Twitter has become a household name, discussed both for its role in prominent national elections, natural disasters, and political movements, as well as for what some malign as narcissistic "chatter." This book takes a critical step back from popular discourse and media coverage of Twitter, to present the first balanced, scholarly engagement of this popular medium.

In this timely and comprehensive introduction, Murthy not only discusses Twitter's role in our political, economic, and social lives, but also draws a historical line between the telegraph and Twitter to reflect on...

YouTube is now firmly established as the dominant platform for online video, and it continues to be a site of both experimentation and conflict among media industries, creators and audiences. First published in 2009, this was the first book to take YouTube seriously as a media and cultural phenomenon. This revised and updated second edition explains how the platform is being used, how it is changing, and why it matters. The new edition reflects YouTube's maturity as a platform and includes more detailed coverage of its institutional and economic contexts, while retaining the discussions of...

Thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition of Blogging provides an accessible study of a now everyday phenomenon and places it in a historical, theoretical and contemporary context. The second edition takes into account the most recent research and developments and provides current analyses of new tools for microblogging and visual blogging.

Jill Walker Rettberg discusses the ways blogs are integrated into today's mainstream social media ecology, where comments and links from Twitter and Facebook may be more important than the network between blogs that was...

Thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition of 'BLogging' provides an accessible study of a now everyday phenomenon and places it in a historical, theoretical and contemporary context. The second edition takes into account the most recent research and developments and provides current analyses of new tools for microblogging and visual blogging.

Jill Walker Rettberg discusses the ways blogs are integrated into today's mainstream social media ecology, where comments and links from Twitter and Facebook may be more important than the network between blogs that was significant five...

In this compelling book, Graeme Kirkpatrick argues that computer games have fundamentally altered the relation of self and society in the digital age.

Tracing the origins of gaming to the revival of play in the 1960s counter culture, Computer Games and the Social Imaginary describes how the energies of that movement transformed computer technology from something ugly and machine-like into a world of colour and 'fun'. In the process, play with computers became computer gaming - a new cultural practice with its own values.

From the late 1980s gaming became a resource for...

Radio's influence can be found in almost every corner of new media. Radio in the Digital Age assesses a medium that has not only survived the challenges of a new technological age but indeed has extended its reach. This is not a book about digital radio, but rather about the medium of radio in its many analogue and digital forms in an age characterised by digital technologies. The context of the digital age reveals new insights about the nature of radio.

In this important addition to the world of radio scholarship, Dubber provides a theoretical framework for understanding...

Radio's influence can be found in almost every corner of new media. Radio in the Digital Age assesses a medium that has not only survived the challenges of a new technological age but indeed has extended its reach. This is not a book about digital radio, but rather about the medium of radio in its many analogue and digital forms in an age characterised by digital technologies. The context of the digital age reveals new insights about the nature of radio.

In this important addition to the world of radio scholarship, Dubber provides a theoretical framework for understanding...

In this compelling book, Graeme Kirkpatrick argues that computer games have fundamentally altered the relation of self and society in the digital age.

Tracing the origins of gaming to the revival of play in the 1960s counter culture, Computer Games and the Social Imaginary describes how the energies of that movement transformed computer technology from something ugly and machine-like into a world of colour and 'fun'. In the process, play with computers became computer gaming - a new cultural practice with its own values.

From the late 1980s gaming became a resource for...

Smartphone adoption has surpassed 50% of the population in more than 15 countries, and there are now more than one million mobile applications people can download to their phones. Many of these applications take advantage of smartphones as locative media, which is what allows smartphones to be located in physical space. Applications that take advantage of people's location are called location-based services, and they are the focus of this book.

Smartphones as locative media raise important questions about how we understand the complicated relationship between the Internet and...

Smartphone adoption has surpassed 50% of the population in more than 15 countries, and there are now more than one million mobile applications people can download to their phones. Many of these applications take advantage of smartphones as locative media, which is what allows smartphones to be located in physical space. Applications that take advantage of people's location are called location-based services, and they are the focus of this book.

Smartphones as locative media raise important questions about how we understand the complicated relationship between the Internet and...