Aaron reviewed Twitter and tear gas by Zeynep Tufekci
Twitter and Tear Gas
5 stars
Tufekci gives a comprehensive and clear-eyed overview of the role in social media in organized protest all over the world in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. She recognizes the new vistas that social media has opened up, but also outlines the challenges that it creates. Notably, protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street were capable of bringing large numbers of people to the streets, but unable to translate that into concrete political action. As with most books on technological topics, events have moved quickly after the books publication: it is hard to imagine Twitter and Reddit occupying the same place of prominence today that they did when Tufekci wrote the book in 2017. Nevertheless, the broader lessons are applicable, making this a worthwhile read.