Literature about the harms of social media

[Anonymous No.19603696]

The subject of the thread says it all. I’m looking for literature about the harms of social media. I’m in my early twenties, and I can safely say that my social media use has impacted my development and psyche negatively. I decided to delete every single one of my profiles a few months ago, and I don’t regret it one bit. Now that I’m in the process of healing my brain from the damage these platforms did to it, I’m beginning to notice the how they’re affecting my peers as well. My girlfriend, mother, friends etc. all act like zombies when they’re on their phones around me. I see the way they cultivate their personas, get brainwashed by campaigns and advertisements, compare themselves to others (especially my younger friends) and scroll endlessly. They don’t have attention spans, they don’t read, and - despite being grown up - they’re all super invested in their online presence. This shit completely dominates their lives, and I can’t believe I used to be exactly like them. Employers check social media profiles. You’re considered weird or sketchy by girls if you don’t have at least one or two. This shit is disgusting. Most of the books about the detrimental effects of social media are written by tech optimists and blue check tier authors who don’t really get to the root of the issue. Are there any books out there that unequivocally and unapologetically denounce social media as the evil that it is? People like Jaron Lanier just don’t cut it, and when I Google “anti social media books” or something, all I get is pop-sci stuff or self help books about how you can slightly reduce your social media addiction. I’m looking for more academic stuff, but the anti-tech authors I already know don’t really touch on it, since most of that stuff was written before social media became a thing. Any tips?

[Anonymous No.19604785]

Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

[Anonymous No.19605209]

>>19603696
For a book that came out just as social media was taking over our entire lives, read Crary's 24/7. It covers a lot of the phenomena that have since been accelerated by social media.

[Anonymous No.19605540]

>>19603696
The Shallows written in 2011 explains through a lot of research that internet use is ruining our attention span. Coincides with Geunon’s idea of the downfall of the west as he saw in 1915 that we had begun to value quantitative thinking over qualitative thinking.
Not exactly about social media but I agree with you OP it’s an egotistical, materialistic time suck. With social media, everyone’s look and opinion matter, they get short lived dopamine rushes from being a pseudo celebrity. This is why I prefer anonymous conversation online.

[Anonymous No.19605669]

>>19603696
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.
Personally I think this book is controlled opposition, but it details how these things grow and take hold in communities. It is far more about invasive practices in tech companies than just social media, but still if you are concerned about your privacy I’d give it a read.
If you wanted something very quick and easy to consooom you could look up a few videos where Richard Stallman is talking about privacy, but that’s far more of a /g/ topic.

[Anonymous No.19605797]

The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser. More on the dangers of Web2.0 in general.

[Anonymous No.19605867]

>>19604785
It was aight, very reddit and the russiagate stuff is a little insufferable, definitely shows its age. I have been meaning to read The Twittering Machine and Surveillance Valley which I've heard good things about.

[Anonymous No.19607168]

>>19605540
Thank you. I saw The Shallows on a list of books about social media, I guess I’ll get it now. Maybe I should check out Guenon too

[Anonymous No.19607179]

>>19605669
>controlled opposition
That’s the feeling I get with a lot of these books. Sleek covers, “NYT bestseller”, “Shocking revelations!” etc. written all over, author does plenty of interviews and goes on a few talk shows, but the books don’t have any real juice. I guess I’ll have to use these books for what they’re worth and disregard the shitty and uninteresting parts

[Anonymous No.19607188]

>>19605867
Saw his talk and it turned me off. This sweaty, panting, dreadlocked guy talking about poisonous social media is but offering his own “we’re going to fix the internet, guise!!!” solutions really turned me off to his book. I feel like what’s missing in a lot of these books is the kind of deep criticism I’ve seen in a lot of other techno critical books. Maybe we just have to wait

[Anonymous No.19607191]

>>19604785
Edward snowdens book.
>tkdr
zoomers are turbo fucked

[Anonymous No.19607220]

Anything from Byung Chul Han.

