Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier (PDF)

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AS SEEN IN THE NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY THE SOCIAL DILEMMA A WIRED “ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK” A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK “THE CONSCIENCE OF SILICON VALLEY”- GQ “Profound . . . Lanier shows the tactical value of appealing to the conscience of the individual. In the face of his earnest argument, I felt a piercing shame about my own presence on Facebook. I heeded his plea and deleted my account.” – Franklin Foer, The New York Times Book Review “Mixes prophetic wisdom with a simple practicality . . . Essential reading.” – The New York Times (Summer Reading Preview) 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 Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now, Lanier, who participates in no social media, offers powerful and personal reasons for all of us to leave these dangerous online platforms. 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 toward a richer and fuller way of living and connecting with our world.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review A WIRED “All-Time Favorite Book”A Financial Times Best Book of 2018“Profound . . . Lanier shows the tactical value of appealing to the conscience of the individual. In the face of his earnest argument, I felt a piercing shame about my own presence on Facebook. I heeded his plea and deleted my account.”―Franklin Foer, The New York Times Book Review“Mixes prophetic wisdom with a simple practicality . . . Essential reading.”―The New York Times (Summer Reading Preview)“The title says it all . . . Lanier advocates untethering from social media, which fosters addiction and anomie and generally makes us feel worse and more fearful about each other and the world . . . The experiment could be a useful one, though it will darken the hearts of the dark lords―a winning argument all its own.” ―Kirkus Reviews“Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now is not anti-tech or even anti-phone. It is one of the most optimistic books about the Internet I’ve ever read because it dares to hope for better. Profoundly skeptical of the business model that undergirds social media, Lanier demonstrates the ways in which our social media accounts make us not consumer but product, our every connection monitored by unseen third parties who harvest our data, monetize our communication, and curate and manipulate our behavior. Another online life is possible, but first we have to destroy the one we’re trapped in. The great news is you don’t have to take to the streets―you don’t even have to leave your room. You can do it all by pressing one little key . . . A blisteringly good, urgent, essential read.” ―Zadie Smith, author of Feel Free 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 from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Anna Salter, in her book about predators, reminded readers of a sign warning hikers, “The mountains don’t care.” I gleaned an analogous lesson from this book: “The algorithms don’t care.” The invincible indifference and infinite distance that a distressed, lost hiker finds in the menacing mountains, a social media addict encounters, but in a more sinister, insidious manner. However, the mountains don’t manipulate and commodify endangered hikers to enrich malicious actors; and endangered hikers don’t usually delude themselves into thinking they are safe and flourishing in the face of certain death.I was frustrated with the author’s insistence in refusing to impute (what I regard as merited) moral culpability on Silicon Valley techies for what the book itself exposes as positively evil. I don’t think his optimism is warranted at all. His is a desperate, self-abandoning faith of a troubled ascetic amid an endlessly protracted dark night of the soul. His optimism would be almost endearing if it were not so absurd at points (like when he laments over AOC’s use of BUMMER, not realizing that she and other opportunistic populists like her, on both the left and the right, are the very incarnations of BUMMER).I am far too cynical and pessimistic to see any silver lining to this situation. What the author calls “BUMMER” has irreparably destroyed the promise, potential and hope of humanity as a whole. The trajectory and evolution of human civilization has been hopelessly derailed.We are all in hell now. There’s no exit. Godot is never coming. The only hope remaining is the giant solar flare that will wipe out the grid.This book reminded me of my Sunday school discussions regarding the inclusion of Ecclesiastes in the Biblical canon. This book reminded me why such a book made it into the canon. Regarding social media and the resultant chaos, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof” (Eccl. 1:2, 7:8).Having said all that, I liked the book and the author. Even if the situation is hopelessly helpless, I want to see it for what it is, even if I end up like King Lear at having had and lost some infinite thing, crying out in hapless despair, “Never, never, never, never, never.” To borrow an image from Tool, I want my “third eye” torn open, even if what I see is the face of hell.Anyways, to end in a more positive note, I hope more books like this are written. Thanks to the author and publishers.

