I try to constantly be aware of the impact that social medias can have on the perception of things. Too often the recurring argument in classes and seminars is the anxiety with which Instagram and Tik Tok fill our days with, especially for you ger artists. When we come across pictures and videos of people we perceive as more successful than us, more social than us, more talented than us, and the list goes on.

It’s not always easy to remember how MANUFACTURED this perception of reality is and often these thoughts can snowball into a negative spiral of destructive self-criticism.

Max Fisher’s book is a good(and scary) insight on how certain dynamics have been created BY DESIGN and, even with a few biases here and there, a good reminder on how to approach carefully social medias.

Kinda the same as alcohol, “Use it responsibly”.

From the New York Journal of Books:

“Max Fisher, a New York Times investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist, has written a fascinating and provocative book that at first glance would appear to be about Big Tech but in fact is far more of a triste on humanity itself. It is a story of the evolution and consequences of social media as hugely powerful platforms that spread misinformation, amplify division, and create a ‘doom loop of polarization.’

Fisher highlights the disconnect between the high morals and ambitions of the CEOs of many of the world’s successful platforms and the havoc they wreck. Web algorithms that seek to capture the attention of users are at the heart of a problem that Fisher likens to the gradual understanding of the health side effects of smoking. Algorithms look to their ally dopamine, what Fisher describes as ‘social media’s accomplice inside your brain’ that keeps us engaged. Social media companies know more about us than our governments and their systems of incentive to engagement and variable reinforcement prey on how humans socialize and develop their own identities.”