Think Before You Like: Social Media's Effect on the Brain and the Tools You Need to Navigate Your Newsfeed

by Guy P. Harrison

At a time when the news cycle turns on a tweet, journalism gets confused with opinion, and facts are treated as negotiable information, applying critical thinking skills to your social media consumption is more important than ever. Guy P. Harrison, an upbeat advocate of scientific literacy and positive skepticism, demonstrates how critical thinking can enhance the benefits of social media while giving users the skills to guard against its dangers. Social media has more than two billion users and continues to grow. Its widespread appeal as a means of staying in touch with friends and keeping up with daily news masks some serious pitfalls-- misinformation, pseudoscience, fraud, propaganda, and irrational beliefs, for example, presented in an attractive, easy-to-share form. This book will teach you how to resist the psychological and behavioral manipulation of social media and avoid the mistakes that millions have already made and now regret. Harrison presents scientific studies that show why your subconscious mind loves social media and how that can work against your ability to critically evaluate information. Among other things, social media reinforces your biases, clouds your judgment with images that leave a false impression, and fills your brain with anecdotes that become cheap substitutes for objective data. The very nature of the technology keeps you in a bubble; by tracking your preferences it sends only filtered newsfeeds, so that you rarely see anything that might challenge your set notions. Harrison explores the implications of having digital "friends" and the effects on mood, self-esteem, and the cultivation of friendship in the real world. He discusses how social media affects attention spans and the ability to consider issues in depth. And he suggests ways to protect yourself against privacy invasion, cyberstalking, biased misinformation, catfishing, trolls, misuse of photos, and the confusion over fake news versus credible journalism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Technology, Social Media, Science

382 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 14, 2017

About the author

I have a deep passion for science, history, anthropology, and nature. My mission is to inform and inspire as many people as I can about the workings and content of our world and universe. Reality is infinitely beautiful and endlessly fascinating. It's tragic that some people never quite glimpse the wonder of it all. Please don't be one of those people. I want you to be fully alive and awake as a human being.

Science is a body of knowledge and a practical tool available for everyone everywhere. Professional historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists tell the human story--your story. Listen to them. You live in exciting times because so much remains to be discovered and understood. In a sense, your home is an alien world filled with mystery and surprises. Learn, explore, dream. The more we know, the more we can imagine. The more we can imagine, the more we can do.

I am a positive and constructive skeptic. Think of me as a human who warns humans about being human. I use my imperfect brain to talk and write about the human brain's imperfections. I try to overcome my irrational beliefs and subconscious miscues so that I may better teach others about the problems of irrational belief and subconscious miscues.

I believe that our world could be much better - and a lot less crazy - if more people simply understood how science works and appreciated the protective value of scientific thinking in everyday life.

I've held numerous positions in the news industry, including editorial writer, world news editor, sports editor, photographer, page designer, and columnist. I've traveled extensively, having visited 30 countries on six continents. I have also had some very rewarding jobs teaching history and science to bright kids. My degree is in history and anthropology (University of South Florida). I've won some nice international awards for my writing and photography, including the WHO (World Health Organization) Award for Health Reporting and the Commonwealth Media Award for Excellence in Journalism.

What I am most proud of in relation to my work is that my writing has touched and helped many people. I consistently receive messages from around the world and it's always rewarding to learn that my words have inspired one more person to think in new and better ways.

When I'm not staring at a blank computer screen hoping my subconscious will deliver the next word, I'm likely running, hiking, reading, or teaching critical life lessons to my children via repeated viewings of Star Trek. When normal people are consumed with thoughts of politics, economics, or the Kardashians, there's a good chance I'll be daydreaming about time travel, the Singularity, ancient Greece, microbial life, the possibility of extraterrestrial life, World War II, robots, interstellar space travel, viruses, Homo erectus, the Apollo Moon landings . . .