⭐If you buy this book, make sure to take note of the original publication year inside the cover. I had personally been talking about the negative effects social media was taking on myself and my own relationships with friends and relatives, as well as total strangers I had never met in person. The first chapter should have you on the edge of your seat as soon as you read the paragraph from the first president of Facebook. Ever wonder why FB does not have a phone number to contact customer service? Because users are not customers. I would have given this book a five-star rating if not for Chapter 4, wherein the author makes a case that social media is contributing to climate change and leans heavy into environmentalism. It can be dry or lengthy at times, but there are only ten chapters, and overall most of the chapters felt short. Don’t blaze through, I encourage taking moments to mull over some of the ideas and thoughts presented in the pages. I agreed and disagreed with many things, and felt vindicated for deleting FB in 2016 and Twitter in 2020. Get this book, and when you finish it, regardless if you liked it, please consider giving it to a friend or relative and share the facts published within. The biggest issue I had with the book was that most, if not all of the citations provided were nothing more than typed links to online new articles and research studies. As if the author figured it was prudent to have readers manually type the links to find the citation he provided. They are for and go to legitimate sources, so even if printed website links in a book is beyond lazy to me, it shows the guy did his homework.

⭐Jaron Lanier has the writing talent, a genuinely humanistic perspective, the technical know-how, and the Silicon Valley experience to write the definitive book on the “Gilded Age of Big Tech.” This attempt, however, fell just a tad short for me.It is a book built around a single acronym: BUMMER (Behaviors of Users Modified, and Made into an Empire for Rent). The acronym is used 346 times in a book of 160 pages. (Yes, that’s more than twice per page.)Lanier is obviously brilliant and has had a front row seat at the spectacle that Silicon Valley has become. And he’s obviously disillusioned. Most of us, I think, particularly outside of that insulated biosphere, get it. Technology has done a lot of great things. But it’s also doing a lot of damage and it’s getting increasingly difficult to tell the difference.One of the insights I liked best is that personalized news feeds and data flows preclude us from seeing what others are seeing. And that, in turn, deprives us of understanding their context. That’s a HUGE insight and for me made the book well worth the price of a short and quick read.Other insights were less accessible to me: “So BUMMER intrinsically enacts a structural, rather than an ontological, change in the nature of free will.” And “Memes started out as a way of expressing solidarity with a philosophy I used to call cybernetic totalism that still underlies BUMMER.”In the end he really does believe that we should all take a time-out from social media although he is far from giving up on the dream. From what little grasp I have for social media, however, it seems doubtful to me that anyone in Silicon Valley will see any reason to read the book and those that are being led down the BUMMER path – and destroying themselves and society in the process – are very unlikely to be convinced to change their habits.I used to have business responsibility for a manufacturing plant in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. The people there finally got the peace they so much deserved but I remember a time when that peace seemed hopeless. There were people in the autumn of life that had known nothing other than strife. What would they do? How would they support their families? But it finally did happen and the world is better off.Silicon Valley is not done evolving. Technology can change the world for the better. Probably, however, in ways we have not yet understood.In the end, all strife is resolved through great and unselfish leadership. And if that leader is currently in place it is unclear who it is. Lanier is asking the right questions. A BUMMER if the great and all powerful disruptors don’t pick on it.

