Reading the Comments

Likers, Haters, and Manipulators at the Bottom of the Web

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Technology, Social Aspects, Computers, Internet, Science
Cover of the book Reading the Comments by Joseph M. Reagle Jr., The MIT Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joseph M. Reagle Jr. ISBN: 9780262328883
Publisher: The MIT Press Publication: May 1, 2015
Imprint: The MIT Press Language: English
Author: Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
ISBN: 9780262328883
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication: May 1, 2015
Imprint: The MIT Press
Language: English

What we can learn about human nature from the informative, manipulative, confusing, and amusing messages at the bottom of the web.

Online comment can be informative or misleading, entertaining or maddening. Haters and manipulators often seem to monopolize the conversation. Some comments are off-topic, or even topic-less. In this book, Joseph Reagle urges us to read the comments. Conversations “on the bottom half of the Internet,” he argues, can tell us much about human nature and social behavior.

Reagle visits communities of Amazon reviewers, fan fiction authors, online learners, scammers, freethinkers, and mean kids. He shows how comment can inform us (through reviews), improve us (through feedback), manipulate us (through fakery), alienate us (through hate), shape us (through social comparison), and perplex us. He finds pre-Internet historical antecedents of online comment in Michelin stars, professional criticism, and the wisdom of crowds. He discusses the techniques of online fakery (distinguishing makers, fakers, and takers), describes the emotional work of receiving and giving feedback, and examines the culture of trolls and haters, bullying, and misogyny. He considers the way comment—a nonstop stream of social quantification and ranking—affects our self-esteem and well-being. And he examines how comment is puzzling—short and asynchronous, these messages can be slap-dash, confusing, amusing, revealing, and weird, shedding context in their passage through the Internet, prompting readers to comment in turn, “WTF?!?”

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

What we can learn about human nature from the informative, manipulative, confusing, and amusing messages at the bottom of the web.

Online comment can be informative or misleading, entertaining or maddening. Haters and manipulators often seem to monopolize the conversation. Some comments are off-topic, or even topic-less. In this book, Joseph Reagle urges us to read the comments. Conversations “on the bottom half of the Internet,” he argues, can tell us much about human nature and social behavior.

Reagle visits communities of Amazon reviewers, fan fiction authors, online learners, scammers, freethinkers, and mean kids. He shows how comment can inform us (through reviews), improve us (through feedback), manipulate us (through fakery), alienate us (through hate), shape us (through social comparison), and perplex us. He finds pre-Internet historical antecedents of online comment in Michelin stars, professional criticism, and the wisdom of crowds. He discusses the techniques of online fakery (distinguishing makers, fakers, and takers), describes the emotional work of receiving and giving feedback, and examines the culture of trolls and haters, bullying, and misogyny. He considers the way comment—a nonstop stream of social quantification and ranking—affects our self-esteem and well-being. And he examines how comment is puzzling—short and asynchronous, these messages can be slap-dash, confusing, amusing, revealing, and weird, shedding context in their passage through the Internet, prompting readers to comment in turn, “WTF?!?”

More books from The MIT Press

Cover of the book Twitterbots by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book The Boundaries of Babel by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Machine Art in the Twentieth Century by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Russian Cosmism by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book A Constitution for All Times by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Social Economics by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Political Economics by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Fascist Pigs by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Can We Price Carbon? by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book In the Wake of the Crisis by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Positive Computing by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book The Unreliable Nation by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Inside the Fed by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
Cover of the book Design, When Everybody Designs by Joseph M. Reagle Jr.
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy