book: Targeted by Brittany Kaiser and I didn't expect the book to be the revelation it was. The Twittering Machine Quotes Showing 1-1 of 1 “We prefer the machine when human relationships have become disappointing.” ― Richard Seymour, The Twittering Machine See All Buying Options. Write a review. E-mail after purchase. Engagement or "time on device" leads to depression (that most indi. – Spectator, 'Seymour's compulsively argued book may just be the intervention we all need.' A metaphoric image of. First demolishing the utopian outcomes with which these apps were initially marketed (con. The Twittering Machine Shallow thoughts on news, entertainment, politics, and much much more. The Twittering Machine, by Richard Seymour, Indigo Press, RRP£12.99, 226 pages. This is a million miles from the "10 reasons you should delete your social media accounts" click bait nonsense you see on, well, social media. If we're already… here, where does this end? Not to my ‘concretist’ tastes, I guess. What we should do however is use these platforms thoughtfully and with full understanding of their biases and the imperatives of their creators. See All Buying Options. Interesting, but dense and intense with far too many “as *** puts it/said/writes” and very little in the way of solutions to all the problems outlined. I dunno. To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846 . Studies show that negative. The Twittering Machine is an unflinching view into the calamities of digital life: the circus of online trolling, flourishing alt-right subcultures, pervasive corporate surveillance, and the virtual data mines of Facebook and Google where we spend considerable portions of our free time. There are some really good, fascinating, thought-provoking ideas in this book--there just aren't enough of them (to the point at which i gave it up), particularly compared with the bad ideas, and the truly mediocre ideas. Why is it that the more outlandish the news, the more completely readers give themselves over to sadist fantasies; checking pizzerias for Hillary Clinton sex trafficking tunnels, patrolling the streets of Louisville for an. All stars. 55 global ratings | 6 global reviews There was a problem filtering reviews right now. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power: Barack Obama's Books of 2019, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? – Observer, Book of the Week, 'A thrilling demonstration of what [resistance] can look like ... everyone should read it.' Is the code snippet if {} else {} a low level neofascist protocol? The book does little to analyse the political context from which it draws its conclusions and simplifies many parts of the left/right divide beyond recognition. In my view the author's Marxist credo scarcely dampens the self-reflection this all prompts (while professing neutrality, Big Tech's data harvesting and algorithms *are* cynically profit-oriented and do push users in dark directions; fascists *have* leveraged these resources as weapons first and best…) and I'd recommend you subject yourself to it too. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Can't say enough good things . I came to this after a friend posted a particularly trenchant passage that reframed my understanding of social media in terms I'd previously never considered. Honor rang a little more true, but the Tamara's character was so cartoonish that it pulled me out of the story. Deeply insightful, synthetic in how it fills in interstices of preceding tomes, and (as many other reviews point out) deeply melancholic. Twitter dogpiles and community blog flamewars alienate people and dissolve solidarities and movements. A brilliant, urgent, game-changing intervention. Art&Culture. Conversation Hacks: Direct Answers To Any Difficult Social Question You Have Ever Had. I am not sure if this even qualifies as a book or would it be better described as a bibliography, so often does Seymour start a sentence with "in the words of ....". Welcome back. 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