Axel Bruns Books

Exploring the innovative realm of online journalism, this book delves into the concept of gatewatching, where audiences actively participate in news creation and dissemination. It examines the shift from traditional news gatekeeping to a collaborative model, highlighting the roles of social media and digital platforms in shaping public discourse. Through case studies and theoretical insights, the text addresses the implications for media ethics, credibility, and the evolving relationship between journalists and their audiences in the digital age.

There has been much concern over the impact of partisan echo chambers and filter bubbles on public debate. Is this concern justified, or is it distracting us from more serious issues? Axel Bruns argues that the influence of echo chambers and filter bubbles has been severely overstated, and results from a broader moral panic about the role of online and social media in society. Our focus on these concepts, and the widespread tendency to blame platforms and their algorithms for political disruptions, obscure far more serious issues pertaining to the rise of populism and hyperpolarisation in democracies. Evaluating the evidence for and against echo chambers and filter bubbles, Bruns offers a persuasive argument for why we should shift our focus to more important problems. This timely book is essential reading for students and scholars, as well as anyone concerned about challenges to public debate and the democratic process.

Uses of Blogs brings together scholars and practitioners from a wide range of fields to offer a broad spectrum of perspectives on current and emerging uses of blogs. Blogging is rapidly developing into a mainstream activity for Internet users, but beyond the popular headlines, there has been very little serious research done on their actual application in specific, everyday contexts. One reason for this is that the variety of styles of blogging – news blogs and political commentary blogs, marketing blogs, corporate dark blogs, fictional blogs, educational blogs, to name just a few – make it difficult to generalize and to imagine how blogs might be used in particular environments. This pathbreaking new book demonstrates the application of blogs and blogging in the full range of industrial and social contexts.

Explores our developing participatory online culture, establishing the core principles which drive the rise of collaborative content creation in environments, from open source through blogs and Wikipedia to Second Life. Argues that what is emerging is no longer just a new form of content production, but a new process for the continuous creation and extension of knowledge and art by collarborative communities: produsage.

Focusing on the emergence of Generation C, the book explores the transformative impact of users who have evolved into creators and distributors of content through platforms like MySpace and YouTube. It examines the essence of Web 2.0, delving into the realities behind the buzz and hype surrounding social software and user-generated content. This analysis highlights the cultural and technological shifts that are redefining media and communication in the digital age.

Wilhelmshaven in den 50er und 60er Jahren. Das Dritte Reich ist zwar Geschichte, aber Hitler ist noch in aller Munde. Im 'Bertelsmann Volkslexikon' wird vor den Folgen ausgelebter Sexualität gewarnt – aber die Pubertät trotzt allen Gefahren. Nur Hochwasser wird gefürchtet – wenn es die eigenen Hosen betrifft. Axel Bruns hat ein Lexikon seiner Kindheit und Jugend geschrieben. Von Abenteuerroman bis Zentrifugalaschenbecher. Provokant. Politisch unkorrekt. Alphabetisch.

Über das Marionettentheater in Burma weiß man im Westen nur sehr wenig. Das vorliegende Buch ist - zumindest in deutscher Sprache - die einzige umfassende Darstellung zum Marionettentheater in Burma. Neben den hier abgebildeten Marionetten in Farbe und deren Konstruktionsprinzipien anhand von Zeichnungen bilden die Interviews mit Marionettenherstellern einen authentischen Bestandteil dieser hervorragenden wissenschaftlichen Studie.