⭐Lanier is a clever high-tech scientist who works in Silicon Valley. In this book, and it is long overdue, he warns us of the dangers of social media and why its toxic effects are at the heart of its design. His book gives ten simple but highly persuasive reasons why we need to free ourselves from its coils.So far this year five major works have alerted us to the dangers of the growing and disturbing addiction to social media. For tens of thousands, particularly the under 30s, it has become a drug. It is making us sadder, angrier, less empathetic, more tribal and more isolated. In brief, as the author says it is tearing us apart.Lanier is an expert in this field. Hence, we should take heed of what he says. Unfortunately, the addicted will not want to hear his warnings for they undermine their craving. The effects of social media are cruel, and dangerous particularly for the young. It involves subconscious manipulation. Lanier is witty as well as profound. His ten arguments offer an alternative that provides all the benefits of social media minus the harm. All, particularly those with children, need to read this book.If you want to think for yourself without being manipulated and influenced by wealthy corporations you should delete your social media accounts-now. Lanier is a celebrated pioneer of digital innovation. His previous books about the digital age have received World acclaim: read his ‘ Dawn of the New Everything’. He has been named by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. His ten arguments are only some of the arguments about social media that demand attention. There are many more. For example he doesn’t discuss the pressures on young people, especially young women, or how scammers abuse us, or how social media algorithms can discriminate against you for racist reasons. This important book only scratches the surface. Lanier points out we can survive without social media. The internet is not the problem. Email friends instead of using social media. Read news websites instead of getting news that has been filtered. In short, you control your life. You will save a lot of time by ditching Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter.This is a very important book. It is rich in common sense. Far too many people have become like a zombie. There are several new facts as well as more common ones. The strength of our addiction must not be underestimated. Social media is fundamentally biased. It rewards negative behaviour. It learns about us in order to change us.1984 is here.Lanier warns us that truth is being harmed and twisted daily by thousands of fake Twitter followers. Podcasts he warns are next to be infiltrated. Lanier is a philosopher and seer of the Valley who has turned into a dissident. He deserves our attention.Also strongly recommended are books by : Sherry Turkle, and Cathy O’Neil on this topic.

⭐I first clocked this book in a bookshop in town. It caught my eye as I’d been feeling a bit ambivalent about Social Media for a long time. Having a very quick flick through I put it back thinking it might be a bit “ranty conspiracy theorist”. However some weeks later I decided to take the plunge and downloaded it on my Kindle. Firstly this chap is well qualified to discuss the subject intelligently. Secondly it has a just enough humour to make it an engaging read. Thirdly his arguments are very well articulated and based on logic and fact. So much so I took his advice and promptly deleted all my social media accounts. So far, the world hasn’t ended, Ive not become a social exile, I get far less irritated by twaddle, and have found hours more time a week. I shan’t be going back.

⭐Great book! I’ve deleted my Facebook and have got back so much time to do other stuff with. You’ll be surprised how much better you’ll feel cutting out all those crappy status reads, all those rubbish comments, all that pointless stuff you don’t need to see. I promise it’ll make you feel better. Give the book a read.

⭐I was drawn to this book because I keep hearing that I’m supposed to delete my facebook account, but it doesn’t seem to be getting through to me as to why. I am also aware that facebook, twitter etc do make me feel worse & I don’t know why.I had to read this book twice. The first time I could tell the points were there, but mixed in with other points so it was unclear. So the second time I made my own notes, making specific examples relating to my own experience & the websites that aren’t what he means but I find comparible eg Mail Online (!) that the information relates to as well.I understand now. The websites are free, paid for by adverts. The Mail Online specifically puts horrible articles that generate nasty comments = clicks & your time. Similarly, tv news choose horrible news stories get higher viewing figures. That is just one part I took from the book, it’s too much about money for the advertisers.The central & most fascinating point to me was the concept of Facebook etc switching you to Pack-Mode where you find yourself comparing yourself to others and feeling less-than. The author recommends the alternative which is Solitary-Wolf-Mode. In Solitary-Wolf-Mode you are more open to the bigger picture. How he explains the two made me realise that I get such great ideas and am happier in Solitary-Wolf-Mode but I am no good in Pack-Mode, I feel limited & worse. That might not be true for everyone. Being on those websites depletes your energy & ideas.Early in the book the author creates an abbreviation “BUMMER” then used that word in capitals throughout & I couldn’t remember what it meant, was slightly offputting. It refers to that type of website.

⭐Everybody should read this book, very revealing, I have taken Jaron’s advice and am not looking back.

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