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The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy and Our Health – and How We Must Adapt
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 ideas on how to protect ourselves in the 2020 election and beyond
"The most important book of the year . . . a lively, engaging masterpiece."--Erik Brynjolfsson, bestselling co-author of The Second Machine Age
MIT professor Sinan Aral isn't only one of the world's leading experts on social media--he's also an entrepreneur and investor, giving him an unparalleled 360-degree view of the technology's great promise as well as its outsize capacity to damage our politics, our economy, and even our personal health.
Drawing on two decades of his own research and business experience, Aral goes under the hood of the biggest, most powerful social networks to tackle the critical question of just how much social media actually shapes our choices, for better or worse. Aral shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior-influencing levers to both Russian hackers and brand marketers--to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act--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 to 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.
"The most important book of the year . . . a lively, engaging masterpiece."--Erik Brynjolfsson, bestselling co-author of The Second Machine Age
MIT professor Sinan Aral isn't only one of the world's leading experts on social media--he's also an entrepreneur and investor, giving him an unparalleled 360-degree view of the technology's great promise as well as its outsize capacity to damage our politics, our economy, and even our personal health.
Drawing on two decades of his own research and business experience, Aral goes under the hood of the biggest, most powerful social networks to tackle the critical question of just how much social media actually shapes our choices, for better or worse. Aral shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior-influencing levers to both Russian hackers and brand marketers--to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act--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 to 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.
479 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 15, 2020
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August 22, 2023
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 ideas on how to protect ourselves in the 2020 election and beyond. MIT Professor Sinan Aral isn’t only one of the world’s leading experts on social media - he’s also an entrepreneur and investor, giving him an unparalleled 360-degree view of the technology’s great promise as well as its outsize capacity to damage our politics, our economy, and even our personal health. Drawing on two decades of his own research and business experience, Aral goes under the hood of the biggest, most powerful social networks to tackle the critical question of just how much social media actually shapes our choices, for better or worse.
Aral shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior-influencing levers to both Russian hackers and brand marketers - to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act - 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 to 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.
The Hype Machine is a fascinating, accessible and eminently readable rumination on our addiction to social media, it's causes and the pros and cons of said obsession. It digs deep into the way social media can be used for innocent purposes but also nefarious ones and the consequences of both. Most people have accounts on social media sites and I would recommend this book to all of those individuals as it certainly helped me gain a better understanding of exactly how much influence the things we read on there have on our decisions, opinions and lifestyles. There is no doubt this relatively new technology is a double-edged sword; it can certainly enrich lives but on the other hand it can become a habit that is difficult to break free from. This is undoubtedly a really important and timely book and one that engages with interesting research and intriguing anecdotes. Highly recommended.
Aral shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior-influencing levers to both Russian hackers and brand marketers - to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act - 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 to 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.
The Hype Machine is a fascinating, accessible and eminently readable rumination on our addiction to social media, it's causes and the pros and cons of said obsession. It digs deep into the way social media can be used for innocent purposes but also nefarious ones and the consequences of both. Most people have accounts on social media sites and I would recommend this book to all of those individuals as it certainly helped me gain a better understanding of exactly how much influence the things we read on there have on our decisions, opinions and lifestyles. There is no doubt this relatively new technology is a double-edged sword; it can certainly enrich lives but on the other hand it can become a habit that is difficult to break free from. This is undoubtedly a really important and timely book and one that engages with interesting research and intriguing anecdotes. Highly recommended.
November 16, 2020
Holy research, Batman! This book is jam-packed with the newest information about social media - how it grew, how it affects us, and how it can be altered. Aral proposes a lasting framework to analyze social media and realize its promise while avoiding its perils.
Important topics discussed in this book:
- election interference
- anti-vaccination advertising in social media
- how bots disseminate fake news quickly and reframe narratives
- demographic clusters and how they are targeted within marketing strategies
- advertising effectiveness
- how Facebook beat MySpace and tapped inside human psychology to enhance their platform
- personalized mass persuasion through advertising
- ideas on enhancing privacy and competition within social media companies (hint: interoperability)
Here are some key takeaways from this mountain of research:
- the annexation of Crimea and the international repercussions from that stemmed in part from the framing of the event by Russian bots through online repression and the rapid spread of disinformation.
- fake news travels 70 percent faster than real news
- an algorithm exposed to peaceful images will see and circulate happiness on the internet, while an algorithm trained on violence will see and circulate violence
- social media notifications to vote encourage a significant percentage of non-voters to vote
- the wisdom of crowds is created in an equitable environment and the madness of crowds is created in a hierarchical one
- authenticity trumps novelty when it comes to social media influence
- veracity and knowledge buttons should replace the like button
Aral will repeat what your Statistics TA told you in college a million times: correlation does not equal causation! However, Aral helps you understand which statistical connections indicate causal lift and how significant the relationship between variables is. Which is nice because it saved me from actually having to use the barest knowledge I retained from STAT 101.
This is a heavily researched, measured, and comprehensive look at social media, past, present, and future. If any of the above piqued your interest, there is a whole lot more to learn in this book. Highly recommend for tech wizards and people who want to read a substantive study on social media NOT written by an Instagram influencer.
Important topics discussed in this book:
- election interference
- anti-vaccination advertising in social media
- how bots disseminate fake news quickly and reframe narratives
- demographic clusters and how they are targeted within marketing strategies
- advertising effectiveness
- how Facebook beat MySpace and tapped inside human psychology to enhance their platform
- personalized mass persuasion through advertising
- ideas on enhancing privacy and competition within social media companies (hint: interoperability)
Here are some key takeaways from this mountain of research:
- the annexation of Crimea and the international repercussions from that stemmed in part from the framing of the event by Russian bots through online repression and the rapid spread of disinformation.
