Evil media

by Matthew Fuller

A philosophical manual of media power for the network age.Evil Media develops a philosophy of media power that extends the concept of media beyond its tried and trusted use in the games of meaning, symbolism, and truth. It addresses the gray zones in which media exist as corporate work systems, algorithms and data structures, twenty-first century self-improvement manuals, and pharmaceutical techniques. Evil Media invites the reader to explore and understand the abstract infrastructure of the present day. From search engines to flirting strategies, from the value of institutional stupidity to the malicious minutiae of databases, this book shows how the devil is in the details.

The title takes the imperative “Don't be evil” and asks, what would be done any differently in contemporary computational and networked media were that maxim reversed.

Media here are about much more and much less than symbols, stories, information, or media do things. They incite and provoke, twist and bend, leak and manage. In a series of provocative stratagems designed to be used, Evil Media sets its reader an ethical either remain a transparent intermediary in the networks and chains of communicative power or become oneself an active, transformative medium.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Matthew Fuller is an author and Professor of Cultural Studies at the Department of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths, University of London. He is known for his writings in media theory, software studies, critical theory and cultural studies, and contemporary fiction.

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty interesting take on media, capitalism, and individual agency, considered mainly in terms of contemporary political economy but also placed within a longer history of mediation and society. I read it in a media theory seminar this summer and generally find Goffey and Fuller's take to be pretty compelling. In all honesty I didn't finish the entire thing (too much other reading!) but will definitely return to it later when I have the time.