Bemusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Social Media
In 1985, Neil Postman published Amusing Ourselves to Death, a McLuhan-inspired critique of the transformation of public discourse from 19th-century print culture, with its depth of reading, thought and debate, to the contemporary era of television ‘show business’. Developments since then, most notab...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wydawnictwa AGH
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Studia Humanistyczne AGH |
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| Online Access: | http://www.journalssystem.com/shagh/Bemusing-Ourselves-to-Death-Public-Discourse-in-the-Age-of-Social-Media,149893,0,2.html |
| _version_ | 1797705553365958656 |
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| author | William Merrin |
| author_facet | William Merrin |
| author_sort | William Merrin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In 1985, Neil Postman published Amusing Ourselves to Death, a McLuhan-inspired critique of the transformation of public discourse from 19th-century print culture, with its depth of reading, thought and debate, to the contemporary era of television ‘show business’. Developments since then, most notably the digital revolution, allow us to update Postman’s thesis, to explore the digital age that succeeds the electric broadcast era and its contemporary transformation of culture and politics. This paper argues that digital personalisation has exploded the mass-media world, bursting its mainstream bubble into a foam of individual life-worlds, empowering everyone as the producer of their own realities. Arguing that the key thinker of this era is Philip K. Dick (with his exploration of fictive, split, and personal realities), the paper explores the cultural impact of this new post-truth era of ‘media’ realities and the ‘bemusement’ it produces. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:38:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e877e5af35dc48649db91027a42bd35e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2084-3364 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:38:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Wydawnictwa AGH |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studia Humanistyczne AGH |
| spelling | doaj.art-e877e5af35dc48649db91027a42bd35e2023-09-03T06:17:29ZengWydawnictwa AGHStudia Humanistyczne AGH2084-33642022-06-01212172910.7494/human.2022.21.2.17149893Bemusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Social MediaWilliam Merrin0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4811-1204Swansea University, United KingdomIn 1985, Neil Postman published Amusing Ourselves to Death, a McLuhan-inspired critique of the transformation of public discourse from 19th-century print culture, with its depth of reading, thought and debate, to the contemporary era of television ‘show business’. Developments since then, most notably the digital revolution, allow us to update Postman’s thesis, to explore the digital age that succeeds the electric broadcast era and its contemporary transformation of culture and politics. This paper argues that digital personalisation has exploded the mass-media world, bursting its mainstream bubble into a foam of individual life-worlds, empowering everyone as the producer of their own realities. Arguing that the key thinker of this era is Philip K. Dick (with his exploration of fictive, split, and personal realities), the paper explores the cultural impact of this new post-truth era of ‘media’ realities and the ‘bemusement’ it produces.http://www.journalssystem.com/shagh/Bemusing-Ourselves-to-Death-Public-Discourse-in-the-Age-of-Social-Media,149893,0,2.htmlpostmanmcluhanbaudrillardrealityhyporealitysocial-mediadick |
| spellingShingle | William Merrin Bemusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Social Media Studia Humanistyczne AGH postman mcluhan baudrillard reality hyporeality social-media dick |
| title | Bemusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Social Media |
| title_full | Bemusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Social Media |
| title_fullStr | Bemusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Social Media |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bemusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Social Media |
| title_short | Bemusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Social Media |
| title_sort | bemusing ourselves to death public discourse in the age of social media |
| topic | postman mcluhan baudrillard reality hyporeality social-media dick |
| url | http://www.journalssystem.com/shagh/Bemusing-Ourselves-to-Death-Public-Discourse-in-the-Age-of-Social-Media,149893,0,2.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT williammerrin bemusingourselvestodeathpublicdiscourseintheageofsocialmedia |