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Internet-ansa – Miten digitaalinen talous rakentaa monopoleja ja nakertaa demokratiaa
A book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the online economy
The Internet was supposed to fragment audiences and make media monopolies impossible. Instead, behemoths like Google and Facebook now dominate the time we spend online--and grab all the profits from the attention economy. The Internet Trap explains how this happened. This provocative and timely book sheds light on the stunning rise of the digital giants and the online struggles of nearly everyone else--and reveals what small players can do to survive in a game that is rigged against them.
Matthew Hindman shows how seemingly tiny advantages in attracting users can snowball over time. The Internet has not reduced the cost of reaching audiences--it has merely shifted who pays and how. Challenging some of the most enduring myths of digital life, Hindman explains why the Internet is not the postindustrial technology that has been sold to the public, how it has become mathematically impossible for grad students in a garage to beat Google, and why net neutrality alone is no guarantee of an open Internet. He also explains why the challenges for local digital news outlets and other small players are worse than they appear and demonstrates what it really takes to grow a digital audience and stay alive in today's online economy.
The Internet Trap shows why, even on the Internet, there is still no such thing as a free audience.
The Internet was supposed to fragment audiences and make media monopolies impossible. Instead, behemoths like Google and Facebook now dominate the time we spend online--and grab all the profits from the attention economy. The Internet Trap explains how this happened. This provocative and timely book sheds light on the stunning rise of the digital giants and the online struggles of nearly everyone else--and reveals what small players can do to survive in a game that is rigged against them.
Matthew Hindman shows how seemingly tiny advantages in attracting users can snowball over time. The Internet has not reduced the cost of reaching audiences--it has merely shifted who pays and how. Challenging some of the most enduring myths of digital life, Hindman explains why the Internet is not the postindustrial technology that has been sold to the public, how it has become mathematically impossible for grad students in a garage to beat Google, and why net neutrality alone is no guarantee of an open Internet. He also explains why the challenges for local digital news outlets and other small players are worse than they appear and demonstrates what it really takes to grow a digital audience and stay alive in today's online economy.
The Internet Trap shows why, even on the Internet, there is still no such thing as a free audience.
274 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 2018
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229 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 7, 2025
Nyt oli niin tiukkaa tavaraa, että tokkopa mieleen jäi edes 10% informaatiosta. Mutta mitä jäi? Iso osa ihmisistä on elänyt viimeiset kymmenen vuotta internetunelmaa, jossa tiedottamisen vapaus tulee netin kautta. Suurin osa netistä on kuitenkin monopolisoitunut ihan muutamille yhtiöille. Kirjassa käsitellään yksityiskohtaisesti netin keskittymistä eri tutkimusten kautta. Viime vuosien netin huomattavan paskeentumiseen voi keksiä ratkaisun vain, jos ymmärtää mistä se johtuu.
November 14, 2018
Great book! The author makes no qualms about dispelling myths about the "democratization" of the internet (and particularly news sources) through decentralization, and going after some of the romanticized statements that have been made to that effect.
The book tells the story of the internet, its impact on news media, and the parallels of economic forces that apply just as well online as they do in the physical world, concentrating wealth (and attention) in the hands of the few. The story isn't just supported by stories from the press, but through analysis of advertising and traffic data, as well as a foray into the discussion of "how" audiences are recommended content, how it's curated for them, and what impact it has on the portion of their attention a website can command.
I liked that the book tells the story, demonstrates it with analysis, but goes a step further to offer practical advice to those trying to build an audience for their content. I imagine a future follow-up to this book would include (more) data from mobile readership and web stats given the shift to that mode of content consumption.
One of my favourites this year that I will continue to recommend to anyone who will have it!
The book tells the story of the internet, its impact on news media, and the parallels of economic forces that apply just as well online as they do in the physical world, concentrating wealth (and attention) in the hands of the few. The story isn't just supported by stories from the press, but through analysis of advertising and traffic data, as well as a foray into the discussion of "how" audiences are recommended content, how it's curated for them, and what impact it has on the portion of their attention a website can command.
I liked that the book tells the story, demonstrates it with analysis, but goes a step further to offer practical advice to those trying to build an audience for their content. I imagine a future follow-up to this book would include (more) data from mobile readership and web stats given the shift to that mode of content consumption.
One of my favourites this year that I will continue to recommend to anyone who will have it!
February 20, 2020
This book had great information and was incredibly informative. It covers this topic from a variety of angles and presents a rigorously argued case for why we have misdiagnosed and failed to anticipate a variety of issues with the distribution of power and money in the web economy. Anyone interested in some cutting edge research in this topic (and almost everyone would benefit from it) would get something good out of this book.
I knocked it one star as I wish it were a little more readable and ready for popular distribution. I'm not sure the author's target audience, but this book is better for the average academic and professorially sort then the average everyday person. It is just a bit dry, and while the details and numbers are great and helpful, they are often overwhelming and hard to keep track of. Lots of rereading and flipping back and forth to see how different pieces of information are explained and connected to the argument.
I think that is fine, and it is still a great read overall, but I think it is a hindrance to otherwise very important work.
I knocked it one star as I wish it were a little more readable and ready for popular distribution. I'm not sure the author's target audience, but this book is better for the average academic and professorially sort then the average everyday person. It is just a bit dry, and while the details and numbers are great and helpful, they are often overwhelming and hard to keep track of. Lots of rereading and flipping back and forth to see how different pieces of information are explained and connected to the argument.
I think that is fine, and it is still a great read overall, but I think it is a hindrance to otherwise very important work.
July 13, 2020
A smart, opinionated book that argues the online economy is not a level playing field, and examines how it got that way. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019...
December 28, 2021
Jos olet sisällöntuottaja, kannattaa lukea tämä. Jos taas sisällön kuluttaja, kannattaa ehdottomasti lukea tämä. Kirjassa on hyvin pureskeltu internetin taloustiede kansantajuiseksi: lyhesti homma menee niin, että valmistavasta teollisuudesta tutut suurtuotannon skaalaedut pätevät myös verkkosisällöissä. Sen takia Facebook, Twitter ja Google jyräävät ja uusien tulokkaiden on vaikea päästä markkinoille.
June 10, 2021
A great cataloguing of the forces that drive consolidation among internet companies, and an insightful look at their impact on local news. Maybe too heavily focused on the academic experiments that argue those points.
February 12, 2019
I published a book review about it!
April 1, 2021
Too academic
-Too hood
-Too hood
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews