"Narrator Oliver Wyman brings his full complement of vocalizations to this polemic on social media and what it is doing to us. His cadence and delivery are spot-on..." — AudioFile MagazineTen...
"Narrator Oliver Wyman brings his full complement of vocalizations to this polemic on social media and what it is doing to us. His cadence and delivery are spot-on..." — AudioFile MagazineTen...
Due to publisher restrictions, your digital library cannot purchase additional copies of this title. We apologize if there is a long holds list. You may want to see if other editions of this title are available from your digital library instead.
Due to publisher restrictions, your digital library cannot purchase additional copies of this title. We apologize if there is a long holds list. You may want to see if other editions of this title are available from your digital library instead.
Description-
"Narrator Oliver Wyman brings his full complement of vocalizations to this polemic on social media and what it is doing to us. His cadence and delivery are spot-on..." — AudioFile Magazine
Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now is a timely call-to-arms from a Silicon Valley pioneer.
You might have trouble imagining life without your social media accounts, but virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier insists that we're better off without them. In his important new audiobook, Lanier, who participates in no social media, offers powerful and personal reasons for all of us to leave these dangerous online platforms behind before it's too late.
Lanier's reasons for freeing ourselves from social media's poisonous grip include its tendency to bring out the worst in us, to make politics terrifying, to trick us with illusions of popularity and success, to twist our relationship with the truth, to disconnect us from other people even as we are more "connected" than ever, to rob us of our free will with relentless targeted ads. How can we remain autonomous in a world where we are under continual surveillance and are constantly being prodded by algorithms run by some of the richest corporations in history that have no way of making money other than being paid to manipulate our behavior? How could the "benefits" of social media possibly outweigh the catastrophic losses to our personal dignity, happiness, and freedom?
Lanier remains a tech optimist, so while demonstrating the evil that rules social media business models today, he also envisions a humanistic setting for social networking that can direct us towarda richer and fuller way of living and connecting with our world.
About the Author-
Jaron Lanier is a scientist, musician, and writer best known for his work in virtual reality and his advocacy of humanism and sustainable economics in a digital context. His 1980s start-up VPL Research created the first commercial VR products and introduced avatars, multi-person virtual world experiences, and prototypes of major VR applications such as surgical simulation. His books Who Owns the Future? and You Are Not a Gadget were international bestsellers, and Dawn of the New Everything was named a 2017 best book of the year by The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Vox.
Reviews-
April 30, 2018 Virtual reality pioneer Lanier (Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality) tediously reiterates well-known pitfalls of social media, arguing that the major platforms are manipulating users’ thoughts, goading their inner trolls, tearing society apart, and just generally making everyone unhappy. Lanier, a Silicon Valley insider, spells out his arguments against social media in 10 breezy chapters with titles like “You Are Losing Your Free Will” and “Social Media Is Making Politics Impossible.” His underlying argument takes aim at the business models behind popular platforms like Facebook and Google that enable third-party actors such as advertisers—to pay to modify users’ behavior using personalized, continuously adjusted stimuli. Unfortunately, his short treatise is overridden with shallow political commentary (as when he refers to Trump as a victim of Twitter) and scant analysis of critical issues (he’s quick to dismiss the role of social media in the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, and the Arab Spring uprisings). Baseless generalizations and vague platitudes undermine the author’s case, which is particularly unfortunate given his experience and expertise in the world he skewers.
Narrator Oliver Wyman brings his full complement of vocalizations to this polemic on social media and what it is doing to us. His cadence and delivery are spot-on, and his modulation of tone is especially effective when delivering the recurrent exhortation: "Delete your accounts." Author Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in virtual reality and longtime Silicon Valley guru, has created a powerful screed aimed squarely against the giants of tech, whose products have created "think groups," allowed bad actors to penetrate social media with harmful results, and legitimized nonsensical arguments like those against vaccination. Lanier dubs the issues with social media as "a bummer," and its moving parts include attention acquisition, intrusion into everyone's lives, the cramming of content down people's throats, and the use of fake mobs and fake society. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
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Macmillan Audio
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Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now
Jaron Lanier
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Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now
Jaron Lanier
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Narrator Oliver Wyman brings his full complement of vocalizations to this polemic on social media and what it is doing to us. His cadence and delivery are spot-on, and his modulation of tone is especially effective when delivering the recurrent exhortation: "Delete your accounts." Author Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in virtual reality and longtime Silicon Valley guru, has created a powerful screed aimed squarely against the giants of tech, whose products have created "think groups," allowed bad actors to penetrate social media with harmful results, and legitimized nonsensical arguments like those against vaccination. Lanier dubs the issues with social media as "a bummer," and its moving parts include attention acquisition, intrusion into everyone's lives, the cramming of content down people's throats, and the use of fake mobs and fake society. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
