In this third volume of his studies into critical Internet culture, following the influential Dark Fiber and My First Recession, Lovink develops a ‘general theory of blogging.’ Unlike most critiques of blogging, Lovink is not focusing here on the dynamics between bloggers and the mainstream news media, but rather unpacking the ways that blogs exhibit a ‘nihilist impulse’ to empty out established meaning structures. Blogs, Lovink argues, are bringing about the decay of traditional broadcast media, and they are driven by an in-crowd dynamic in which social ranking is a primary concern. The lowest rung of the new Internet hierarchy are those blogs and sites that receive no user feedback or ‘zero comments’. Lovink explores other important changes to Internet culture as well, including the silent globalization of the Net in which the West is no longer the main influence behind new media culture, as countries like India, China and Brazil expand their influence. Zero Comments also looks forward to speculate on the Net impact of organised networks, free cooperation and distributed aesthetics.
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