Trolling Ourselves to Death : Democracy in the Age of Social Media

Almost forty years ago, Neil Postman argued that television had brought about a fundamental transformation to democracy.By turning entertainment into our supreme ideology, television had recreated public discourse in its image and converted democracy into show business.In Trolling Ourselves to Death, Jason Hannan builds on Postman's classic thesis, arguing that we are now not so much amusing, as trolling ourselves to death.Yet, how do we explain this profound change? What are the primary drivers behind the deterioration of civic culture and the toxification of public discourse?Trolling Ourselves to Death moves beyond the familiar picture of trolling by recasting it in a broader historical light.Contrary to the popular view of the troll as an exclusively anonymous online prankster who hides behind a clever avatar and screen name, Hannan asserts that trolls have emerged from the cave, so to speak, and now walk in the clear light of day.Trolls now include politicians, performers, patriots