Edition |
First edition. |
Physical Description |
xv, 390 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
Note |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-365) and index. |
Contents |
The new social age -- The end of reality -- The hype machine -- Your brain on social media -- A network's gravity is proportional to its mass -- Personalized mass persuasion -- Hypersocialization -- Strategies for a hypersocialized world -- The attentioneconomy and the tyranny of trends -- The wisdom and madness of crowds -- Social media's promise is also its peril -- Building a better hype machine. |
Summary |
Soial media connected the world--and gave rise to fake news and increasing polarization. Now these trends threaten our political, economic, and emotional health. Today we have the ability, unprecedented in human history, to amplify our interactions with each other through social media. It is important that we recognize the outsized impact social media has on our culture, our democracy, and our lives in order to steer today's social technology toward good, while avoiding the ways it can pull us apart. Among the questions explored: Did Russian interference change the 2016 election? And how is it affecting the vote in 2020? Why does fake news travel faster than the truth online? How do social ratings and automated sharing determine which products succeed and fail? How does social media affect our kids? Aral links alarming data and statistics to three accelerating social media shifts: hyper-socialization, personalized mass persuasion, and the tyranny of trends. Next, he grapples with the consequences for elections, businesses, dating, and health. Finally, he maps out strategies and guidance for managing social media to fulfill its promise going forward. |
Subject |
Social media -- Moral and ethical aspects.
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Information society.
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Social interaction.
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Propaganda.
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Common fallacies.
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