User Profile

snowka

snowka@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years, 4 months ago

An English prof in New England. Most of my reading is re-reading for class, but when reading for myself I enjoy challenging and unusual reads, often with fantastic, sci-fi, or postmodern elements.

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snowka's books

To Read

Currently Reading

Robert W. Gehl: Move Slowly and Build Bridges (Paperback, Oxford University Press)

Move Slowly and Build Bridges tells the story of activists, software developers, artists, and everyday …

Move Slowly and Build Bridges

I've read books published by Oxford University Press before, but I've never enjoyed a book from OUP like I have Gehl's Move Slowly and Build Bridges. This work of Internet Studies focused on the Mastodon social media platform employs an interview-based methodology that lets the citizens of the Fediverse tell their stories in a compelling way. I loved hearing the backstories of Mastodon luminaries Ro and The Artist Marcia X, who I've followed since joining Mastodon after Musk's purchase of Twitter, and especially loved that Gehl chose artwork of Marcia X to adorn the cover. My own instance admin from @Scholar.social is quoted repeatedly emphasizing the ethical choices and ideals that made me want to join that instance over others. Gehl's analysis of Mastodon and the Fediverse is incisive and insightful--he articulates as few others have what makes a non-centralized social media platform like Mastodon both challenging and so …