Digital Keywords: A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture
How the digital revolution has shaped our language

In the age of search, keywords increasingly organize research, teaching, and even thought itself. Inspired by Raymond Williams's 1976 classic Keywords, the timely collection Digital Keywords gathers pointed, provocative short essays on more than two dozen keywords by leading and rising digital media scholars from the areas of anthropology, digital humanities, history, political science, philosophy, religious studies, rhetoric, science and technology studies, and sociology. Digital Keywords examines and critiques the rich lexicon animating the emerging field of digital studies.

This collection broadens our understanding of how we talk about the modern world, particularly of the vocabulary at work in information technologies. Contributors scrutinize each keyword independently: for example, the recent pairing of digital and analog is separated, while classic terms such as community, culture, event, memory, and democracy are treated in light of their historical and intellectual importance. Metaphors of the cloud in cloud computing and the mirror in data mirroring combine with recent and radical uses of terms such as information, sharing, gaming, algorithm, and internet to reveal previously hidden insights into contemporary life. Bookended by a critical introduction and a list of over two hundred other digital keywords, these essays provide concise, compelling arguments about our current mediated condition.

Digital Keywords delves into what language does in today's information revolution and why it matters.

"1122844230"
Digital Keywords: A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture
How the digital revolution has shaped our language

In the age of search, keywords increasingly organize research, teaching, and even thought itself. Inspired by Raymond Williams's 1976 classic Keywords, the timely collection Digital Keywords gathers pointed, provocative short essays on more than two dozen keywords by leading and rising digital media scholars from the areas of anthropology, digital humanities, history, political science, philosophy, religious studies, rhetoric, science and technology studies, and sociology. Digital Keywords examines and critiques the rich lexicon animating the emerging field of digital studies.

This collection broadens our understanding of how we talk about the modern world, particularly of the vocabulary at work in information technologies. Contributors scrutinize each keyword independently: for example, the recent pairing of digital and analog is separated, while classic terms such as community, culture, event, memory, and democracy are treated in light of their historical and intellectual importance. Metaphors of the cloud in cloud computing and the mirror in data mirroring combine with recent and radical uses of terms such as information, sharing, gaming, algorithm, and internet to reveal previously hidden insights into contemporary life. Bookended by a critical introduction and a list of over two hundred other digital keywords, these essays provide concise, compelling arguments about our current mediated condition.

Digital Keywords delves into what language does in today's information revolution and why it matters.

27.95 In Stock
Digital Keywords: A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture

Digital Keywords: A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture

by Benjamin Peters (Editor)
Digital Keywords: A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture

Digital Keywords: A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture

by Benjamin Peters (Editor)

Paperback

$27.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

How the digital revolution has shaped our language

In the age of search, keywords increasingly organize research, teaching, and even thought itself. Inspired by Raymond Williams's 1976 classic Keywords, the timely collection Digital Keywords gathers pointed, provocative short essays on more than two dozen keywords by leading and rising digital media scholars from the areas of anthropology, digital humanities, history, political science, philosophy, religious studies, rhetoric, science and technology studies, and sociology. Digital Keywords examines and critiques the rich lexicon animating the emerging field of digital studies.

This collection broadens our understanding of how we talk about the modern world, particularly of the vocabulary at work in information technologies. Contributors scrutinize each keyword independently: for example, the recent pairing of digital and analog is separated, while classic terms such as community, culture, event, memory, and democracy are treated in light of their historical and intellectual importance. Metaphors of the cloud in cloud computing and the mirror in data mirroring combine with recent and radical uses of terms such as information, sharing, gaming, algorithm, and internet to reveal previously hidden insights into contemporary life. Bookended by a critical introduction and a list of over two hundred other digital keywords, these essays provide concise, compelling arguments about our current mediated condition.

Digital Keywords delves into what language does in today's information revolution and why it matters.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691167343
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 06/07/2016
Series: Princeton Studies in Culture and Technology , #8
Pages: 352
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Benjamin Peters is assistant professor of communication at the University of Tulsa and affiliated faculty at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction, Benjamin Peters xiii

1 Activism, Guobin Yang 1

2 Algorithm, Tarleton Gillespie 18

3 Analog, Jonathan Sterne 31

4 Archive, Katherine D. Harris 45

5 Cloud, John Durham Peters 54

6 Community, Rosemary Avance 63

7 Culture, Ted Striphas 70

8 Democracy, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen 81

9 Digital, Benjamin Peters 93

10 Event, Julia Sonnevend 109

11 Flow, Sandra Braman 118

12 Forum, Hope Forsyth 132

13 Gaming, Saugata Bhaduri 140

14 Geek, Christina Dunbar-Hesterv 149

15 Hacker, Gabriella Coleman 158

16 Information, Bernard Geoghegan 173

17 Internet, Thomas Streeter 184

18 Meme, Limor Shifman 197

19 Memory, Steven Schrag 206

20 Mirror, Adam Fish 217

21 Participation, Christopher Kelty 227

22 Personalization, Stephanie Ricker Schulte 242

23 Prototype, Fred Turner 256

24 Sharing, Nicholas A. John 269

25 Surrogate, Jeffrey Drouin 278

Appendix: Over Two Hundred Digital Keywords 287

About the Contributors 291

Index 297

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Digital Keywords interrogates some of the words at the center of our socio-technical world, revealing the way in which the digital has reconfigured culture. This inspiring book is essential for all who are trying to understand our contemporary mediated society. It's a pure delight for anyone who hasn't stopped to think about the power of these words."—danah boyd, founder of Data & Society and author of It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens

"Digital Keywords is fascinating, erudite, informative, and delightful. This is a cabinet of present-day wonders to which I'm sure I'll return many times."—Todd Gitlin, Columbia University

"The distinguished contributors of Digital Keywords analyze the ways language has changed as a result of the digital revolution. The result is an engaging and readable tour through important concepts in scholarly debate and public discourse."—Daniel Kreiss, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews