Geek and Hacker Stories

Geeks, hackers and gamers share a common 'geek culture', whose members are defined and define themselves mainly in terms of technology and rationality. The members of geek culture produce and circulate stories to express who they are and to explain and justify what they do. Geek storytelling draws on plots and themes from the wider social and cultural context in which geeks live. The author surveys many stories of heated exchanges and techno-tribal conflicts that date back to the earliest days of personal computing, which construct the self and the enemy, and express and debate a range of political positions.

Geek and Hacker Stories will be of interest to students of digital social science and media studies. Both geeky and non-technical readers will find something of value in this account.

Brings contemporary geek communities and geek culture to life with media case studies, ethnography and narrative analysis Opens up computer science by focusing on cultural and amateur practices of computing which counter both fantastical media coverage and the perceived hardship of serious engagement with computational systems Provides a contribution to narrating and understanding computing that underlies nearly all societal operations

Autorentext
Brian Alleyne is Lecturer at Goldsmiths University, UK.

Inhalt

1. Initialise (key ideas).- 2. Representing Geeks.- 3. Platform War Stories. 4. Geek Political Narrative.- 5. Notes from a Geek Autobiography. -- 6. Afterword: Coda.