Ben Waber reviewed Distributed Blackness by André Brock Jr.
A Decent Critical Studies Book with an Excellent Final Chapter
4 stars
This is a very critical studies book, with all of the pros and cons that entails. André investigates different Black cybercultures in the early chapters, with the most compelling one diving into Black Twitter (the concept of "weak tie racism" was especially thought-provoking). These sections are insightful but exhibit the verbosity of the field, overcomplicating concepts and reasoning in a way that requires more effort to understand than it should. The final chapter, however, mostly dispenses with this style and also provides an excellent analysis of the state of the academic discourse and future directions for the field. Even if you just breeze through the earlier chapters, the last one is can't miss. Highly recommend
This is a very critical studies book, with all of the pros and cons that entails. André investigates different Black cybercultures in the early chapters, with the most compelling one diving into Black Twitter (the concept of "weak tie racism" was especially thought-provoking). These sections are insightful but exhibit the verbosity of the field, overcomplicating concepts and reasoning in a way that requires more effort to understand than it should. The final chapter, however, mostly dispenses with this style and also provides an excellent analysis of the state of the academic discourse and future directions for the field. Even if you just breeze through the earlier chapters, the last one is can't miss. Highly recommend