A landmark insider’s tour of how social media affects our decision-making and shapes our world
in ways both useful and dangerous with critical insights into the social media trends of the
2020 election and beyond The book might be described as prophetic. . . . At least two of Aral’s
three predictions have come to fruition.”—New YorkNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
WIRED • LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD Social media connected the world—and
gave rise to fake news and increasing polarization. It is paramount MIT professor Sinan Aral
says that we recognize the outsize effect social media has on us—on our politics our economy
and even our personal health—in order to steer today’s social technology toward its great
promise while avoiding the ways it can pull us apart.Drawing on decades of his own research and
business experience Aral goes under the hood of the most powerful social networks to tackle
the critical question of just how much social media actually shapes our choices for better or
worse. He shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior influencing
levers to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act—from Russian hackers to brand
marketers—which is why its consequences affect everything from elections to business dating to
health. Along the way he covers a wide array of topics including how network effects fuel
Twitter’s and Facebook’s massive growth the neuroscience of how social media affects our
brains the real consequences of fake news the power of social ratings and the impact of
social media on our kids.In mapping out strategies for being more thoughtful consumers of
social media The Hype Machine offers the definitive guide to understanding and harnessing for
good the technology that has redefined our world overnight.