[Anonymous No.19607263]

As mentioned earlier, The Shallows. I'm about halfway through it. It's already 10 years old but holds up well I would say. Just take what he says and multiply with 10 and you got today's situation.
I was never that big on social media, but I checked in regularly on FB and IG. Deleted both about 2 years ago and I can't say I miss any of it. Next step would be 4chan I guess, but i get lots of good book recommendations here.

[Anonymous No.19607343]

Who's the modern McLuhan? Or Baudrillard?

[Anonymous No.19607347]

I dont really use social media but browse 4chan a lot and other imageboards in the past.
Im not sure if thats any better.

[Anonymous No.19607704]

>>19607220
Where should I start with this guy, and will his works be accessible if I am new to cultural theory and criticism? If not, is there anything else I should read first? Much appreciated

[Anonymous No.19607712]

>>19607263
Definitely checking it out now that it has been recommended twice, I just hope it doesn't feel dated. Probably not, since ten years is nothing

[Anonymous No.19607724]

>>19607343
No idea, but that's kind of what I'm looking for. A novel that touches on this stuff would be great as well, but with the state of literature and young in general, I doubt we'll get it

[Anonymous No.19608482]

>>19607179
>but the books don't have any real juice
I know what you mean. Just a little too neat, polished, popular, and optimistic to be truly insightful. Renders the motivations of the author and publisher rather... dubious.

[Anonymous No.19608544]

The Shallows

[Anonymous No.19608682]

>>19605540
>Coincides with Geunon’s idea of the downfall of the west as he saw in 1915 that we had begun to value quantitative thinking over qualitative thinking

This coincides with Max Scheler's ideas in the 1890s of the downfall of the west that we had begun to value quantitative thinking over qualitative thinking

[Anonymous No.19608686]

>>19603696
Write one. What you’ve written here is a good start

[Anonymous No.19609415]

>>19607704
Burnout Society is a good start, then move to the more theory laden Psychopolitics.

[Anonymous No.19609491]

>>19603696
Social media's likes and comments model leads to a physiological increase of extracellular catecholamines, which results in dependency-- turns the users into junkies.

[Anonymous No.19609501]

>>19603696
The Veldt by Bradbury. Though not explicitly about social media, it essentially is.

[Anonymous No.19609506]

>>19605540
>Coincides with Geunon’s idea of the downfall of the west
election tourists are hammer and nail to the point of satire

[Anonymous No.19609510]

>>19607343
Fisher is dead. Maybe you should start writing!

[Anonymous No.19609578]

[Anonymous No.19609600]

>>19605540
>>19607347
4chan is social media. People get dopamine rushes when they get (You)s and engage in the same behaviour that redditors do for upboats.

[Anonymous No.19609703]

"The Circle" by Dave Eggers was pretty good.

[Anonymous No.19610072]

Manfred Spitzer. I only found an Italian translation online

[Anonymous No.19610980]

>>19609703

No.

The underlying idea is alright but in terms of execution, it beats you over the head with the idea over and over again, see Transparent Shark. The writing is eh and the characterization is sacrificed (in that the characters make increasingly unrealistic decisions) all for the idea.

I'd say stick to nonfiction for this material.

[Anonymous No.19611027]

>>19609600
Not if you never post
Or get called a retard

[Anonymous No.19611074]

>>19609600
not really. like, some of it obviously still happens, but 4chan is both anonymous and very "low-tech", and a lot of how social media operates has to do with sophisticated content selection algorithms and the presence of a permanent record of your opinions. dopamine rushes or whatever are nothing new - people played videogames for a long time before facebook - i'm more worried about what having to constantly maintain a "public image" like you're a presidential candidate on a permanent campaign does to people's identity, how it "flattens" you into just an instance of whatever fandom or political option you happened to associate yourself with, how all your prior communications are subject to scrutiny that threatens to rob you of your entire friend group for even a trivial transgression of a constantly-evolving standard of correct behavior etc etc.