Welcome to Litsy!

I'm not sure if this short book was compelling on its own or just along with my other reading/experiences, but it definitely struck a chord for me. A Silicon Valley insider, Lanier makes a distinction between social media that uses what he terms BUMMER algorithms to target and manipulate users and other, less insidious types of online interaction. I don't like his Solitary/Pack terminology, but aside from that, it's a very convincing read.

"What if listening to an inner voice or heeding a passion for ethics or beauty were to lead to more important work in the long term, even if it measured as less successful in the moment? What if deeply reaching a small number of people matters more than reaching everybody with nothing?"

As one whose passion for blogging diminished with the push to focus on SEO and who's feeling odd about using IG to promote voiceover work, this quote resonates.

#Wardens2024 #ReadAway2024

An excellent listen that, imo is extremely relevant in current times.

I've been meaning to read this for a while now. I'm glad I did as it is certainly an eye opener. I do agree with the majority of Lanier's points. He certainly makes valid points on how much we have freely given away to social media conglomerates and what they're doing with that information.
My only niggle was the use of acronyms.

I'm leaving the mainstream social media sites in favour of BlueSky. I can't cope with the toxicity, misinformation and division anymore.

Anyone else on there? https://bsky.app/profile/alldebooks.bsky.social/post/3lbfvh7luec27

https://bsky.social/about

This book presents some ideas worth considering. Social media was created for connection but it has grown into something else and there is no stopping it. Algorithms are everywhere and not only decide things for you, but build different kinds of walls around you (disinformation, economic walls, loss of physical, emotional connection—to name a few). You have to decide for yourself what you want to do with it. It causes harm but there is also⬇️

I'd heard Lanier talk about the topic before so most of his arguments weren't completely new to me. Even so, it was great to be given more details, and I liked his casual, no-bullshit style.
Also, a shoutout to the translator, Agnes Harasztos, for having done a marvellous job.

A book from mount TBR
#CuriousCovers #mountains
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Content and take-home message: 5/5
Delivery method: 3/5

Glib, and I hate the acronym used to describe the key point, but lofty analysis does not reach the audience that needs to read this the most. People are crushed, isolated, and too many lack hope for the future. Lanier makes the important info accessible, and gives actionable steps for a way out of the darkness.

I imagine he's a great conversationalist.

And I really struggled with those 6 features of BUMMER because Lanier here and there only refers to their letters.

Then I kept turning back to recall the right entry.

No big deal deal for itself but for me it was disturbing. It stopped my reading flow.

This might be one reason why I did not get to be friended with that book. It‘s that acronym Lanier introduced: “Behaviours of Users Modified, and Made into Empire for Rent. BUMMER.” (p. 39)
It works in English but if you read this book in a foreign language you‘re always trying to remember what he‘s talking about. Additionally why does he do this when he reveals there are only 2 companies, he‘s talking about❓

🤔 Well … I feel I _should_ find this eye-opening and brilliant – and in the beginning I was really hooked because Lanier knows how to explain this in a way that even I understand. But somewhere in the middle I spaced out. There was few new information. It seemed, it‘s all a different aspect of the same thing. To be constantly aware of this is important, but I‘d welcomed it to be important on 70 pages less. 😉

“It‘s not possible to determine how different what someone else gets to see, is from what I imagine he sees. The lack of transparency of our time is all the more serious because it is impossible to see how opaque it is. I remember well the time when we trusted that the Internet would create a transparent society. In fact, the opposite is true now.” (p. 104)

⬆️⬆️⬆️ The shocking thing is: I do you know this well but in every day life I forget.

“But when you post something on social media, it‘s actually not talking at all. The context with what you say is added afterwards for the purposes and profit of others.” (p. 85)

⬆️⬆️⬆️ I‘m sure he‘s right, but the first thing I thought was, that it‘s added by other _users_ and not first and foremost by those who earn their money with it.

Have you ever felt like sometimes you don‘t understand the world❓Well, I kind of do now, because my Internet library told me that this book was only readable on my desktop computer, and now, I just tried to download it on my e-book-reader just for fun. And it worked‼️ Why again did they say it‘s only to be read on screen❓

I better don‘t think about it and instead plunge back into it; will now be much more comfortable to read.

