A chapter that could help change the ending...

The authors have researched and written a calm and unhysterical timeline of the world-altering phenomenon of Facebook. It is charted from its beginnings, driven by Zuckerberg's initially charming geeky competitiveness that became progressively more alarming as he greedily absorbed all competitors, to its current insidious involvement in geopolitics, genocide and disinformation. The facts are simply presented, using masses of sources, including former insiders, and however familiar you are with FB's story, there will be news here, or at least the tying together of ends. For me, it feels as though FB, whilst not in itself actually evil, is unwilling to engage with unintended consequences of the Leviathon it has become, and this makes it complicit - perhaps unhappily, but certainly knowingly - in evil. How to fix it is not within the scope of the book, and I certainly don't know the answer - this book should be seen as a chapter in a story that isn't over, but a chapter we should all understand before we find out (and shape?) what happens in the rest of the book.

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So glad I no longer have a FB account

None of the information in this book surprised me yet I’m still horrified such a company is allowed get away with this. Im so glad I closed my account 2 years ago and I’ve never missed it since. All respect I’ve had for Sheryl Sandberg has gone and I’ll never believe a word she says again. I loved her books and admired her but after hearing this, I simply can’t. Kudos to the authors for their perseverance and documenting their research so well.

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Excellent

Detailed, cliché defying and fascinating. The one thing this book manages to finally smash home is that, far from social media being a reflection of ordinary opinions on a global scale, social media is simply a conveyor belt for corporate power. The money spent by Russia, as outlined here, is small beer compared to the truly vast amounts spent by tech geniuses building the tools to assemble the eyeballs ready for bombardment by pure corporate messaging, suitably crafted with every psychological and behavioural insight money can buy. No well meaning dissenters can counter the billions involved in that. Social media doesn’t just need to be broken up for reasons of monopoly, it must be protected from the corporations. Advertising and the privacy incursions that feed the targeting exploited by political actors (corporations and their mouthpieces) must be banned, and social media should be taken out of the hands of private individuals. We must protect the public sphere.

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1 person found this helpful

Mostly narrated by Holter Graham

Had I known that so much of the book had been narrated by Holter Graham, I wouldn’t have brought this.

I have heard his voice on other books, and the performance gets a little boring and dull, it’s easy to zone out after a few minuets unless the content is excellent.

The content is good not excellent, and would prefer if the authors read and delivered it

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