Robert Hassan is Senior Researcher in Media and Communications at the University of Melbourne.

• Preface vii1 The Information Society Today: The Acceleration of Just About Everything 12 The Coming of the Information Society 323 Information Takes Over 754 A Shrinking Planet 1095 Commodification and Culture in the Information Society 1356 Faster and Faster 1597 Who Rules?: Politics and Control in the Information Society 190Glossary 224References 237Index 253

“Robert Hassan provides here an accessible and valuable review of the information society, with his own forceful argument for the role of neo-liberalism in shaping this accelerating and volatile world in which we must live.”Frank Webster, City University of London “Robert Hassan has successfully updated the stale notion of information society. From the perspective of Internet culture Hassan takes apart the self-evident information technology hype. Instead of leading us further down into cold, sociological formulas, The Information Society engages in contemporary debates around the network effect. Hassan singles out two processes: commodification and acceleration. The critical contribution centres around the speed illusion of today's network society, culminating in the often heard question: how do you deal with chronic distraction?”Geert Lovink, University of Amsterdam

Robert Hassan is Senior Researcher in Media and Communications at the University of Melbourne.

• Preface vii1 The Information Society Today: The Acceleration of Just About Everything 12 The Coming of the Information Society 323 Information Takes Over 754 A Shrinking Planet 1095 Commodification and Culture in the Information Society 1356 Faster and Faster 1597 Who Rules?: Politics and Control in the Information Society 190Glossary 224References 237Index 253

“Robert Hassan provides here an accessible and valuable review of the information society, with his own forceful argument for the role of neo-liberalism in shaping this accelerating and volatile world in which we must live.”Frank Webster, City University of London “Robert Hassan has successfully updated the stale notion of information society. From the perspective of Internet culture Hassan takes apart the self-evident information technology hype. Instead of leading us further down into cold, sociological formulas, The Information Society engages in contemporary debates around the network effect. Hassan singles out two processes: commodification and acceleration. The critical contribution centres around the speed illusion of today's network society, culminating in the often heard question: how do you deal with chronic distraction?”Geert Lovink, University of Amsterdam

Robert Hassan is Senior Researcher in Media and Communications at the University of Melbourne.

• Preface vii1 The Information Society Today: The Acceleration of Just About Everything 12 The Coming of the Information Society 323 Information Takes Over 754 A Shrinking Planet 1095 Commodification and Culture in the Information Society 1356 Faster and Faster 1597 Who Rules?: Politics and Control in the Information Society 190Glossary 224References 237Index 253

“Robert Hassan provides here an accessible and valuable review of the information society, with his own forceful argument for the role of neo-liberalism in shaping this accelerating and volatile world in which we must live.”Frank Webster, City University of London “Robert Hassan has successfully updated the stale notion of information society. From the perspective of Internet culture Hassan takes apart the self-evident information technology hype. Instead of leading us further down into cold, sociological formulas, The Information Society engages in contemporary debates around the network effect. Hassan singles out two processes: commodification and acceleration. The critical contribution centres around the speed illusion of today's network society, culminating in the often heard question: how do you deal with chronic distraction?”Geert Lovink, University of Amsterdam