Reviews

[Richard Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

While there are some fine books out on critical thinking and some fine books out there about social media this book does a very fine job of applying critical thinking skills to our interactions with social media. Well researched and well written you will come away with a very good understanding of how the social media giants earn the fantastic revenues they do while at the same time not charging their users a fee. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc are free to use as we all know. So where does all the money come from? Hint: it isn't the ads. There is much more to this book than a simple expositing of the financial models of the social media giants. If you are looking to hone your critical thinking skills here are some practical tips and methodologies that will help you do that and get a better grasp on how social media is shaping both you and the culture.

[Jim Razinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given access to a digital Uncorrected Advance Reading Copy of this, due to be published November 7th, 2017, from Prometheus Books through Edelweiss.

I've not yet read any other books by the author, but the titles and descriptions tell me that they appear to be consistent with this book. In one of his bios, he says

I am a human who warns humans about being human. I use my imperfect brain to talk and write about the human brain's imperfections. I try to overcome my irrational beliefs and subconscious miscues so that I may better teach others about the problems of irrational belief and subconscious miscues.

I think he does that with this book. I requested it based on the title and the brief description, hoping to add another to the critical thinking toolbox I loan out every now and then. Mr. Harrison says in his Introduction

This is not a book aimed at dumb or gullible people. This book is for smart, reasonable people, just like you. [Keep going...the flattery is fleeting...] The social media arena is a place where human minds are manipulated and steered for someone else's gain with stunning success. [...] Those who believe they would never fall for a silly belief already have. Anyone who thinks she can't be outwitted by thousands of engineers working to hook users, is asking for trouble.

And that is a good start.

Statistics don't win arguments, and the first chapter "Wild and Wired: Navigating new cultures of connectivity" is full of them, but Harrison is trying to establish the breadth and depth of social media's tendrils, and he recovers in the chapters that follow.

In chapter 2, with the cumbersome but accurate title of "Welcome to Your Very Own Customized, Biased Bubble of Psychological Reinforcement, Manipulation and Lies", Harrison rips off the blinders with personal revelations of him creating his own bubble, avoiding riding the Holier-than-thou horse. Harrison examines the "fake news" (the real fake news...not one person in particular's assessment) ubiquity and who is buying into it, observing correctly - after sharing on studies that have shown that both left- and right-wing highly partisan sources are guilty, the preponderance of fake tends to the right-wing - that "...it would be a mistake to view this as a conservative or right-wing problem. Fake news is a human problem." He does give some good advice on how to be skeptical of fake news in particular, but I marked for general use, in a subsection "How to keep fake news out of your head". And more than just listing strategies, Harrison elaborates and illustrates each...and that has value for the toolbox. One point near the end of the chapter resonated with an experience of mine: on fighting back against the fake news, Harrison cites John Pavley (of Viacom) who thinks that Facebook can do a better job when it comes to the fake news by inserting human editors into the algorithmic loop because "[a]lgorithms don't exist yet that can consistently and accurately identify harmless satire, real news, and well-designed fake news - not yet." In the US Navy nuclear power world, ADM Hyman Rickover knew early on that computers could eventually run the Navy's ship-board nuclear reactors but he insisted on human operators - to be able to react to situations the programming (algorithms) couldn't recognize. That hasn't changed in 60 years and is a major reason why there has never been a nuclear accident involving Navy reactors.

On "Social Media Addiction: Harm or Hype?", in one part, Harrison quotes Lawrie McFarlane: "Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and so forth revolve around built-in metrics of attention - Likes, Retweets, Followers and so on - so when we use these apps, we are playing a very addictive game of vying for attention points. [...] When we value another person's opinion, or want to express that we care about them, we pay them in attention points." Solid stuff, but I think Harrison missed an opportunity to also dig into another aspect of the news tickers, or friend-feeds...in addition to the individual attention, the social media afford a voyeuristic lurking ability... Harrison never mentions voyeurism in his book, keying on the attention craving fulfilment of social media, but there are many who live vicariously through others. Of course, there are those who do live for the Likes and will jump in uninvited to threads in order to satisfy that element.

Opening chapter 4, "What Your Other Mind Does on Social Media" - the most important chapter IMO, as he addresses cognitive biases, logical fallacies, and the traps particularly enhanced and exploited by social media, he says

The human brain is an organ out of time. It stands as evolved and best suited for daily life in the Pleistocene yet here it is, having to make do in a modern, high-tech, wired, and fast-changing world.