“No one can seriously expect to make money on social networks. Simple users can only gain false power and imagined prosperity, but no real power and no real prosperity. That‘s why psycho games become dominant. When there‘s nothing to achieve but attention, people tend to become assholes because the biggest asshole gets the most attention.” (p. 39)

“In »Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now«, Lanier, who participates in no social media, offers powerful and personal reasons for all of us to leave these dangerous online platforms.”
?? https://bit.ly/3j885iH

Although it might be a bit awkward to read this on my desktop-computer because it can‘t be transferred to my e-book-reader, this one wins over ?? „Stern 111“ because it‘s shorter, 208 pages versus 528 pages.

This isn't totally book related, but I watched this yesterday and am still processing it all. (And the author of the tagged book is interviewed.)
I knew some of the info that's given in the documentary but some I didn't and it was fascinating. It's something I hope we really start discussing as human beings. The film is something (in my opinion) that needs to be seen.
As far as the book, it was fine. Just nothing super new or mind-blowing.

So, what's a girl to do?

#booksinquarantine

Took a walk today, finishing up this audiobook. I‘m pretty convinced that I‘ll be off social media in 2020, although I will make an exception for Litsy (for now). This book does a great job of explaining what is wrong with the social media in the big picture (disinformation, surveillance, and behavior manipulation), not just the small picture that we‘re all aware of (it‘s a time waster that makes us sad).

Essential for the future of humanity. Facebook etc destroy human empathy & turn us into partisan arseholes. There is no insistence to delete, even though the arguments are sophisticated & undeniable. Social media are human behaviour modification tools, addictive & impact real flesh relationships. Read & delete or read & don't. Your choice. It could have been longer and better written.
#tenargumentsfordeletingyoursocialmediaaccountsrightnow
#lanier

Litsy doesn‘t count, right? 🤔

It may have been a quick listen but I really didn‘t enjoy it that much. It was just so-so. I have no intention of quitting social media, so I guess his arguments didn‘t convince me.

Well, this sounds interesting and the audio is only about four hours long. May as well see if I can learn something from this.

I agree with all of these arguments, and I don‘t have any doubts that the author knows exactly what he is talking about ... but this book is written very poorly, in the manner of instant self-help manuals, and because of that he is very unconvincing. Unfortunately, I can‘t take seriously the author, who in his work warns me from notorious advertisements and algorithms on social media and at the same time use his book for self-promotion ...

Say BUMMER one more time...!!!
Aside from being annoyed by that acronym, I enjoyed this book. I'm not as worried as the author seems to think I should be, but it's made me consider my social media use.

This is a really short book, but it took me forever to read it. It is really badly written. But the points he makes are thought-provoking, to say the least. BUT THERE ARE SO MANY MADE-UP ACRONYMS. And they are terrible. I also laughed because of his critiques of social media and his title, which is essentially click bait. There is some good info here, but it should have been a Buzzfeed article.

I wanted to find this book fascinating and challenging but it felt superficial, and apart from a few interesting points I was really disappointed. Not so much by the core message as the overly pop science writing - I don‘t need that many new acronyms and bits of very italic emphasis. Maybe it was just a disappointment after Naomi Klein, and it did have some good points, but it didn‘t convince me of anything and I was open to being convinced.

I hope this will be interesting. I‘m interested in learning more about the pitfalls of social media, and how to use it responsibly, but I don‘t see myself deleting all or any of my social media. I hope this book can be useful in teaching me new ways to think about stuff and keep myself as independent as I‘d like to be, without just shouting at me to delete stuff I find useful. Let‘s see.

I haven‘t read this book (yet), but I did delete Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram from my phone and tablet at the end of June. It was nice to tune out for several weeks.

I‘m slowly breaking my social media sabbatical - I reinstalled Twitter yesterday, but only on my iPad. You can follow me there if you‘d like. I‘ll try to tweet more about books 📚

I thought this book was pretty poorly written and I disagreed with a fair amount of it. I also can't stop thinking about it.

(Continued below)

At times, it feels like he‘s right and nothing can change it. And it feels like Lanier‘s claims have become even more true (QAnon, Russian meddling, “what you‘re seeing and what you‘re reading is not what‘s happening,” etc.). But he provides enough light that you want to do something, even in a world dominated by social-media-pushed news and feeds created to manipulate your behavior. Of course, there‘s always the obvious.

Delete your accounts.

“it is not easy to accept that one has been tricked. .... a civil rights attorney told that same reporter, ‘If someone is organizing an event that benefits accountability and justice, I don‘t really care what their motives are or who they are.‘”

While this book may come off as another listicle enumerating social media pitfalls, “10 Arguments..” provides both technological and philosophical reasons to do away with social media accounts. I couldn‘t put it down and finished it in 2 days.

Think I‘m gonna like this book 😎