Review: And Then There's This
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsQuirky theories on the rise of viral culture. Harper's senior editor Wasik is fascinated by how the Internet and handheld wireless devices are changing basic social relationships, particularly the speed with which individuals become famous and forgotten in the media arena. He should know. Wasik originated the evanescent MOB trend in May 2003, inviting 63 friends and acquaintances to join an "inexplicable mob of people in New York City for ten minutes or less." His motivation? "I was bored," he writes, "by which I mean the world at that moment seemed adequate for neither my entertainment nor my sense of self." Boredom aside, he wished to create the sort of intentionally viral "nanostory" he perceived as central to online culture, as confirmed by the roundly mocked Time selection of "You" as 2006 Person of the Year. Wasik's "Mob Project" attracted media and online attention followed by an equal amount of backlash, which the author suggests was inevitable: "After six mobs, even conceiving of new enough crowd permutations started to feel like a challenge." For much of the book, Wasik sets similar challenges for himself, enlisting the help of online scenesters with similar interests, like Huffington Post technology director Jonah Peretti, a "high-status" individual responsible for the website BlackPeopleLoveUs.com and such pranks as ordering custom "sweatshop" sneakers from Nike. Wasik won Peretti's competition for most popular website with a parodic "right wing" New York Times, and he invented "Bill Shiller," a phony MySpace-based identity created to "cultivate proactive relationships with brands." These experiments support his assertion that "the Internet is revolutionary in how it has democratized not just culture-making but culture monitoring," but the effectiveness of the author's argument is mixed. Though Wasik is well-informed and sharply addresses his slippery subject, he also exudes a pretentious, insider-ish vibe. Witty and of the moment, yet presumably destined for a short shelf life.
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - Will - GoodreadsFun examples of Wasik's antics abound in this quick book. Do not read this if you're looking for hard theoretical arguments about memes or the political process. Here you'll find a practitioner's ... Read full review
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - Sherri - GoodreadsThis is a great book about viral culture and the rise of what Wasik terms nanostories. I found it fascinating, though I don't think it will work for our Freshman Reading, since some of it's content ... Read full review
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - John Pappas - GoodreadsThis was an enjoyable read with a few decent statements on modern culture. They were awash in a tide of personal reflection but they were, at least, interesting personal reflections from the creator ... Read full review
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - Nathan and Amy - GoodreadsThe sections on the less successful viral projects were a little slow at times which perhaps reflects one of the main points of the author (are stories about successful nanostories inherently more interesting than those about unsuccessful nanostories). Liked the overall analysis and conclusion Read full review
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - Jesselyn - GoodreadsI'm torn on this book - while I enjoyed the stories and the writing style (which reminded me of Chuck Klosterman), the book felt fragmented and not cohesive as a whole. Read full review
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - Ryan Holiday - GoodreadsThis is a weird book that is difficult to categorize. Not many of tried to do much thinking on how a new generation (the public) generates and consume media narratives and this is the first book to do ... Read full review
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - Will - GoodreadsMaybe my expectations were too high, I just haven't felt this disappointed by a book in a while. How stories live and die in a viral culture is something I have to deal with each day in my job as a ... Read full review
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - Kris - GoodreadsInteresting in an obnoxious way. Read full review
Review: And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture
User Review - Darin Stewart - GoodreadsI had high hopes for this book, but it just didn't engage me at all. Rather than an analysis of how memes birth, live and die on the internet, it is more a chronicle of Wasik's adventures and pranks online. The anecdotes of flashmobs and the like are entertaining but not particularly informative. Read full review