- fake news travels 70 percent faster than real news
- an algorithm exposed to peaceful images will see and circulate happiness on the internet, while an algorithm trained on violence will see and circulate violence
- social media notifications to vote encourage a significant percentage of non-voters to vote
- the wisdom of crowds is created in an equitable environment and the madness of crowds is created in a hierarchical one
- authenticity trumps novelty when it comes to social media influence
- veracity and knowledge buttons should replace the like button
Aral will repeat what your Statistics TA told you in college a million times: correlation does not equal causation! However, Aral helps you understand which statistical connections indicate causal lift and how significant the relationship between variables is. Which is nice because it saved me from actually having to use the barest knowledge I retained from STAT 101.
This is a heavily researched, measured, and comprehensive look at social media, past, present, and future. If any of the above piqued your interest, there is a whole lot more to learn in this book. Highly recommend for tech wizards and people who want to read a substantive study on social media NOT written by an Instagram influencer.
December 5, 2020
I picked this up because, like for everybody else, social media is a big part of my day to day experience, and Sinan Aral, through careful empirical work investigating causal effects on social networks, has developed a reputation as someone who has put serious thought into how they actually work, and might be well placed to say something about how they affect us and our society. In the parts where he focuses on the details of measuring social influence and network effects, as in his experimental and quasi-experimental papers, this book lives up to that expectation, with clear and straightforward explanations of basic concepts from economics, marketing, and network theory, how to measure the extent of, e.g., ad lift or switching costs or influence maximization schemes. If I wanted to work in contemporary social media marketing, I would definitely take an MBA class from this guy, or at least an intermediate undergraduate marketing elective.
When he gets to the broader social implications, things get a fair bit shakier, and the book really starts to live up to the title. There's a lot about social influence campaigns from politicians, Russian trolls, and assorted bad actors which Aral ties to the same kinds of effects seen in marketing, where the evidence is much less persuasive. Essentially, the name of the game is to take estimates of social media influence established in marketing contexts and to argue that similar effects would mean that this non-commercial persuasion also has big effects. While there is some restraint here, the evidence on commercial effects is that people can be and are influenced, but if you look at the numbers, total effects are not all that large. You can get a percent or two of people to change their purpose decisions, which is huge if you are a marketer and get paid every sale. But comparable effects on social attitudes or political views (which may be less malleable) would be pretty close to noise. The part on elections comes just short of admitting this, basically arguing that if an election was going to be a hair's breadth from tied anyway the effects might slip it over, but in that case just about anything might. this is not to say social media might not have big effects on society through the collective behavior of users and platforms, but the counterfactual of "no Facebook" or "no Twitter" is basically not possible to measure using the methods described, and while some theory exists to extrapolate (some of which is discussed in the book), it requires a heroic degree of sociological, economic, epistemic, or political speculation.
The sections on how to deal with the issues raised are similarly far away from the direct evidence, and further seem muddled by a lack of clarity about what kinds of problems one is even trying to solve. The whole recent field of study on "fake news" seems massively unclear on what the problem to be handled even is. It's true the world is full of conspiracy theories, misinformation, and just mistaken or incorrect information, but at the boundaries, what is untrue and consequentially so become less clear, and what we would want a world to look like in terms of sharing "truth" even less so. It seems like people who work on this are mostly concerned about political implications, which is fine, I guess, but it's not clear that the problems of propaganda, sensationalism, false beliefs, and disagreeing with (right-thinking) people are usefully lumped together under this heading. Evidence on propaganda and genocide in Rwanda, former Yugoslavia, and other places (not mentioned in this book, presumably because the offending medium of communication was... radio) suggests forcefully that we should be concerned about the impacts of communication on society, but recognizing the possibility of impact and having something to say about what to do about it are not strongly related. In any case, I suspect that the sections on policy remedies are further muddled due to conflicts of interest; much of the research surveyed here on social media effects was conducted with cooperation of or directly in the employ of the social media companies themselves, which is useful for an insider perspective, but less so for representing the broader interests of society.
When he gets to the broader social implications, things get a fair bit shakier, and the book really starts to live up to the title. There's a lot about social influence campaigns from politicians, Russian trolls, and assorted bad actors which Aral ties to the same kinds of effects seen in marketing, where the evidence is much less persuasive. Essentially, the name of the game is to take estimates of social media influence established in marketing contexts and to argue that similar effects would mean that this non-commercial persuasion also has big effects. While there is some restraint here, the evidence on commercial effects is that people can be and are influenced, but if you look at the numbers, total effects are not all that large. You can get a percent or two of people to change their purpose decisions, which is huge if you are a marketer and get paid every sale. But comparable effects on social attitudes or political views (which may be less malleable) would be pretty close to noise. The part on elections comes just short of admitting this, basically arguing that if an election was going to be a hair's breadth from tied anyway the effects might slip it over, but in that case just about anything might. this is not to say social media might not have big effects on society through the collective behavior of users and platforms, but the counterfactual of "no Facebook" or "no Twitter" is basically not possible to measure using the methods described, and while some theory exists to extrapolate (some of which is discussed in the book), it requires a heroic degree of sociological, economic, epistemic, or political speculation.
