Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions That Shape Social Media

摘要

Tarleton Gillespie's Custodians of the Internet: platforms, content moderation, and the hidden decisions that shape social media provides an in-depth demolition of the illusion that is platform neutrality. His detail, breadth, and depth are amazing and refreshing. His tact and tenor are collegial, and he presents his case not with any joy in destruction or "I told you so" tone; rather, it's almost asif he is sorry to disappoint believers in technological neutrality that the myth isn't real.As such, the book is more likely to change readers' minds than any heated water cooler conversation or Internet comment exchange. Gillespie is neither a pundit nor evangelist; instead, his approach to platforms, and their bias, is overwhelmingly practical and civil. This civility helps mirror one clear goal, to help address a core problem: How do we establish, foster, and maintain civil discourse across an array of Internet-based platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and hundreds of others?