Extremely Online

“Terrific … Extremely Online aims to tell a sociological story, not a psychological one, and in its breadth it demonstrates a new cultural logic emerging out of 21st-century media chaos…. [Lorenz] is a knowledgeable, opinionated guide to the ways internet fame has become fame, full stop.” –Clay Shirky, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

“Valuable and entertaining… The book is an enlightening history of the pioneers of influencers.” –ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Each story Lorenz spotlights is carefully chosen to highlight the power that users have historically held in shaping social media trends and culture.” –TEEN VOGUE

“If you want to understand what is happening on the internet, you start by reading Taylor Lorenz.” –BLOOMBERG

“Tapping her deep expertise in the subject, Lorenz makes a strong case that creators–not the tech platforms–truly shaped internet culture.” –WASHINGTON POST

“Fascinating, eye-opening, and unbelievable in equal parts, Extremely Online is a comprehensive witness account of the players, operatives, and principals driving content on the internet today, across platforms and even across entire industries. A must-read for anyone wishing to understand the most arcane conspiracy theories taking up the nation’s consciousness to the sweeping cultural changes a rising generation has brought about.” –TOWN & COUNTRY

“More than just a history lesson, Lorenz’s well-researched book does a better job of connecting the dots than almost anything else I’ve read on the subject of social media’s meteoric growth, and the unexpected rise of the influencer.” –TECH RADAR

“Readers will learn valuable lessons about…what goes viral and are sure to be blown away when they see the dollar amounts moving through the industry. This socioeconomics docudrama is both fun and terrifying, just like the internet.” –BOOKLIST

“This astute debut from Lorenz, a Washington Post technology columnist, traces the tumultuous history of social media from the early 2000s to the present…. Lorenz accomplishes the difficult feat of wrangling a cogent narrative out of the unruliness of social media, while offering smart insight into how platforms affect their users…. It’s a powerful assessment of how logging on has changed the world.” –PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Extremely Online is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand internet stardom and how it’s reshaping our economy and culture. It’s the deeply reported, behind-the-scenes chronicle of how everyday people built careers and empires from their sheer talent and algorithmic luck, establishing a new Hollywood with far-reaching consequences. Taylor Lorenz, a pioneer in reporting about internet culture phenomena, tells the story with incredible access to all its important players.” –SARAH FRIER, author of No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram

Taylor Lorenz is a technology journalist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and more. She is the founder of User Magazine, an independent media company covering tech and online culture and host of Power User podcast on Vox Media. Her writing has appeared in New York magazine, Rolling Stone, Outside magazine, and others. She frequently appears on the BBC, NBC, CNN, CBS, and more. She was a 2019 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, Fortune named her “40 Under 40” in 2020, and Town & Country called her “The Bob Woodward of the TikTok generation” in its “New Creative Vanguard” list.