The sections on how to deal with the issues raised are similarly far away from the direct evidence, and further seem muddled by a lack of clarity about what kinds of problems one is even trying to solve. The whole recent field of study on "fake news" seems massively unclear on what the problem to be handled even is. It's true the world is full of conspiracy theories, misinformation, and just mistaken or incorrect information, but at the boundaries, what is untrue and consequentially so become less clear, and what we would want a world to look like in terms of sharing "truth" even less so. It seems like people who work on this are mostly concerned about political implications, which is fine, I guess, but it's not clear that the problems of propaganda, sensationalism, false beliefs, and disagreeing with (right-thinking) people are usefully lumped together under this heading. Evidence on propaganda and genocide in Rwanda, former Yugoslavia, and other places (not mentioned in this book, presumably because the offending medium of communication was... radio) suggests forcefully that we should be concerned about the impacts of communication on society, but recognizing the possibility of impact and having something to say about what to do about it are not strongly related. In any case, I suspect that the sections on policy remedies are further muddled due to conflicts of interest; much of the research surveyed here on social media effects was conducted with cooperation of or directly in the employ of the social media companies themselves, which is useful for an insider perspective, but less so for representing the broader interests of society.
June 11, 2020
This is definitely an important piece of research about all aspects of social media. I just loved how the chapters were presented and touched on prior posts then is picked apart and explained in detail. He focuses on Twitter and Facebook, the big ones and especially Twitter as Trump uses it. The casual user of these may post the occasional photo or daily happenings, that's not the issue. It is the bad behavior of people like Donald Trump and many celebrities giving opinion without any thought. Bad behavior needs to come to a dull roar.
I like that the examples highlight voter fraud, the Russia issue and several more. He really gets into the origin of each post and gets the reader thinking. Plus the narrative throughout this book was fantastic. It ends on positive note about how social media can be used as form of improving change in the horrible and having better online habits. You don't have to share everything.
I am surprised how much I liked this and this is totally relevant with what has been happening for years on social media. Thanks to Netgalley, Sinan Aral and Crowj Publishing: Currency for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Available: 9/15/20
I like that the examples highlight voter fraud, the Russia issue and several more. He really gets into the origin of each post and gets the reader thinking. Plus the narrative throughout this book was fantastic. It ends on positive note about how social media can be used as form of improving change in the horrible and having better online habits. You don't have to share everything.
I am surprised how much I liked this and this is totally relevant with what has been happening for years on social media. Thanks to Netgalley, Sinan Aral and Crowj Publishing: Currency for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Available: 9/15/20
September 22, 2020
This is by far the most comprehensive book on the challenges we face in the age of social media. I’ve read many books on the topic, and this MIT professors cites more legitimate research than any other book I’ve read. The last chapter with the challenges and solutions was phenomenal as well.
May 15, 2023
This book is not a book about social media – not solely at least. It’s a book that delves into sociology, politics, psychology and tech. A truly fascinating, eye-opening and bordering on terrifying even read that is very well written and researched by an MIT professor of Management, Marketing, IT, and Data Science. The author, Sinan Aral, is also the director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; and head of MIT’s Social Analytics Lab – and a true expert on everything social.
The book is divided into three parts: the mechanics of social media (how algorithms work and how content spreads virally), the psychological and social factors that make social media so compelling AND the broader societal implications of the hype machine, including its impact on democracy, public health, and privacy – with the hype machine being the world of social media and its platforms.
My favorite thing about this book is that it is loaded with research, examples and data. It sheds light on news stories famous the world over and breaks them down for readers regardless of their familiarity with the social media jargon and expertise. I have listed below just some of the examples / research covered throughout the book (so in full disclosure, a bit more than a few examples but, in my defense, there’s a lot more in the book!):
- The 2020 US presidential elections and the extent and form of Russian interference
- Brexit and the voting process and campaigns to sway voters
- Anti-vaxing and how it started after a false article and spread like wildfire, and still does till today
- Social bots, fake news and deepfake technology and how they are being used to manipulate news, information and most aspects of our lives
- Various examples of social experimentation on actual pools of people across the world and different social platforms to test and modify algorithms in order to manipulate behavior
- People You May Know (PYMK) feature and its true purpose of getting each user to connect with and “close the triangle” with two other users through an endless loop of bringing like-minded and similarly-behaved people together to grow the social platform and its perceived value and keep people “sucked in”
- The Hype Machines 4 levers are: money, code, norms and laws
- The Hype Machine understands what we do in order to maximize profitability and revenue from Instagram analyzing the pictures we post to Google deciphering our e-mails and Twitter understanding our texts, etc… all while forming a better idea about our personalities and likely behavior and swaying it one way or the other for financial gain
- Facebook carried out an “experiment” back in 2010 to measure their ability to sway voters in the US Congressional Elections by showing 61 million people a message on their feed reminding them to vote halfway through Election Day. Not all of these people were shown the same message. Some were shown an informational reminder while others were shown a more “social post” showing them 6 of their friends who have added the “I voted” button to their profile. Out of those who saw the “social” message, Facebook was able to generate 340,000 additional votes – all from one single newsfeed message that cost Facebook ZERO dollars!
- Social media influences the way we date, exercise, eat, dress, rate businesses and even feel! Various platforms throughout the years modified their algorithms to show “test” users some depressing content while showing others more upbeat content. The results after some time reflected in the tone of voice and the type of content the users themselves started posting.
All of the above, while technologically and behaviorally fascinating, is extremely scary. We can only imagine how far things can still go with all the new AI and machine learning capabilities being unleashed.
