The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World by Max Fisher
Max Fisher, an international reporter and columnist, has written extensively on diplomacy, conflict and social change. In “The Chaos Machine,” Fisher turns his journalistic lens to the world of social media and its impact on society.
The advent of social media has brought about many changes over the past 20-plus years, but probably the greatest is the expansion of our sphere of influence and connection. It’s hard to imagine a world where we couldn’t connect with friends and family around the world at a moment’s notice.
Yet social media has broadened the definition of “friends and family” and has allowed us to connect with more people than ever before. Social media provides platforms and spaces for people to share their thoughts and views, no matter how outlandish or niche, and find others who think the same.
Through journalistic analysis, Fisher builds the case that the harm social media has wrought far outweighs the benefit, and that guilt lies at the feet of social media moguls who care more for the bottom line than making the world a better place.
To do this, Fisher draws on real world examples of genocides and hate crimes that have been propelled by the reach of social media. He zeroes in on the political and social polarization social media fosters, as well as its propensity to create echo chambers and overinflate extreme voices and perspectives. All while likening our unchecked use of social media to the unregulated days of tobacco, and by comparing our struggle with social media to a confrontation with HAL 9000, the homicidal AI from the novel and film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
People should read “The Chaos Machine” to assess its full rhetorical weight. I can’t help but feel that behind Fisher’s argument lingers the shadow of an unconventional presidential election in 2016 and the capital riots of 2021, and the desire to find context for these events. Much like social media itself, “The Chaos Machine” will provide you with something to ponder and discuss, whatever your political persuasion.
“The Chaos Machine” is the April selection for the Books & Bites book group. Join Books & Bites at 1 p.m. Friday, April 19, 2024 at the Blaine library for a time of community and lively conversation. For more information, visit bit.ly/4cGwb0X.
Reviewed by Jonathan Jakobitz, Blaine Library branch manager, Whatcom County Library System
(Originally published in The Northern Light, Wednesday, April 10, 2024.)