{"product_id":"trolling-ourselves-to-death-democracy-in-the-age-of-social-media-9780197557778","title":"Trolling Ourselves to Death: Democracy in the Age of Social Media","description":"Almost forty years ago, Neil Postman argued that television had brought about a fundamental transformation to democracy. By turning entertainment into our supreme ideology, television had recreated public discourse in its image and converted democracy into show business. In \u003cem\u003eTrolling Ourselves to Death\u003c\/em\u003e, Jason Hannan builds on Postman's classic thesis, arguing that we are now not so much amusing, as trolling ourselves to death. Yet, how do we explain this profound change? What are the primary drivers behind the deterioration of civic culture and the toxification of public discourse? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003eTrolling Ourselves to Death\u003c\/em\u003e moves beyond the familiar picture of trolling by recasting it in a broader historical light. Contrary to the popular view of the troll as an exclusively anonymous online prankster who hides behind a clever avatar and screen name, Hannan asserts that trolls have emerged from the cave, so to speak, and now walk in the clear light of day. Trolls now include politicians, performers, patriots, and protesters. What was once a mysterious phenomenon limited to the darker corners of the Internet has since gone mainstream, eroding our public culture and changing the rules of democratic politics. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHannan shows how trolling is the logical outcome of a culture of possessive individualism, widespread alienation, mass distrust, and rampant paranoia. Synthesizing media ecology with historical materialism, he explores the disturbing rise of political unreason in the form of mass trolling and sheds light on the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy theory, \"cancel culture,\" and digital violence. Taking inspiration from Robert Brandom's innovative reading of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, \u003cem\u003eTrolling Ourselves to Death \u003c\/em\u003emakes a case for building \"a spirit of trust\" to curb the epidemic of mass distrust that feeds the plague of political trolling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJason Hannan\u003c\/strong\u003e is Associate Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications at the University of Winnipeg.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50725106024722,"sku":"9780197557778","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2b645694-14c4-4afe-aa62-da896efd1579.jpg?v=1734816809","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/trolling-ourselves-to-death-democracy-in-the-age-of-social-media-9780197557778","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}