With that being said, not all has been bad with the rise of social media platforms. Below are a few uplifting examples shared that will make us think twice before declaring war on The Hype Machine:
- Google was able to accurately detect and predict the spread of the flu between the years of 2009 and 2011. This helped health organizations send help and take preventive measures. All of this was simply done by tracking the search results of “flu symptoms” typed into Google by people who, as per common practice, tend to google their symptoms before they decide on visiting a doctor.
- When the Nepal devastating earthquake hit in 2015, Facebook could, through its “Safety Check” feature, locate and label as “safe” around 8.5 million people! It then proceeded to collect donations of 15.5 Million USD from people around the world – an amount that exceeded the combined donations of both the US and the European Union!
- The famous Ice Bucket Challenge that went viral across social channels helped raise 250 million USD for ALS in 2 months! What?! This is amazing!
I have honestly enjoyed this book a lot and, despite being a marketing professional who has been involved with social advertising over the past 10+ years, have learned so much about The Hype Machine and how it makes the world (not just the economy) go round. I think we can all agree that with the bad, came the good and through improved laws and data protection regulations, we can “tame the beast” and enjoy the entertainment and benefits it has to offer.
I will leave you with a powerful quote from the book that explains so much in just a few words…
“We are awash in digital social signals. Social media is consuming us – our time and attention – because we are neurologically wired to use it. The Hype Machine is designed to take advantage of our psychological and neurophysiological needs for socialization, belonging, and social approval.”
Highly recommended to all!
The book is divided into three parts: the mechanics of social media (how algorithms work and how content spreads virally), the psychological and social factors that make social media so compelling AND the broader societal implications of the hype machine, including its impact on democracy, public health, and privacy – with the hype machine being the world of social media and its platforms.
My favorite thing about this book is that it is loaded with research, examples and data. It sheds light on news stories famous the world over and breaks them down for readers regardless of their familiarity with the social media jargon and expertise. I have listed below just some of the examples / research covered throughout the book (so in full disclosure, a bit more than a few examples but, in my defense, there’s a lot more in the book!):
- The 2020 US presidential elections and the extent and form of Russian interference
- Brexit and the voting process and campaigns to sway voters
- Anti-vaxing and how it started after a false article and spread like wildfire, and still does till today
- Social bots, fake news and deepfake technology and how they are being used to manipulate news, information and most aspects of our lives
- Various examples of social experimentation on actual pools of people across the world and different social platforms to test and modify algorithms in order to manipulate behavior
- People You May Know (PYMK) feature and its true purpose of getting each user to connect with and “close the triangle” with two other users through an endless loop of bringing like-minded and similarly-behaved people together to grow the social platform and its perceived value and keep people “sucked in”
- The Hype Machines 4 levers are: money, code, norms and laws
- The Hype Machine understands what we do in order to maximize profitability and revenue from Instagram analyzing the pictures we post to Google deciphering our e-mails and Twitter understanding our texts, etc… all while forming a better idea about our personalities and likely behavior and swaying it one way or the other for financial gain
- Facebook carried out an “experiment” back in 2010 to measure their ability to sway voters in the US Congressional Elections by showing 61 million people a message on their feed reminding them to vote halfway through Election Day. Not all of these people were shown the same message. Some were shown an informational reminder while others were shown a more “social post” showing them 6 of their friends who have added the “I voted” button to their profile. Out of those who saw the “social” message, Facebook was able to generate 340,000 additional votes – all from one single newsfeed message that cost Facebook ZERO dollars!
- Social media influences the way we date, exercise, eat, dress, rate businesses and even feel! Various platforms throughout the years modified their algorithms to show “test” users some depressing content while showing others more upbeat content. The results after some time reflected in the tone of voice and the type of content the users themselves started posting.
All of the above, while technologically and behaviorally fascinating, is extremely scary. We can only imagine how far things can still go with all the new AI and machine learning capabilities being unleashed.
With that being said, not all has been bad with the rise of social media platforms. Below are a few uplifting examples shared that will make us think twice before declaring war on The Hype Machine:
- Google was able to accurately detect and predict the spread of the flu between the years of 2009 and 2011. This helped health organizations send help and take preventive measures. All of this was simply done by tracking the search results of “flu symptoms” typed into Google by people who, as per common practice, tend to google their symptoms before they decide on visiting a doctor.
- When the Nepal devastating earthquake hit in 2015, Facebook could, through its “Safety Check” feature, locate and label as “safe” around 8.5 million people! It then proceeded to collect donations of 15.5 Million USD from people around the world – an amount that exceeded the combined donations of both the US and the European Union!
- The famous Ice Bucket Challenge that went viral across social channels helped raise 250 million USD for ALS in 2 months! What?! This is amazing!
I have honestly enjoyed this book a lot and, despite being a marketing professional who has been involved with social advertising over the past 10+ years, have learned so much about The Hype Machine and how it makes the world (not just the economy) go round. I think we can all agree that with the bad, came the good and through improved laws and data protection regulations, we can “tame the beast” and enjoy the entertainment and benefits it has to offer.
I will leave you with a powerful quote from the book that explains so much in just a few words…
“We are awash in digital social signals. Social media is consuming us – our time and attention – because we are neurologically wired to use it. The Hype Machine is designed to take advantage of our psychological and neurophysiological needs for socialization, belonging, and social approval.”
Highly recommended to all!
November 8, 2020
I wish this book gets the hype it deserves. I have learned so much more in this one book than many other armchair theorizing articles or books on social media.
Aral provides plausible hypotheses, reasoning appropriate to networks, and the analysis results around the hype machine. He tries to answer questions around the hype machine or social media.
