Media and Society: Power, Platforms, and Participation

How do media platforms organise social life? How do media empower or disempower our identities? How do we understand the impact of algorithms? How are media audiences produced and managed? Media & Society introduces the role of the media in social, cultural, political and economic life, unpacking the increasing entanglement of digital media technology with our everyday lives. It explores the relationship between meaning and power in an age of participatory culture, social media and digital platforms. An age where we both create and consume content, and where we both give and gain attention – translating our social lives into huge flows of data. Associate Professor Nicholas Carah shows how a critical approach to power helps us not only to understand the role media play in shaping the social, but also how we can become critically informed media citizens ourselves, able to participate and be heard in meaningful ways. Media & Society expertly introduces all the key concepts and ideas you need to know, and then puts theory into practice by tying them to contemporary case studies. From using Ghostery to track how your personal data is being collected, to exploring misinformation on social media via Youtube, to the reality of internships and freelancing in today’s digital media industry. It is essential reading for students of media, communication and cultural studies.