Jessa Lingel, who earned a Ph.D. in 2013 from SC&I, has published a new book, “An Internet for the People: The Politics and Promise of Craigslist.”

According to the publisher, Princeton University Press, the book explores the “site’s history and values, showing how it has mostly stayed the same while the web around it has become more commercial and far less open. She examines craigslist’s legal history, describing the company’s courtroom battles over issues of freedom of expression and data privacy, and explains the importance of locality in the social relationships fostered by the site. More than an online garage sale, job board, or dating site, craigslist holds vital lessons for the rest of the web. It is a website that values user privacy over profits, ease of use over slick design, and an ethos of the early web that might just hold the key to a more open, transparent, and democratic internet.”

More information is available on the Princeton University Press website.

Lingel is an assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa. She is also the author of "Digital Countercultures and Struggle for Community."

More information about the Ph.D. Program at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information (SC&I) is available on the website.