Ratings40
Average rating3.7
Social media is supposed to bring us together - but it is tearing us apart. 'A blisteringly good, urgent, essential read' Zadie Smith The evidence suggests that social media is making us sadder, angrier, less empathetic, more fearful, more isolated and more tribal. Jaron Lanier is the world-famous Silicon Valley scientist-pioneer who first alerted us to the dangers of social media. In this witty and urgent manifesto he explains why its toxic effects are at the heart of its design, and, in ten simple arguments, why liberating yourself from its hold will transform your life and the world for the better. WITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY THE AUTHOR ‘Informed, heartfelt and often entertaining ... a timely reminder that even if we can’t bring ourselves to leave social media altogether, we should always think critically about how it works’ Sunday Times ‘Indispensable. Everyone who wants to understand the digital world, its pitfalls and possibilities should read this book – now’ Matthew d’Ancona, author of Post-Truth
Reviews with the most likes.
An interesting take about social networks (especially Facebook, Twitter & Google) and reasons to remove them from our lives. While most of the advices are really good, I found this book quite hard to read due to its prose. Still it gives a lot of brainfood on the toll social medias take on our societies and mental health & lives.
Thought-provoking and worth the read. I subtracted one star solely because of the unnecessary profanity within; it would have otherwise been a 4-star rating.
I think this should be a must-read for everyone using social media. You may not be ready to quit, like me, but it's better to know what social media is doing to you if you're going to use it!
Scientist Jaron Lanier offers ten reasons for deleting our social media accounts now.
1. You are losing your free will.
2. Quitting social media is the most finely targeted way to resist the insanity of our times.
3. Social media is making you into an a-hole.
4. Social media is undermining truth.
5. Social media is making what you say meaningless.
6. Social media is destroying your capacity for empathy.
7. Social media is making you unhappy.
8. Social media doesn't want you to have economic dignity.
9. Social media is making politics impossible.
10. Social media hates your soul.
It seems pretty clear that social media is toxic. Is the toxicity terminal for individuals? For our society?