Status Update

A book that analyzes status-building techniques - such as self-branding, micro-celebrity, and life-streaming - to show that Web 2.0 did not provide a cultural revolution, but only furthered inequality and reinforced traditional social stratification, demarcated by race, class and gender.

Marwick makes a compelling case that the rhetoric does not always match the reality, particularly when it comes to social media.--Ravi Mattu, Financial Times

"A must-read for anyone interested in the culture of the tech world and in the techniques of status-building in contemporary digital society."--Finola Kerrigan, Times Higher Education Supplement

"[Marwick is] a keen ethnographer of Silicon Valley."--Sue Halpern, New York Review of Books

Marwick brilliantly gets beneath the shiny exterior of the Web 2.0 startup scene to uncover the ways in which geeks, entrepreneurs, and technologists use their creations to jockey for status and seek attention. This book is critical for all who care about or use social media.--danah boyd, Microsoft Research

"With thoughtfulness and rigor, Marwick explains the importance of major social networks from cultural, economic, and human standpoints. Status Update offers a true understanding of what it means to share ourselves online, with a healthy skepticism about Silicon Valley's utopian promises."--Anil Dash, ThinkUp

Marwick masterfully weaves together what motivates us as humans and what defines identity online. If you want to understand the future of social media, this book is required reading.--Dennis Crowley, co-founder Foursquare

San Francisco and environs have long been the home of American dreaming. In this fascinating book, Marwick interrogates Silicon Valley's recent dream: Web 2.0 and the tools and behaviors it spawned.--Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus

Marwick's lively, sophisticated book shows how deeply intertwined our lives are with the whims and biases of a handful of coders. An essential read for anyone who is curious about how social media work.--Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of The Googlization of Everything--and Why We Should Worry