Traffic

Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral

De: Ben Smith

Narrado por: Ian Putnam, Ben Smith

“Engrossing and suspenseful."—The New York Times

“Expertly pulls readers in.”—The Guardian

“Smith sharply chronicles the revolutionary moment.”—Financial Times

The origin story of the post-truth age: the candid inside tale of two online media rivals, Nick Denton of Gawker Media and Jonah Peretti of HuffPost and BuzzFeed, whose delirious pursuit of attention at scale helped release the dark forces that would overtake the internet and American society

If attention is the new oil, Traffic is the story of the time between the first gusher and the perceptible impact of climate change. The curtain opens in Soho in the early 2000s, after the first dot-com crash but before Google, Apple, and Facebook exploded, when it seemed that New York City, rather than Silicon Valley, might become tech’s center of gravity. There, Nick Denton’s merry band of nihilists at his growing Gawker empire and Jonah Peretti’s sunnier team at HuffPost and BuzzFeed were building the foundations of viral internet media. Ben Smith, who would go on to earn a controversial reputation as BuzzFeed News’s editor in chief, was there to see it, and he chronicles it all with marvelous lucidity underscored by dark wit.

Traffic explores one of the great ironies of our time: The internet, which was going to help the left remake the world in its image, has become the motive force of right populism. People like Steve Bannon and Andrew Breitbart initially seemed like minor characters in the narrative in which Nick and Jonah were the stars. But today, anyone might wonder if the op­posite wasn’t the case. To understand how we got here, Traffic is essential and enthralling listening.

©2023 Ben Smith (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"“Engrossing and suspenseful . . . Can viral political content ever be valuable political content—and vice versa? Anxiety about this question haunts Smith, and this moral seriousness is what lifts Traffic above other accounts of adventures in start-up land.” —Virginia Heffernan, New York Times

“This is a rollicking and fun, but also unnerving, chronicle of how the colorful characters at Gawker, BuzzFeed and other outlets invented the era of viral media and what the consequences, both bright and very ominous, have been. It’s a joy to read, but it will also open your eyes to how hot medias have melted our democracy.” —Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of The Code Breaker

“Traffic is the definitive account of the rise of digital media and the attention economy. The book is smart, entertaining and insightful. It reveals how technology and our shifting media landscape have forever transformed culture, politics, and the world we live in. It’s a fascinating read and peek behind the curtain of how culture gets made. Having played a key role in the industry itself, Smith is an expert chronicler of the promise and the failures of digital media and tech giants. The book captures the highs and lows of the dawn of social media and the influencer world. You won’t be able to put it down. It’s authoritative, captivating, and a must read for anyone who cares about our information ecosystem.” —Taylor Lorenz, technology columnist, Washington Post

“Ben Smith’s account of the rise and fall of BuzzFeed and Gawker Media, the pioneering group of blogs run by Nick Denton, is an amusing story of New York ambition and hubris. But it has a deeper social significance: both the news business and politics were infiltrated by the clickbait techniques they developed. . . Smith sharply chronicles the revolutionary moment. . . [he] tells the story energetically, with plenty of insider gossip about the digital journalists who briefly became media stars (at least to a small circle of like-minded Manhattanites). But Traffic would be less worthwhile were it just a traditional narrative of the rise and fall of a business. Its insight lies in Smith’s reflections on how many of the techniques pioneered by Peretti and Denton have been absorbed into the mainstream. Everyone craves traffic now.” —Financial Times

Ruined by Narrator

Doesn't do a great job of introducing you to the characters/personalities - so I feel like it relies on someone who has even a passing familiarity with the people it talks about.

But truly ruined by the Robotic mono-tone narration that invites your mind to wander while listening.
I struggle to keep focused on this.

I'm sure this book would garner more stars from me had I read it, or had a better narrator been utilized.
I would return it if I could - because I know I will not finish it.

Social media good or bad

Smith’s explanation of internet potential for doing good and bad seems very even handed. Because he was deeply involved in the development of the internet as we now experience it, his story rings true to me.

a classic race to the bottom outlined in detail

a useful expose how two new internet news reporting companies lose their virtue through intense competition. it seemed one or the other media reporting company might choose to focus on if it leads, it succeeds. as it turned out, both focused on base case: if it bleeds, it leads. as it turns out, traffic goes to the venerable NY Times, who takes the high ground and drafts quality forces to win share. well written and useful insight.

WHY THIS NARRATOR??

Great story, well written, but AS ALWAYS an atrocious narrator. Like, come on Audible. Up the narrator game!!

Iconic, but wish Ben Smith read it

Amazing book if you are interested in digital media and it’s larger effects and history. Wish Ben Smith had done the reading himself though!

fascinating and binge worthy

I found this book incredibly easy and exciting to listen to. so much new and interesting information.

Horrifying

A dismaying portrayal of an industry searching for the lowest common denominator, reveling in and living for absurd images and concepts (what color is the dress) and spending countless hours and billions of dollars merely to enable time wasting, but doing so as a professional objective.

One must ask what is wrong with intelligent people who would devote their lives to such meaningless endeavors or writing about them. Greed? Deficient character or values? It is hard to say.

Dry in parts

Ben Smith’s writing is good but there are some significant lulls. And the narrator’s cadence was grating, seemingly uninterested. Did enjoy the history, particularly of gawker.

Really good book for history. Authors bias is far too evident in the 2nd half

Fun listen. Lots of interesting history. Spends a lot of of the 2nd half of the book focused almost exclusively on the far right, which has its place, but could be a bit more balanced

The truth be behind going viral.

A very informative read or listen for those of my generation. , baby boomers who don't quite understand the internet influencers or going viral period