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Toxic: Critiquing an Infectious Error

Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSNChapter

Forthcoming

Standard

Toxic: Critiquing an Infectious Error. / Maloney, Marcus; Fathallah, Judith.
Digital Media Metaphors: A Critical Introduction. ed. / Johan Farkas; Marcus Maloney. London: Routledge, 2024.

Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSNChapter

Harvard

Maloney, M & Fathallah, J 2024, Toxic: Critiquing an Infectious Error. in J Farkas & M Maloney (eds), Digital Media Metaphors: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, London. <https://www.routledge.com/Digital-Media-Metaphors-A-Critical-Introduction/Farkas-Maloney/p/book/9781032674599>

APA

Maloney, M., & Fathallah, J. (in press). Toxic: Critiquing an Infectious Error. In J. Farkas, & M. Maloney (Eds.), Digital Media Metaphors: A Critical Introduction Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Digital-Media-Metaphors-A-Critical-Introduction/Farkas-Maloney/p/book/9781032674599

Vancouver

Maloney M, Fathallah J. Toxic: Critiquing an Infectious Error. In Farkas J, Maloney M, editors, Digital Media Metaphors: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge. 2024

Author

Maloney, Marcus ; Fathallah, Judith. / Toxic : Critiquing an Infectious Error. Digital Media Metaphors: A Critical Introduction. editor / Johan Farkas ; Marcus Maloney. London : Routledge, 2024.

Bibtex

@inbook{c5fbeaa431354db58a0c8a1d17d159ef,
title = "Toxic: Critiquing an Infectious Error",
abstract = "The internet, we are told, is {\textquoteleft}toxic{\textquoteright} – an “implacable engine of addiction, loneliness, false hopes, cruelty, psychosis, indebtedness, squandered life, the corrosion of memory, and social disintegration.” This negative and widespread, and curiously biological, term for describing digital cultures and sociality is one that demands external intervention. Certainly, the internet has emerged as a discursive space in which misogyny, racism, and other forms of bigotry, are allowed to flourish; and it continues to offer users access to a range of content and services aimed more at eliciting ceaseless engagement than any positive mental or physical wellbeing outcomes. However, characterisations of such problematic digital phenomena – and often the internet as a whole – as {\textquoteleft}toxic{\textquoteright} serve a number of equally problematic social and political ends. Drawing on key critical research, etymologies of the term{\textquoteright}s broader and longstanding use in public discourse, and a series of illustrative cases, in this chapter we interrogate uses of the term {\textquoteleft}toxic{\textquoteright} to describe the internet{\textquoteright}s allegedly antisocial tendencies, even its very nature as a technology now fully embedded into every aspect of society. We explore what the metaphor is, and does, in debates over the role of the internet in our lives.",
author = "Marcus Maloney and Judith Fathallah",
year = "2024",
month = nov,
day = "11",
language = "English",
isbn = "9781032674605",
editor = "Johan Farkas and Marcus Maloney",
booktitle = "Digital Media Metaphors",
publisher = "Routledge",

}

RIS

TY - CHAP

T1 - Toxic

T2 - Critiquing an Infectious Error

AU - Maloney, Marcus

AU - Fathallah, Judith

PY - 2024/11/11

Y1 - 2024/11/11

N2 - The internet, we are told, is ‘toxic’ – an “implacable engine of addiction, loneliness, false hopes, cruelty, psychosis, indebtedness, squandered life, the corrosion of memory, and social disintegration.” This negative and widespread, and curiously biological, term for describing digital cultures and sociality is one that demands external intervention. Certainly, the internet has emerged as a discursive space in which misogyny, racism, and other forms of bigotry, are allowed to flourish; and it continues to offer users access to a range of content and services aimed more at eliciting ceaseless engagement than any positive mental or physical wellbeing outcomes. However, characterisations of such problematic digital phenomena – and often the internet as a whole – as ‘toxic’ serve a number of equally problematic social and political ends. Drawing on key critical research, etymologies of the term’s broader and longstanding use in public discourse, and a series of illustrative cases, in this chapter we interrogate uses of the term ‘toxic’ to describe the internet’s allegedly antisocial tendencies, even its very nature as a technology now fully embedded into every aspect of society. We explore what the metaphor is, and does, in debates over the role of the internet in our lives.

AB - The internet, we are told, is ‘toxic’ – an “implacable engine of addiction, loneliness, false hopes, cruelty, psychosis, indebtedness, squandered life, the corrosion of memory, and social disintegration.” This negative and widespread, and curiously biological, term for describing digital cultures and sociality is one that demands external intervention. Certainly, the internet has emerged as a discursive space in which misogyny, racism, and other forms of bigotry, are allowed to flourish; and it continues to offer users access to a range of content and services aimed more at eliciting ceaseless engagement than any positive mental or physical wellbeing outcomes. However, characterisations of such problematic digital phenomena – and often the internet as a whole – as ‘toxic’ serve a number of equally problematic social and political ends. Drawing on key critical research, etymologies of the term’s broader and longstanding use in public discourse, and a series of illustrative cases, in this chapter we interrogate uses of the term ‘toxic’ to describe the internet’s allegedly antisocial tendencies, even its very nature as a technology now fully embedded into every aspect of society. We explore what the metaphor is, and does, in debates over the role of the internet in our lives.

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781032674605

SN - 9781032674599

BT - Digital Media Metaphors

A2 - Farkas, Johan

A2 - Maloney, Marcus

PB - Routledge

CY - London

ER -