I know I've echoed somethings similar many times in discussions. A little later, Harrison shares a personal observation about people knowing more about astrology than astronomy, unproven "supernatural" (his word, not mine) forces running lives instead of natural forces that run the universe:

This has less to do with wealth, oppression, or access to education and more about people simply failing to think before they believe.

That's a perfect summary but he spends a good bit of page space examining those biases and traps. I like that he talks about the imposed stigma and perceived offense on the part of too many people of "critical thinking". When thinking is eschewed and compliance/conformity is encouraged, we all suffer. Harrison said, "Toward making critical thinking more palatable to the masses I have taken to referring to it as good thinking." I might just borrow that. As I said, this chapter conveys his most important message, even if he might not think so.

The recommendation to avoid or minimize an online presence will likely be met with opposition from those smart people he said he was targeting in his Introduction. But there are elements of reasonability in some of his recommended strategies. Still, a little light reading on Big Data and the data gathering of the Big platforms (social media, for sure, but online shopping and searching gather as much profiling information as, if not more than the socmeds do) will tell you it's pretty much too late. I though one recommendation - "Pressure politicians to enact regulations that protect you online. Don't vote for candidates of any party who are not serious about protecting your current rights and working to get you rights you should have." - a wee naive. Especially given the trends of 2016-17 so far.

I particularly liked a couple of lines
"But Mozart's music and smartphones that put the World Wide Web into the palm of your hand can't redeem or even hide our lust for the ludicrous."
"I knew that millions of people had no idea that their online activities had left them intellectually compromised, far more biased and myopic, than they otherwise would have been." *Intellectually compromised* - yep.

I like Harrison's writing, and, fitting with my confirmation bias, his message. I could have done with fewer unnecessary (to me) anecdotes inserted to...lengthen? But I would recommend this book to others and I intend to seek out some of his other books.

Is this the answer? No, but it has some answers.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a hard time giving this book such a low score, but I also have many reasons to not give it a very good one either.

There for sure is some exceptional information and strong reasoning behind the use and misuse of social media in the world today. It's hard to overlook the light that is brought to critical thinking, weeding out "fake news" and dealing with online trolls. There are some serious problems that need to be addressed and this book will help lead that discussion. There is also a lot of thought and research placed into what the future of social media and the digital world, in general, will look like and a charge to all of humanity to shift our focus of social media and start using it for a greater purpose. I guess I was under the assumption that people realized using search engines and social media does not always provide accurate information, but that staggering numbers present in this book scare me. We need to do a better job of not only educating our youth but people in general about how the internet works. Since I started this book it has become glaringly obvious how much crap there is on social media and the chapter on how social media affects your brain wasn't shocking, but it sure was eye-opening. I started by analyzing myself and monitoring my own social media tendencies, but observing others really puts some fear in my heart about what the future means for them.

There is also a solid chapter about privacy protection and being more diligent about what you share not only openly online, but also with user agreements. Some of us are so deep in the hole of what these companies know about us, there is literally no way to get out. I would guess the majority of people who have internet access to even read this review have shared the rights to their privacy with enough companies that computers and algorithms know more about them than they do themselves. In fact, Goodreads might even be one of those companies. I know I didn't read the "terms of service", so for all I know they might have the rights to my first born child. At best they at least can tell a lot about me just by viewing my likes in books.

