- Paperback: 95 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books Inc.; Revised edition edition (7 Oct 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345397746
- ISBN-13: 978-0345397744
- Product Dimensions: 13.9 x 1.9 x 20.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 458,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Media Virus!
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Product Description
Product Description
The most virulent viruses today are composed of information. In this information-driven age, the easiest way to manipulate the culture is through the media. A hip and caustically humorous McLuhan for the '90s, culture watcher Douglas Rushkoff now offers a fascinating expose of media manipulation in today's age of instant information.
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The average American home has more media-gathering technology than a state-of-the-art newsroom did ten years ago. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The average American home has more media-gathering technology than a state-of-the-art newsroom did ten years ago. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book has some interesting analysis of television programming and political campaigns but fails with attempts to compare pop culture and chaos theory. In this regard the author misunderstands fractals and confuses feedback (the cycling of an output back into its original source) with ordinary propagation (the progress of an output to successive new points). Since the chaos "virus," to use the author's terms, pervades the book, this is a serious flaw in my opinion.
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13 reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Seminal Book On Media Theory, Memetics, Postmodern Culture
19 April 1999
Format:Paperback
Since its release in 1994, 'Media Virus' has become Douglas Rushkoff's most influential and most popular book.
Rushkoff skillfully dissects such 'memes' as the O.J. Simpson trial, the Rodney King beating tape, and the pervasive influence of MTV editing. He finds Queer sexuality in 'Ren & Stimpy', social agendas with John Morgenthaler's 'Smart Drugs' campaign, and closes the book with an insightful and rare interview with the influential musician, raver, and performance artist Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Pigface, Thee Majesty).
Much of what Rushkoff has written has become de facto teaching within university media courses, and Rushkoff's insights have been clarified and commented upon by many other social theorists and cyberpunks. This is a valuable book because its accessible easy to read style makes it a good introduction to a field that many find foreboding, difficult or complex. Rushkoff is careful to include case-studies and examples such as detailed semiotic analysis of 'The Simpsons', and to provide the relevant historical and industry contexts. The book's influence can be seen by the prevalence of Madison Avenue techniques subsequent to the book's publication, and the popularity of mutant media.
Well worth checking out!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Are you infected by a Media Virus?
27 Jan 2000
Format:Paperback
While some academics still worry about people watching television, Douglass Rushkoff celebrates the power of individuals to create their own media presence in "Media Virus."
In a witty style, Rushkoff praises the MTV generation for their ability to do - and understand - more than one thing at a time. Written in 1994, the book's seems a bit dated in its predictions... and more than slightly optimistic in speculating about the liberating aspects of new media to resurrect the political passions of Americans. Media Virus remains an excellent overview of the tensions and possibilities that television presents for political activists.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
memes in a candy shell
28 July 1997
Format:Hardcover
_Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture_ by Douglas Rushkoff is about the manipulative influence
of the media on our lives. Rushkoff asserts that influences from the media replicate through popular culture the way that biological viruses do, and further, can be engineered for maximum efficacy.
of the media on our lives. Rushkoff asserts that influences from the media replicate through popular culture the way that biological viruses do, and further, can be engineered for maximum efficacy.
Examining television programs such as "Ren and Stimpy," which
he believes promotes homosexuality, to media events
such as the O.J. Simpson trial, which he believes is indicative of society's inability to cope with spousal abuse and interracial marriage, Rushkoff
points out that much of what we watch on television consists of pointed messages carefully encapsulated in seemingly innocuous carriers. Rushkoff also points out that media viruses can be injected into popular culture from the bottom up through the use of the
alternative media and the Internet.
Interesting and provocative, this book, itself a media virus,
shows us how easily we as a culture can be manipulated.
However, there were times in the book that I thought Rushkoff was giving more credit than was due in attributing certain effects to their creators. This book is highly recommended for those with an interest in the psychology of the media and how people can be influenced by it.
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