ECU Libraries Catalog

Antisocial media : how Facebook disconnects us and undermines democracy / Siva Vaidhyanathan.

Author/creator Vaidhyanathan, Siva author.
Format Book and Print
Publication Info New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University Press, [2018]
Description276 pages ; 25 cm
Subject(s)
Cover title Anti-social media
Contents Introduction: the problem with Facebook is Facebook -- The pleasure machine -- The surveillance machine -- The attention machine -- The benevolence machine -- The protest machine -- The politics machine -- The disinformation machine -- Conclusion: the nonsense machine.
Abstract "If you wanted to build a machine that would distribute propaganda to millions of people, distract them from important issues, energize hatred and bigotry, erode social trust, undermine respectable journalism, foster doubts about science, and engage in massive surveillance all at once, you would make something a lot like Facebook. Of course, none of that was part of the plan. In Antisocial Media, Siva Vaidhyanathan explains how Facebook devolved from an innocent social site hacked together by Harvard students into a force that, while it may make personal life just a little more pleasurable, makes democracy a lot more challenging. It's an account of the hubris of good intentions, a missionary spirit, and an ideology that sees computer code as the universal solvent for all human problems ... Both authoritative and trenchant, Antisocial Media shows how Facebook's mission went so wrong."--Book description, Amazon.com.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Vaidhyanathan, Siva. Anti-social media. New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University Press, [2018] 9780190841171
LCCN 2018005206
ISBN9780190841164 (hardcover)
ISBN0190841168 (hardcover)

Available Items

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks HM851 .V345 2018 ✔ Available Place Hold