Did social media change the 2016 election result? What is the lift of sales due to target marketing? Why is misinformation spreading faster than fact-checked information? Is social media evil that should be avoided at all costs? Are we living in an echo chamber? Are we being polarized due to the filter bubbles? What should we do?
Aral shares methodology and framework to intelligently answer these questions. We may not know the truth or have a definite conclusion since we are dealing with a complex system. Social media interacts with many agents (users, advertisers), and there are so many confounding factors. It is easy to confuse correlation and causation. Some natural experiment data (e.g., Facebook launched in universities) allow us to control for other factors. We get insights into the marginal or lift impact through the statistical analysis. Aral shares his own studies from his work as a scholar, researcher, and practitioner. He also shares other published studies on how we can understand hype machines.
While I am happy that Amazon recommended this book to me, this is another reminder of how I am susceptible to websites and ads trying to get my attention. Yes, I am surrounded by hype machines.
Aral provides plausible hypotheses, reasoning appropriate to networks, and the analysis results around the hype machine. He tries to answer questions around the hype machine or social media.
Did social media change the 2016 election result? What is the lift of sales due to target marketing? Why is misinformation spreading faster than fact-checked information? Is social media evil that should be avoided at all costs? Are we living in an echo chamber? Are we being polarized due to the filter bubbles? What should we do?
Aral shares methodology and framework to intelligently answer these questions. We may not know the truth or have a definite conclusion since we are dealing with a complex system. Social media interacts with many agents (users, advertisers), and there are so many confounding factors. It is easy to confuse correlation and causation. Some natural experiment data (e.g., Facebook launched in universities) allow us to control for other factors. We get insights into the marginal or lift impact through the statistical analysis. Aral shares his own studies from his work as a scholar, researcher, and practitioner. He also shares other published studies on how we can understand hype machines.
While I am happy that Amazon recommended this book to me, this is another reminder of how I am susceptible to websites and ads trying to get my attention. Yes, I am surrounded by hype machines.
January 5, 2021
The Hype Machine tackles social media, its issues, and what we can do moving forward.
Aral's book is well-researched. There is a stack of figures, citations and content here that details the machinations of social media platforms and why it has the impact it does on us. Aral then proposes ideas for how we can extract the positive aspects of the platforms and avoid the side effects.
Aral, however, may have missed the forest from the trees. He does an excellent job outlining the marketing techniques and metrics of these platforms, its inner workings, but does not complement this analysis with much about what needs to be done differently. Aral leaves this discussion to the last chapter, which is good but feels lacking. I feel that, coming out of the book, I have learnt more about marketing on social media than how we must adapt, which is not really the focus of the book (as seen by its title).
The Hype Machine is a great overview of social media, however, that does not necessarily make it a great book.
Aral's book is well-researched. There is a stack of figures, citations and content here that details the machinations of social media platforms and why it has the impact it does on us. Aral then proposes ideas for how we can extract the positive aspects of the platforms and avoid the side effects.
Aral, however, may have missed the forest from the trees. He does an excellent job outlining the marketing techniques and metrics of these platforms, its inner workings, but does not complement this analysis with much about what needs to be done differently. Aral leaves this discussion to the last chapter, which is good but feels lacking. I feel that, coming out of the book, I have learnt more about marketing on social media than how we must adapt, which is not really the focus of the book (as seen by its title).
The Hype Machine is a great overview of social media, however, that does not necessarily make it a great book.
January 22, 2021
The Hype Machine is probably the most important topical book for marketers, and incredibly insightful for everyone alike. My copy is filled with page markers and notes!
This book is very well researched, discussing the role of social media across the world. It delves into the Russian interference of the US elections, GDPR in Europe and the role of comparative legislation, fake news on Twitter, and my favorite – the story of the Russia’s very own Neo, Pavel Durov (the man who built Vkontakte and Telegram against Russian government’s tyranny).
It might seem slightly technical at times because Professor Sinan is a stickler for distinguishing correlation and causation. He demonstrates clear trends but is very particular about noting causality – for example, it is evident that Russia meddled in the 2016 US elections however the impact of the meddling remains questionable. In statistical parlance, the impact of Russian interference isn’t insignificant enough to be ruled out.
He dives into current debates around regulation of social media with one key focus – social media, like much else, is what we make it to be. It has the potential for both good and evil, so it’s up to us to help tilt it in the favor of the former. This includes, but isn’t limited to:
- crowdsourcing truthfulness by adding a “truthful” or “knowledgable” button next to the likes, while simultaneously nudging users to engage System 2 thinking and so reducing the spread of fake news
- increasing competition, which doesn’t imply breaking up Facebook; key lies in data interoperability and portability (take your data wherever you go, much like keeping the same phone number)
- threading the needle of the transparency paradox: social networks need to be open about data collection practices while protecting the user’s data
Can’t recommend this enough! The author’s TED talks are worth a watch in case you don’t get enough time to read the book.
This book is very well researched, discussing the role of social media across the world. It delves into the Russian interference of the US elections, GDPR in Europe and the role of comparative legislation, fake news on Twitter, and my favorite – the story of the Russia’s very own Neo, Pavel Durov (the man who built Vkontakte and Telegram against Russian government’s tyranny).
It might seem slightly technical at times because Professor Sinan is a stickler for distinguishing correlation and causation. He demonstrates clear trends but is very particular about noting causality – for example, it is evident that Russia meddled in the 2016 US elections however the impact of the meddling remains questionable. In statistical parlance, the impact of Russian interference isn’t insignificant enough to be ruled out.
