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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
There are salient points for sure. But there's also a lot of tech-y ranting. It felt a bit scattered without as many helpful alternatives as I was expecting. I've been off of Facebook and Twitter for a while with no regrets, personally—but I think the onus is on government to regulate these companies and force them to produce data showing impact on children and teens especially. Hopefully this book inspires folks toward activism and not just passive quitting.
An insightful read. Lost my attention a few times, but I think the overall message was important.
I think this is the biggest political, social, and culturla story of the century. It is so clear that these algorithms are eroding the fabric of society and erasing human dignity. Every time I read a book like this, it validates what I know but choose to ignore every time I log on to one of these platforms: this is destroying my soul. I am an extremist when it comes to eliminating BUMMER platforms.
This is accessibly written, compelling, short. There are more insightful and well-written books to be written on the subject, but this is a great starting place.
This is accessibly written, compelling, short. There are more insightful and well-written books to be written on the subject, but this is a great starting place.
informative
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
I’ve consumed this book twice, and every time I do, it always impacts me. What a phenomenal read about getting off of social media, and thinking for ourselves!
Lanier does a decent job of presenting the dangers (yes, dangers) of social media, with arguments and examples.
While I won't be deleting my accounts, I'm sold to minimize my time on these platforms even more.
While I won't be deleting my accounts, I'm sold to minimize my time on these platforms even more.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Lots of interesting ideas, bits of information and messages, but I cannot rate it higher.
The reasons for that are:
1. I feel like I now know at least as much about the author's personal life, feelings and opinions about all sorts of random things (unrelated to the book's topic) as I do about social media and why people should stop using it...not necessarily bad, but makes it feel more like a blog or self biography than a non fiction book.
2. I can't help but suspect "BUMMER" was something Lanier thought about and then spent a week or so trying hard to find the right words ("Behaviors of Users Modifies, and Made into an Empire for Rent") to form the acronym and then was really proud of it and overly excited to use the name every chance he got.
3. The amount of times he's said he would return to or talk about something in a chapter/argument to come (which fair enough they sort of were related) and especially the first half of the book that is filled with 'read speed bumps' of "we'll cover this later", just took me personally out of the flow of the book.
The reasons for that are:
1. I feel like I now know at least as much about the author's personal life, feelings and opinions about all sorts of random things (unrelated to the book's topic) as I do about social media and why people should stop using it...not necessarily bad, but makes it feel more like a blog or self biography than a non fiction book.
2. I can't help but suspect "BUMMER" was something Lanier thought about and then spent a week or so trying hard to find the right words ("Behaviors of Users Modifies, and Made into an Empire for Rent") to form the acronym and then was really proud of it and overly excited to use the name every chance he got.
3. The amount of times he's said he would return to or talk about something in a chapter/argument to come (which fair enough they sort of were related) and especially the first half of the book that is filled with 'read speed bumps' of "we'll cover this later", just took me personally out of the flow of the book.
I feel like if you picked up this book, you are well educated enough about the toxic patterns of social media to not have any of the information in this book be new. I don't disagree with much of this book, but it felt padded and it would've been much better if it was shorter by maybe half the page count. Information seems to be repeated over and over. It's nice to see a member of Silicon Valley be self aware enough to go against the ethos of the tech-based world, but if you are really interested in the subject and want to learn more I recommend The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher.
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
This book was a summary of things i already knew, albeit with a bit more detail. It was written in 2018, so reading it in 2024 does make it feel prescient. Also, the author being a former tech insider rather than some random dude hopping on the minimalism trend lent some credibility. A good intro for people who don't yet have a fraught relationship with social media and want a starting point. I took a point off for the cutesy acronym and lists. Its very "2018 self help book" but i still hate it.