The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World

This isn't the first book written about the negative effects of social media on individuals and society, but it's one of the most important. For a start the author's sources are as unimpeachable as you're likely to find. They include the likes of former Silicon Valley venture capitalists, Google and Facebook engineers, and people who held leadership positions for these and other companies. The things you learn come directly from the people who enabled and created the very algorithms which are at the root of the problems we face (rampant promoting of misinformation and divisive content, encouraging anger and outrage, etc.)You learn not just what the algorithms do but why they were set up that way. That in the end, Facebook, Google, Twitter and others make their money by blindly assuming that algorithms which train users to spend more and more time on their platforms, is not only good for their bottom line, but good for users. This despite strong evidence that — by design — their systems tap into human addiction mechanisms and psychology, in ways that make us more and more unhappy, the further down the rabbit hole we go. Perhaps most astonishing is the fact that the algorithms have become so automated, that if you ask Facebook and Google today how it works, they will flat out tell you that they don't know. While this may give them some feeling of plausible deniability it does nothing to diminish their responsibility for the harmful impacts of their technology.Equally important as the sourcing and detailed reporting, the author's writing style is quite approachable. So even if you're not technically inclined, you won't get left behind. He does not rely on a lot of technical jargon or concepts to get his points across, which is important when targeting a broad audience.Highly recommended.(And hoping this book ends up in many collegiate classrooms where it can help inform tomorrow's engineers and CEOs.)

An exhaustively researched and utterly fascinating, riveting read. It's packed with all kinds of horrific real-world examples of tech gone wrong, whether the carrot at the end of the stick is seemingly unlimited greed, power, political sway , or the spread of misinformation. Particularly interesting is near the end of the book which explains how Facebook, You Tube, Twitter and Google all profited from letting Trump and his cronies run rampant with conspiracy theories and other MAGA- oriented lies before he got elected. There are so many thought-provoking stories here about how our society became so divided it's an essential read.

A thorough and frightening history of the power of Facebook, YouTube and other such sites to skew people‘s thinking and to create violence. And to learn how these websites refused to rein themselves in when they heard and saw what damage their algorithms were causing.

Excellent. Would use again.

Among the petty annoyances I hear about social media lies a far more serious issue. The realization by the social media creators that the way to get more clicks and more screen time from the user is to drive the user into emotionally charged discussions. The best emotionally charged discussions are really about hate and divisiveness. The examples of Gamergate, Charlottesville, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Trump voters demonstrate the unwillingness of the social media companies to police dangerous and misleading posts since these are the posts that generate the most revenue. Frankly, this is a bit terrifying.

Wow very informative book. This book is not for the faint of heart. But if you want to know the dark side of the internet I believe this is the book you want to read.

I enjoyed this book because it was well written, engaging, and informative. I will never get on the internet again, look at a news site or a You Tube video without remembering that whatever I choose can lead down a never-ending rabbit hole because of built-in algorithms. I know that I can just look at one garden composter on the internet, and I'm pulled into ads and info on composters for days afterwards. If I ignore them, they go away...at last. This book explains how and why that happens and tells important stories of the violence that has even occurred in many places as a result of some of the falsehoods people have followed online when they too have found themselves unwittingly down dark rabbit holes.

Great read for someone who is interested in organizational behavior on a global scale.