He dives into current debates around regulation of social media with one key focus – social media, like much else, is what we make it to be. It has the potential for both good and evil, so it’s up to us to help tilt it in the favor of the former. This includes, but isn’t limited to:
- crowdsourcing truthfulness by adding a “truthful” or “knowledgable” button next to the likes, while simultaneously nudging users to engage System 2 thinking and so reducing the spread of fake news
- increasing competition, which doesn’t imply breaking up Facebook; key lies in data interoperability and portability (take your data wherever you go, much like keeping the same phone number)
- threading the needle of the transparency paradox: social networks need to be open about data collection practices while protecting the user’s data
Can’t recommend this enough! The author’s TED talks are worth a watch in case you don’t get enough time to read the book.
May 22, 2020
I don't care if you are a marketing manager, social media influencer or just present on social media. I don't care if you are part of the electorate in the US, a consumer in Europe or running a business down under, this book explains it all when it comes to social media.
Sinan Aral takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions. The book and most chapters start with an emotionally arousing examples of social media in action. He than takes each of these examples and takes them apart, explains the inner workings, traces back the origins of posts and content and illustrates in great detail the impact social media has on our society.
The examples are historic, and current: annexation of the Crimean peninsula, voter fraud and voter suppression in the US and buying influences on major websites.
The book is not only highlighting bad habits and bad actors, it also provides hope. In the final chapter, the author lays down some paths towards improving and evolving our social media landscape for a better worlds.
This book as the potential to become a seminal publication, a must read with potential to hit the non-fiction bestseller list in the New York Times. Add to your 'want-to-read' now, or pre-order right away.
Sinan Aral takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions. The book and most chapters start with an emotionally arousing examples of social media in action. He than takes each of these examples and takes them apart, explains the inner workings, traces back the origins of posts and content and illustrates in great detail the impact social media has on our society.
The examples are historic, and current: annexation of the Crimean peninsula, voter fraud and voter suppression in the US and buying influences on major websites.
The book is not only highlighting bad habits and bad actors, it also provides hope. In the final chapter, the author lays down some paths towards improving and evolving our social media landscape for a better worlds.
This book as the potential to become a seminal publication, a must read with potential to hit the non-fiction bestseller list in the New York Times. Add to your 'want-to-read' now, or pre-order right away.
February 14, 2021
good overview supported by up-to-date research evidence, theories were explained in an accessible way for readers who have no technical backgrounds.
however the writing felt repetitive (fillers-like and repeating concepts) sometimes, hence took me more two months to finish this book. A lot of the chapters barely scratched the surface imo, I was expecting more technicality and details on the studies (and less digital marketing strategies).
would recommend for readers who know little about machine learning/social network algorithms.
however the writing felt repetitive (fillers-like and repeating concepts) sometimes, hence took me more two months to finish this book. A lot of the chapters barely scratched the surface imo, I was expecting more technicality and details on the studies (and less digital marketing strategies).
would recommend for readers who know little about machine learning/social network algorithms.
November 16, 2020
This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 11/15, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas. How social media affects our decision-making and shapes our world in ways both useful and dangerous.
Find more Business Books of the week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more recommended books on my Amazon Influencer page at https://www.amazon.com/shop/stevo4747 or by searching for me on Google.
Find more Business Books of the week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more recommended books on my Amazon Influencer page at https://www.amazon.com/shop/stevo4747 or by searching for me on Google.
November 28, 2020
I can't imagine a more pertinent read for people who want to understand the political climate in America right now. Sinan describes our new digital world, what he coins 'the hype machine', and its impact on society — particularly in the space of fake news and disinformation.
Besides giving context on big societal problems of the day and ways to fix these problems, Sinan wrote (inadvertently?) a great business book on building online platforms. The author goes pretty in depth on how companies can leverage network effects for example
Besides giving context on big societal problems of the day and ways to fix these problems, Sinan wrote (inadvertently?) a great business book on building online platforms. The author goes pretty in depth on how companies can leverage network effects for example
November 8, 2020
One of the best books I’ve read this year. Very informative and backed by solid research. Presents problems, history, and solutions across political, healthcare, privacy and other social domains.
October 15, 2020
If you have watched the Netflix program “The Social Dilemma” then this book is a great follow up.
Sinan Arai is a clever guy, (which is good), he has analysed data to answer some of the questions that are left hanging from “The Social Dilemma”. It’s great that it’s up-to-date, the book was published during the Pandemic and Arai knows his social media, he talks about the “attention economy”, understands that nobody wants to be interrupted with adverts, emails and cold calls anymore. He also touches on the benefits of networks, community and crowds to the buyer and the seller.
It is worth pointing that the first 100 pages discuss were our elections influenced by social media? Only to admit on around page 120 that nobody looks at ads on social media anyway. In that sense, he could have got to the pointer quicker, that said, while the book is pretty hefty at over 300 pages. There isn’t any filler, which you can get with some books today.
If you are interested in the subject I highly recommend the book “Ctrl Alt Delete” by Tom Baldwin.
Sinan Arai is a clever guy, (which is good), he has analysed data to answer some of the questions that are left hanging from “The Social Dilemma”. It’s great that it’s up-to-date, the book was published during the Pandemic and Arai knows his social media, he talks about the “attention economy”, understands that nobody wants to be interrupted with adverts, emails and cold calls anymore. He also touches on the benefits of networks, community and crowds to the buyer and the seller.
It is worth pointing that the first 100 pages discuss were our elections influenced by social media? Only to admit on around page 120 that nobody looks at ads on social media anyway. In that sense, he could have got to the pointer quicker, that said, while the book is pretty hefty at over 300 pages. There isn’t any filler, which you can get with some books today.
