The Truth about Nature: Environmentalism in the Era of Post-Truth Politics and Platform Capitalism

New book by Bram Büscher, published by University of California Press: We are in the midst of an environmental crisis. The facts that corroborate this are plentiful, and shifting the tide is becoming more urgent than ever. But how do we get attention for these facts? Environmentalists increasingly choose to communicate the truth about nature through social media. Since this has become the most obvious way to get a message across and reach a large audience, it seems like a well paved road to structural change. Well, actually, if you look closer, this road is fairly bumpy. First, digital platforms are far from neutral. Which information you see is based on algorithms. And many of these algorithms are monopolized and manipulated by companies like Google, Facebook and Apple to generate more profits. So there is a hidden power structure behind social media platforms. Second, this power structure has some important effects. It stimulates post-tr