Interesting post! I will check out this book. Although I know I'm not personally ready to delete all my social media, I have consciously reduced engagement with platforms such as Facebook over time and also have felt the benefits. I have my doubts that we will see a social media-free future, especially as we navigate through a new reality where a continued or new pandemic(s) may threaten ability to gather and travel for long stretches of time. Social media provides easy ways of staying...

The Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma argues that the social media platforms we use to stay connected are making us miserable, disconnected, and potentially having a much wider impact on the socio-political landscape. The documentary received both praise for its engaging content but also received its fair share of criticism for perhaps being, at times, unbalanced in its views (and for not including individuals who have been campaigning for humane and ethical technology long before the...

@Registered Member - the arguments aren't necessarily what you might expect (like improved wellbeing, sleep, etc.) the book focusses more on the impact of those algorithms on our ability to have empathy with others or be critical of news sources (argument #3 - 'social media is making you into an a**; #4 - 'social media is undermining the truth; #9 'social media is making politics impossible'). The author is a computer scientist and futurist so I think he's really arguing about how these...

I'm wondering what some of the arguments in the book are? I'm in a weird boat, where, I never got popular social media like FaceBook growing up (despite the peer pressure to do so) but grew up with everyone around me having it. I always felt that, even a decade ago, it was odd to put up your communications with everyone to see it vs. individualized messaging or communities (like specialized forums). I felt that amongst different friend groups, family members or work colleagues - they knew me...