If you are interested in the subject I highly recommend the book “Ctrl Alt Delete” by Tom Baldwin.
December 31, 2020
The book touches a modern and interesting topic. No doubt it does it by having considerable amount of research done on the field. Sinan Aral is also a competent speaker that has the charisma explaining things in an accessible way. Hence my expectations before buying the book were high.
The way the book is written does not fully matched my expectations. Often the content becomes needlessly technical creating “headaches” to average reader. We trust the written content is well checked so I would prefer to go straight to the point than trying to justify it’s validity by adding complexity. There is also some repetition of similar concepts chapter after chapter that gives a bit the sense of wasted time. For those choosing the audiobook the voice of narrator is a bit mechanic (google-translate kind of sound) hence not pleasant. Stick to the conventional reading version rather than audiobook for this one.
Overall a good content book with potential for improvements. Thank you mr. Sinan for sharing your knowledge.
The way the book is written does not fully matched my expectations. Often the content becomes needlessly technical creating “headaches” to average reader. We trust the written content is well checked so I would prefer to go straight to the point than trying to justify it’s validity by adding complexity. There is also some repetition of similar concepts chapter after chapter that gives a bit the sense of wasted time. For those choosing the audiobook the voice of narrator is a bit mechanic (google-translate kind of sound) hence not pleasant. Stick to the conventional reading version rather than audiobook for this one.
Overall a good content book with potential for improvements. Thank you mr. Sinan for sharing your knowledge.
November 19, 2020
With the covid-19 pandemic, the recent Biden/Trump US elections, the END SARS campaign in Nigeria, and many other social issues; the Hype Machine is the best book so far trying to help us crystalize the impact of social media in our current world. The quantitative insights and qualitative predictions from the book are one you expect from an MIT professor like Sinan Aral who takes you on a journey as he tries to show us the peril and promise of social media. Each chapter of this book can be a best seller book by itself!
I know this book is so powerful so I began my personal thread on Twitter on what I am learning for the book here (https://twitter.com/dclassovercomer/s...). This thread has garnered many views and I have recommended The Hype Machine to anyone that interacts with social media (which is basically all of us).
Thank you again, Sinan for this needed conversation and for providing 20-year research in a well-documented manner.
I know this book is so powerful so I began my personal thread on Twitter on what I am learning for the book here (https://twitter.com/dclassovercomer/s...). This thread has garnered many views and I have recommended The Hype Machine to anyone that interacts with social media (which is basically all of us).
Thank you again, Sinan for this needed conversation and for providing 20-year research in a well-documented manner.
September 16, 2020
The author primarily focused on Twitter, but Facebook was also a big part of this book. The book goes into detail of how we are both positively and negatively influenced by what we see on social media, whether or not the source is trustworthy. This was an informative read.
November 3, 2020
The Hype Machine is a book about social media—about its power and influence, and about what might need to be done to lessen its negative effects. Sinan Aral defines 'the Hype Machine' as the digital social media technologies that have particularly taken off over the last decade or two and considers how they do what they do, helping us to interact, engage, live our lives, and do a whole load more, but also how they impact our decisions, elections, and lives. Aral then goes on to lay out proposals for what could be done to regulate these technologies in ways which might have concrete impact.
As someone who reads a fair few books about popular technology and social media, what made The Hype Machine distinctive (other than the insistence on calling social media 'the Hype Machine' throughout the book) was the amount of research cited and used throughout. Whether done by Aral and his team or by others, the book provides a lot of references to research and studies on the actual impact of social media and how it works in different ways, from our brains to network effects. This makes it a good choice if you're looking for a book on these technologies which balances accessibility with linking to academic studies. It is also notably up to date, with a prologue specifically discussing COVID-19 and references throughout to social media in 2020, which in some ways can blur the lines in debates around privacy and digital technologies through pandemic measures and tech companies' involvement in these.
This is also a useful look at the two directions social media is being pulled in: towards greater openness, but also greater privacy and security. Aral outlines some of the issues and debates around these, making it a useful introduction for people new to some of these ideas, as well as proposing ways of managing the two areas. The later part of the book focuses on the future and on what should be done in terms of regulation and people's behaviour, which is useful for starting discussion though (probably naturally) I had some questions about some parts (and as the focus of the book is on the US, the regulation was mostly focused on there).
The Hype Machine is a handy book for my work personally, and an interesting read for anyone who wants to think about how social media works and the effects it has been having over recent years. For my tastes, it lets the tech companies off a bit too much and occasionally falls into thinking that technology can always solve technology's problems, but Aral often gives multiple sides to a debate and makes it obvious that things often aren't clear cut.
As someone who reads a fair few books about popular technology and social media, what made The Hype Machine distinctive (other than the insistence on calling social media 'the Hype Machine' throughout the book) was the amount of research cited and used throughout. Whether done by Aral and his team or by others, the book provides a lot of references to research and studies on the actual impact of social media and how it works in different ways, from our brains to network effects. This makes it a good choice if you're looking for a book on these technologies which balances accessibility with linking to academic studies. It is also notably up to date, with a prologue specifically discussing COVID-19 and references throughout to social media in 2020, which in some ways can blur the lines in debates around privacy and digital technologies through pandemic measures and tech companies' involvement in these.
This is also a useful look at the two directions social media is being pulled in: towards greater openness, but also greater privacy and security. Aral outlines some of the issues and debates around these, making it a useful introduction for people new to some of these ideas, as well as proposing ways of managing the two areas. The later part of the book focuses on the future and on what should be done in terms of regulation and people's behaviour, which is useful for starting discussion though (probably naturally) I had some questions about some parts (and as the focus of the book is on the US, the regulation was mostly focused on there).
