The Gentrification of the Internet: How to Reclaim Our Digital Freedom

by Jessa Lingel

How we lost control of the internet—and how to win it back.

The internet has become a battleground. Although it was unlikely to live up to the hype and hopes of the 1990s, only the most skeptical cynics could have predicted the World Wide Web as we know it commercial, isolating, and full of, even fueled by, bias. This was not inevitable. The Gentrification of the Internet argues that much like our cities, the internet has become gentrified, dominated by the interests of business and capital rather than the interests of the people who use it. Jessa Lingel uses the politics and debates of gentrification to diagnose the massive, systemic problems blighting our contemporary erosions of privacy and individual ownership, small businesses wiped out by wealthy corporations, the ubiquitous paywall. But there are still steps we can take to reclaim the heady possibilities of the early internet. Lingel outlines actions that internet activists and everyday users can take to defend and secure more protections for the individual and to carve out more spaces of freedom for the people—not businesses—online.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Technology

168 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2021

Reviews

[CS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

From my personal experience, I can definitely feel and see how the internet has changed. Once upon a time, going online meant one person using the phoneline to maybe look up artwork from Lord of the Rings (oh, just me?) Sure, you might buy a few books or CDs online, but mostly you (me) looked up pictures, because videos took forever to load and MySpace was only where rapists lurked (oh, just my family thought that?). I hid the fact I reviewed things online and was part of an online Star Wars community because I was afraid of how people would think I am weird(er) than I already am.

But fast forward today - sure, I needed an email for college back then, but now, it's critical to have an internet connection. I see stories all the time about how poorer families go to McDonald's to use the free Wifi for school. Most businesses direct you online for more information. You can buy things from halfway around the world, video call friends and family, make appointments with doctors, and pay all your bills. Hell, there are people ("influencers") whose entire career is basically a walking ad. The Internet has become a need, like water, power and sewer.

This book talks a lot about all these changes - and yet I still have this gut feeling that I only got a really topical view of the whole thing. I mean, the book is only really 111 pages, with the rest dedicated to a glossary, a meaty references section (which is great, don't get me wrong!). I suppose I'm the fool for expecting more, but I still am left wishing this book was like 100 pages longer to dig deeper. Perhaps that just means I need to seek out more information.

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gentrification is a murky term, perhaps best described as an influx of wealth and a focus on profits over community. Lingel's accessible book demonstrates the same steamroller effect on digital communities.

The online community was originally very niche - a collection of like-minded folks with a technical knack. This continued as modems and personal computers expanded the possibilities for more of the population. As the author points out, when profit became more of a focus, these communities collapsed - or were pushed out. Without net neutrality, even the ISPs are capable of throttling bandwidth to some sites in favor of others - based on money and not need.

The comparison to urban gentrification also comes with a series of strategies for pushing back. Strengthening (or legislating) community, insisting on fair infrastructure and just compensation, and above all awareness are excellent tools. In addition to full notes on resources, this brief book also contains a glossary and sources for further reading.

This is not an easy topic to cover, from the difficulty in explaining gentrification to the active resistance by those profiting from it. The addition of charts with historical outcomes would have helped, along with graphics for some of the analogies. The author clearly knows her stuff, I just feel it could be more accessible to the general public - the very audience for much-needed awareness.

[Rahel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provides a solid overview over the topics covered, but sadly only skims the surface of all of them. I'm too familiar with the content covered on an academic level to properly judge how the information is conveyed to it's target audience, but I am looking forward to reading Lingel's academic writing and research publications all the more now.

[jas lecesne · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for school, it was a cool read but just not what i was looking for (a source for my thesis)

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright book. Got a little technical at points and was a little all over the place thematically with the organization and central idea. Felt like four separate articles, all of which were different degrees of interesting. It’s cool to hear things put into words about how the internet is different than it used to be, something that I just sort of intuitively understand based on my experience growing up using it but was never able to specifically verbalize

[Zenoliu · Rating 3 out of 5]

In what ways have we been let down by the internet?

1. Bubble filtering algorithms only push opinions and information that match our philosophy, and the closed Internet has replaced the open Internet.
2. Internet companies put shareholders ahead of users after going public, destroying the ecology of small, multidimensional communities.
3. Our data is being sold, our attention is being mined, and our right to control our lives is being taken away without us realizing it.

[Carl Gützkow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read