Book Review: 'Extremely Online' shows how creators and influencers have shaped social media
Washington Post technology columnist Taylor Lorenz tells the social history of social media in “Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence and Power on the Internet.”
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.There's no shortage of books published in the past several years that have focused on the recent history of social media companies and the founders of the tech giants running them.
In “Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet,” Taylor Lorenz makes a valuable and entertaining contribution to that collection by telling the story through the prism of the users, creators and influencers who have shaped social media and its impact on our culture.
Lorenz, technology columnist for The Washington Post, has written what she calls a social history of social media that profiles the motley collection of figures who have had arguably more influence on the landscape of the modern Internet than most Silicon Valley executives.
From mommy bloggers to TikTok celebrities, Lorenz focuses on the users who “revolutionized new approaches to work, entertainment, fame, ambition in the 21st century.”
As someone who has covered those new approaches over the years, Lorenz is well-positioned to chronicle that history. Lorenz tells the story of how tech companies struggled to adapt to users' needs and demands over the past two decades.
The book is an enlightening history of the pioneers of influencers such as bloggers Heather Armstrong and Julia Allison, as well as the rise and fall of platforms such MySpace and Vine.
She also explores the dark side of social media's rise, looking at how platforms have been weaponized from “Gamergate" to the rapid spread of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. She lays bare the challenges created by the transformation of social media, noting that “tech founders may control source code, but users shape the product.”