Take a photo of a barcode or cover
pineconek 's review for:
Nothing weirder than reading about how covid conspiracies spread on social media while you're having covid for the first time.
I was born in 94 which means this book covers the time period of my entire post-secondary/adult life on the internet (~2012 onwards) and oof is it a doozy. I really appreciated the impeccable research that layed out online and offline events that fed into one another around the globe.
My main gripe with this book is that the title suggests a broader scope than what is actually presented. A lot of "obvious" topics weren't touched on (I expected more psychology and things about self esteem/perception, attention economy, sedentary lifestyle shifts, etc). Instead, the focus was specifically on how social media but especially Facebook (other social media was presented as Facebook -adjacent) affects the sociopolitical landscape. From gamergate to South Asian genocides, from covid hoaxes to pizzagate, from Alex Jones to election fraud, from incel murders to live streamed massacres, this book was incredibly dark.
My favorite part was the emphasis on which emotions drive engagement - outrage and morally-coded language. Ingroup/outgroup. The author really emphasized how posts about "x group did something Bad / our group did something Good" are gold for platforms that want users to stay online as long as possible. It led me to a reflection on if and when that kind of outrage is useful and left me wanting to be more mindful when I engage with Spicy social media posts.
One last terrifying thought this book really leaves us with: is the internet about the law? Which law? Why or why not? Who enforces rules, if any, and is it moral to do so? These unanswered questions feel increasingly pressing.
Recommended widely if you're interested in social psychology, wonder why some of your annoying relatives are in so many Facebook groups, and are in the mood for being very depressed and horrified about the state of the internet.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vni9kSfxaf0
I was born in 94 which means this book covers the time period of my entire post-secondary/adult life on the internet (~2012 onwards) and oof is it a doozy. I really appreciated the impeccable research that layed out online and offline events that fed into one another around the globe.
My main gripe with this book is that the title suggests a broader scope than what is actually presented. A lot of "obvious" topics weren't touched on (I expected more psychology and things about self esteem/perception, attention economy, sedentary lifestyle shifts, etc). Instead, the focus was specifically on how social media but especially Facebook (other social media was presented as Facebook -adjacent) affects the sociopolitical landscape. From gamergate to South Asian genocides, from covid hoaxes to pizzagate, from Alex Jones to election fraud, from incel murders to live streamed massacres, this book was incredibly dark.
My favorite part was the emphasis on which emotions drive engagement - outrage and morally-coded language. Ingroup/outgroup. The author really emphasized how posts about "x group did something Bad / our group did something Good" are gold for platforms that want users to stay online as long as possible. It led me to a reflection on if and when that kind of outrage is useful and left me wanting to be more mindful when I engage with Spicy social media posts.
One last terrifying thought this book really leaves us with: is the internet about the law? Which law? Why or why not? Who enforces rules, if any, and is it moral to do so? These unanswered questions feel increasingly pressing.
Recommended widely if you're interested in social psychology, wonder why some of your annoying relatives are in so many Facebook groups, and are in the mood for being very depressed and horrified about the state of the internet.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vni9kSfxaf0