Análisis de diario de la biblioteca
| In his first book, New York Times journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Fisher details how the radical free speech ethos of Silicon Valley, coupled with artificial intelligence algorithms designed to drive user engagement, combined to create a toxic stew of racist, misogynistic, and conspiracy-laden content across social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. These companies' founders and executives, loath to do anything that may affect their bottom line, turned a blind eye to the harm. Fisher details how YouTube and Facebook recommendations pushed users toward more extreme content, which tragically fed ethnic violence in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and India, places where users received the majority of their news from social media. Groups that originated online also played a role in the election-related U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Fisher's insightful and sometimes frightening look into social media companies is rooted in court records and hundreds of interviews with researchers and Silicon Valley employees and executives. VERDICT A deeply researched and well-written study for anybody interested in social media or technology and their effects on society and the transmission of news.--Chad E. Statler |
Análisis semanal de editoriales
| New York Times reporter Fisher debuts with a scathing account of the manifold ills wrought by social media. He explores toxic misogyny, recounting the unsavory particulars of "GamerGate," in which a woman video game developer was subjected to "collective harassment" after false allegations that she slept with a journalist in exchange for a positive review of her game. Other examples of the dark side of social media include anti-Muslim hate speech in Myanmar proliferating on Facebook, the spread of anti-vaccine rhetoric during the pandemic, and efforts by Russia to interfere with U.S. elections. Fisher also breaks down the tactics used by social media companies to get users to spend more time online, among them notifications that are meant to set off feel-good dopamine releases in the brain, a tactic similar to the "intermittent variable reinforcement" used by casinos. There's no shortage of books lamenting the evils of social media, but what's impressive here is how Fisher brings it all together: the breadth of information, covering everything from the intricacies of engagement-boosting algorithms to theories of sentimentalism, makes this a one-stop shop. It's a well-researched, damning picture of just what happens online. Agent: Jenn Joel, ICM Partners. (Sept.) |
