Publisher's Synopsis
One facet of identity which is currently undergoing radical transformation due to technology and specifically social media is the concept of identity politics. Identity politics describes the manner with which people's politics are crafted by aspects of their identity through loosely correlated social entities. Digital identity politics has given rise to the emergence of concepts such as 'alterative facts', 'fake news', and 'post truth'. This book explores how various techniques such as magical realism, gaslighting, digital rubbernecking are being used by politicians to construct digital narratives. The book also discusses how technological developments such as social media, cloud computing, blockchain, and artificial intelligence are now shaping the contours of digital politics. The book concludes with a focus on the urgent need for digital literacy which represents a Totem which every person can use to decipher fact from fiction in the emerging post-truth digital era. Awareness plays a pivotal role in this book. However, the awareness in this book is a multi-faceted concept. Awareness by each and every one of us about what is going on around us, how we are or may be manipulated and indeed how such manipulation can affect us. Awareness by various influencers in society that their actions are actually deliberate and purposeful and awareness of how we can address some of the nefarious effects of the digital world on our wellbeing."Digital Identity Politics" proposes a definite philosophy, namely self-awareness and care of the self in society. In reading the book you will no doubt encounter what can be in equal measure familiar and worrying, yet the length of the text is such that maybe your first acts after reading it, will be to reflect and return to it again. Like with most things in life, if we are to deal with the sleight of hand that pervades our digital existence, we first need to be aware of it and I hope that this book provides a step along the path to that awareness and discovery.
