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pineconek 's review for:
informative
medium-paced
The author and I are approximately the same age and had remarkably (disturbingly) similar internet experiences. While I never really got into early YouTube or Vine celebrities, everyone around me did and I remember some of the critical moments described in the book all too well.
Extremely Online describes how the internet went from classic Geocities websites to what we see in the early to mid 2020s. There's a lot of focus placed on monetization of content and ways in which everything became an ad. As an aspiring YouTuber (who hasn't posted in months, which the algo will punish me for when I get back to it), a lot of this was frightening and frustrating to read. It definitely provided helpful insight into the attention economy and context for what we see in current content creation trends.
I went into this book expecting less of a focus on internet celebrity and personality cult and more of a deep dive into how internet trends entered non-internet spaces or, conversely, ways in which people abandoned their physical lives in favor of their digital ones. While it took me to some unexpected places, I found the book well researched and insightful.
Recommended if you're interested in the bizarre logic of the influencer economy and the rise and fall of social media platforms (Facebook, twitter, instagram, vine, snapchat, and tiktok all feature quite prominently). 3.75 stars on SG rounded up to 4 on GR.
Extremely Online describes how the internet went from classic Geocities websites to what we see in the early to mid 2020s. There's a lot of focus placed on monetization of content and ways in which everything became an ad. As an aspiring YouTuber (who hasn't posted in months, which the algo will punish me for when I get back to it), a lot of this was frightening and frustrating to read. It definitely provided helpful insight into the attention economy and context for what we see in current content creation trends.
I went into this book expecting less of a focus on internet celebrity and personality cult and more of a deep dive into how internet trends entered non-internet spaces or, conversely, ways in which people abandoned their physical lives in favor of their digital ones. While it took me to some unexpected places, I found the book well researched and insightful.
Recommended if you're interested in the bizarre logic of the influencer economy and the rise and fall of social media platforms (Facebook, twitter, instagram, vine, snapchat, and tiktok all feature quite prominently). 3.75 stars on SG rounded up to 4 on GR.