Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now Book Summary - Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now summary

Jaron Lanier

Regain your autonomy online

4.2 (232 ratings)
30 mins
Table of Contents

    Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now
    Summary of 10 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 10

    Argument 1: Social media can manipulate your behavior, putting your free will under threat.

    You may not know it, but you’re in a cage. It’s a tiny cage – so small that it fits snugly in your pocket – but that doesn’t mean there’s not enough space for you to slip right into it.

    What’s more, like a lab animal, you’re being watched, manipulated and analyzed while inside this cage.

    If this sounds a bit paranoid, just consider the facts. You, like nearly everyone else, probably own a smartphone – that’s the cage. Naturally, you’re not literally trapped inside, but whenever you use it to log in to social media, you are being watched and manipulated, not by researchers in white coats, but by algorithms.

    The data on you compiled by these algorithms – when you log in, how long you stay logged in for, what you buy – is then compared with the data of millions of other people. This enables the algorithms to make predictions about how you will act.

    How? Let’s say that an algorithm, after comparing a boatload of data, reveals that people who eat the foods you eat tend to find a particular political candidate less appealing when her picture is bordered in yellow than when it’s bordered in green.

    This may not seem like a spectacular or sinister discovery, but let’s say that this politician’s campaign team gets its hands on that information. If they send you campaign ads featuring her green-bordered likeness, you will, statistically speaking, be more likely to vote for her.

    And social media companies have no qualms about selling your information. After all, you’re not their client; you’re their product.

    Their clients are advertisers – the companies that buy the data about you and then use it to convince you to buy certain products or vote for a certain candidate. In the author’s view, this amounts to direct manipulation of your behavior.

    Sure, advertising has always been manipulative, but it’s only recently that ads could be tailored based on your personal preferences and online actions. Of course, this tailoring only has a statistical effect – that is, it’s not 100-percent accurate. You might, unlike most people whose diet is similar to yours, hate green, and therefore not vote for that green-bordered candidate.

    However, over an entire population, statistical effects are reliable. Therefore, it’s more likely than not that you are being manipulated.

    Want to see all full key ideas from Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now?

    Key ideas in Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now about?

    Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now (2018) is a modern-day cri de coeur. It offers, with ten distinct arguments, an all but irrefutable case for deleting your social media accounts. From their ethically dubious data-selling practices to the way they manipulate users, current social media companies are doing society a major disservice. Your best option right now is to delete your accounts until better options emerge.

    Best quote from Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now

    God only knows what its doing to our childrens brains. – Sean Parker

    —Jaron Lanier
    example alt text

    Who should read Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now?

    • Social media users
    • Smartphone owners
    • Sociologists

    About the Author

    Jaron Lanier, one of the founding fathers of virtual reality, is a visual artist and composer. In addition to writing computer philosophy, he’s delivered multiple popular TED talks. TIME magazine named him as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2010. His previous books, Who Owns the Future? and You Are Not a Gadget, were both international best sellers.

    Categories with Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now

    Books like Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    28 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial