Podcast interview with Bill Wasik, author of “And Then There’s This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture”
Bill Wasik’s new book “And Then There’s This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture” perfectly diagnoses the creeping Information Age anxiety of anyone who is trying to keep up with the online culture/news churn. Now that we can all produce our own newspaper/radio/TV, we begin to view the world as editors and producers, which is to say, ultimately as marketers, and that has changed the way we look at events and at ourselves.
“You monitor and you scheme and you promote, just like the hit-addled corporate culture has been teaching you for years. Because when your words or actions or art are available not only to your friends, but to potentially thousands or even millions of strangers, it changes how you act, what you say, how you see yourself. You become aware of yourself as a character on a stage, as a public figure with a meaning. You develop, that is, the media mind. You know exactly what you are doing.”
Wasik, a senior editor for Harper’s is a sharp, funny writer and the book is very entertaining. Wasik takes us through six viral experiments he performs that show the upside and downside of the global village. To get a taste of it, check out his recent NYT opinion piece or go to his blog at www.billwasik.com
