A review by saucydoorhandles
Social Warming: The Dangerous and Polarising Effects of Social Media by Charles Arthur

3.0

This was alright. I never felt it went as deep as it should. Nor was enough background research was done. I mean, we know that if we watch something, the algorithm will give us what it considers similar to get us keep watching. Which leads to us ending in an echo chamber and often more radical opinions. We know social media wants us to spend as many hours as we can. We know that it can be damaging and toxic, just in general, no matter where you spend your time on the Internet. It didn't provide anything fresh or new. It would be a okay read for someone who is a beginner on this subject. The only new thing that I have never heard about before was the situation in Myanmar. It is written quite well, though I'm not sure any the answers to solve these "problems" would actually work in practice and wouldn't make everything worse. It's a complicated subject with a lot of nuances and this book approached it a bit too simply for me e.g. if you kick someone off a site due to their views, they will just go somewhere else and will persecuted/victimised/vindicated which will just make them dig in their heels in harder, rather than snapping out of it. It would also become an echo chamber even more. And I'm not sure if it should be up to the government on what can be accessed and what can't. (Obviously I'm talking about stuff that is legal, not illegal.)