The Hype Machine is a handy book for my work personally, and an interesting read for anyone who wants to think about how social media works and the effects it has been having over recent years. For my tastes, it lets the tech companies off a bit too much and occasionally falls into thinking that technology can always solve technology's problems, but Aral often gives multiple sides to a debate and makes it obvious that things often aren't clear cut.
November 19, 2020
Social Media Transforming Society--Maybe in Ways We Don't Like.
THE HYPE MACHINE is an extensive, well-researched book about how American (mostly) society is changed by online interaction. Huge companies thrive via interaction, such as "Likes." Cadres of super-smart engineers develop programs to maximize the time and intensity we spend on social media.
My favorite chapter was 10, "The Wisdom and Madness of Crowds." Do not miss this chapter! Normally, a diversified crowd can achieve results that a few individuals cannot. With social media however, our groups tend to NOT be diverse. Our online friends tend to be a lot like ourself. Thus, instead of wisdom, we get madness.
Our political views have not changed, the author argues. Instead, how we align ourselves has become more regimented into one side or the other.
One thing would have made this book more readable: Simple points at either the beginning or the end of each chapter.
I was pleased to be offered a book, being a part of the "Hype Machine" myself. However, I was careful to not let myself be influenced by the ratings from my fellow "hypers."
THE HYPE MACHINE is an extensive, well-researched book about how American (mostly) society is changed by online interaction. Huge companies thrive via interaction, such as "Likes." Cadres of super-smart engineers develop programs to maximize the time and intensity we spend on social media.
My favorite chapter was 10, "The Wisdom and Madness of Crowds." Do not miss this chapter! Normally, a diversified crowd can achieve results that a few individuals cannot. With social media however, our groups tend to NOT be diverse. Our online friends tend to be a lot like ourself. Thus, instead of wisdom, we get madness.
Our political views have not changed, the author argues. Instead, how we align ourselves has become more regimented into one side or the other.
One thing would have made this book more readable: Simple points at either the beginning or the end of each chapter.
I was pleased to be offered a book, being a part of the "Hype Machine" myself. However, I was careful to not let myself be influenced by the ratings from my fellow "hypers."
February 16, 2021
This book is a mix of research, theory, and practical advice about how social media shapes our lives and has something for everyone. I host an produce a podcast about democracy and had the chance to talk with Sinan Aral about what the future holds for social media and democracy: https://democracyworks.simplecast.com...
Beyond the information on elections and democracy, I found some interesting research and advice about how think about social media marketing and reaching new audiences for the podcast and related endeavors.
Beyond the information on elections and democracy, I found some interesting research and advice about how think about social media marketing and reaching new audiences for the podcast and related endeavors.
March 3, 2021
Very important read.
I found this book fantastic, but also scary at times!
I really liked the parts of the book how social media affects (and disrupts) our health and, especially, our economy.
I feel this is a great companion read to Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
Highly recommended book. I got a lot out of this.
4.3/5
I found this book fantastic, but also scary at times!
I really liked the parts of the book how social media affects (and disrupts) our health and, especially, our economy.
I feel this is a great companion read to Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
Highly recommended book. I got a lot out of this.
4.3/5
January 21, 2021
I’ll just summarize my journey within the Hype Machine: The parts that I underlined in this book took 104 pages! It’s a must-read for anyone who seeks to understand modern society, culture, economy & politics. It’s a treasure trove, particularly for social scientists, who should be grateful for the incredible literature review on digital media studies.
August 12, 2023
Toks malonumas skaityti suprantamai parašytą mokslininko tekstą. Tarsi viską žinome (ar bent numanome) apie skaitmeninį pasaulį, jo įgalintus fakenews’us, poliarizaciją ar rusijos veikiamus rinkimų rezultatus, bet ar mūsų įsitikinimams neprieštarauja atlikti moksliniai tyrimai? Sinan Aral į temą pasižiūrėjo super skrupulingai, sistemingai, sluoksnis po sluoksnio griežtai vadovaudamasis atliktais tyrimais (peer reviewed, aišku) aiškinosi kiekvieną hype mašinos aspektą. Man ypač įdomi buvo rusijos fakenews fabriko taktika. Įdomių minčių ar faktų prisibraukiau pilną knygą, bet susikaupsiu ir nespoilinsiu jums, patirkit malonumą patys.
November 18, 2020
Epic read for all consumers!
The most detailed analysis of the past, present, and future state of social media to date. Written for both casual observer and the serious academic by the leading thinker on the topic. Well worth the time and money.
The most detailed analysis of the past, present, and future state of social media to date. Written for both casual observer and the serious academic by the leading thinker on the topic. Well worth the time and money.
February 1, 2021
Great summary of how social media works and the issues facing it, as well as some proposals for how to best regulate and study it going forward! I learned a LOT, and it is engagingly written for a non-expert audience.
July 16, 2023
Alandaki firmalarda çalışan biri olduğu için okudum. Bana yeni bir perspektif ya da bilgi kazandırmadı. İlgilenen için deep learning ve yürütülen çalışmaların psikolojik okumaları faydalı olabilir. Ama büyük beklentilerle okumamak lazım.
December 18, 2024
En spännande studie över hur politik och samhälle påverkas av algoritmerna online, och av sociala medier.
April 21, 2021
Insightful, surreal and thoughtful
February 6, 2025
It was good. I dnfd the last chapter cause I was kind of over it though. But the stuff about how algorithms encourage grouping and jump off existing connections was cool.
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