All this stuff was really good, like everyone on the planet needs to read good. I can only hope that as time goes on Harrison will continue to release new additions to this book as more and more studies are conducted, especially when it comes to the effect on the brain. The problem though is that the bad in this book is glaringly bad. First off this book was super repetitive. I found myself reading what I thought was literally the exact same sentence over and over again. There was a spiral effect used throughout where something was mentioned over and over again every fifty pages. There is also an entire chapter that I think adds a lot of value and insight if you focus on the main message, "we live in a social bubble and tend to become friends and follow people with like interests, because of that we end up seeing nothing online except for stuff that we agree with and it gives us a false sense of reality". This is essentially what happened with the 2016 election and I think it is valid to make that point...once!!! Instead, woven throughout the rest of the book is many backhand comments relating to the author's feelings on President Trump. For a book that takes the stance of an objective view on the topic of social media, often presenting both sides of every argument, it becomes clear very quickly that Harrison is a Trump hating liberal. I just found no need for that in this book. The fact that he used his platform to lure people into reading about his political views was a pretty big turn off for me. It was almost as if during these pages I kept thinking about his own advice that he was giving and thinking of how contradictory he was. I don't have any problems with his words on this topic as a stand-alone, but these subjective opinions scattered throughout the book took away a lot of clout for me. I think he would have been better of releasing a different book under the title "How Trump Won the Election Using Social Media" as this entire chapter felt so out of place and meaningless to the rest of what the book was trying to expose.

I do think that most of the topics in this book need to continue to be on the docket of discussions, especially from a government and legal standpoint and I can only hope that we continue to spread education on the subject of social media and we don't travel as a society down the doomsday road that some predicted in this book.

[Josh Bungs · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is full of engaging ideas, and was an interesting read, but has a lot of short comings.

Firstly I like Mr Harrison's writing, he does however need a new editor. There was many instances of spelling or grammar errors, and the formating of the book is flat out atrocious and made the book hard to read at times.
The book comes across as more of a newspaper or magazine article in book form. I feel as though the content was stretched a bit thin. The 320 pages of the book could have been appropriately trimmed to maybe 250...225 pages without losing the impact. As it stands the impact is lost a lot of the time by constantly referring to 'average peoples' opinions or ideas about the topic... It really serves no value to the book, and it unfortunately relies heavily on these anecdotes.

Worth reading but large sections can be skim-read without losing anything in the process.

[Elisabeth Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

He had some good things to say, and it really did make me think about my own social media usage… but it was so. long. He did not need that many pages. He also did quite a bit of humble bragging, which was a pretty big turnoff for me. His own biases were very clear. Overall, some good information, but not worth the slog in my opinion.

[Tim Maddock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Perspective

Most of the content can be summed up by using common sense and reasonable self discipline while online. Too wordy.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimmed this- lots of interesting ideas and facts. Awareness is half the battle soo from that perspective I think it’s important reading

[Bremer]

We sleep with our phones wrapped in a cord on our nightstands. When we wake up from our light sleep, disturbed by a glow of close screens, we’re desperate to check our messages. Our offline conversations, boredom, and solitude feel more distant as we refine our perfect profiles and link to clickbait stories on mobile devices. We spend more time posting updates on Facebook than we do playing a game of catch with our children.

Our primate needs for intimate bonds, for a meaningful sense of connection in an extended community, has been hijacked by artificial, second-rate nourishment. We suckle on the electronic teat for a sense of warmth, acceptance, and belonging. Instead of milk gushing in our mouths, we taste the bitter residue of attachment.

Isn’t that what our civilization is, a dilution and removal of what we essentially need, such as clean air and water and soil, language, life in a harmonious community, family, and meaningful work, for a poor substitute? With the notion of progress, we always leave behind a part of our early humanity, whether from hunting and gathering to agriculture, small intimate communities to extended global networks of physically isolated, online associations. Technology indulges some aspect of who we are at the deepest level, but does it exploit us? Can it be controlled as it exponentially increases in scale or will we be the victims of progress?

We give up our privacy with our posts and Google searches and video watch times. Everything we do is up for grabs. Our data is harvested and traded and exploited between companies that want to sell us on their products (that want to make us their product). They need us to occupy our fleeting lives with checking feeds, lost in ideological bubbles, so that we can become lifelong consumers. We are hypnotized by the pseudo-fame of engaging online and making our identities known to our networks, even though our thousands of friends are abstractions. We get dopamine hits when we present a favorable version of our personalities and anticipate social rewards from likes and comments and shares. Then we alter ourselves gradually, unconsciously, to fit into digitally-constructed groups that reinforce our beliefs. We are trapped in technologies that prey on our human nature, on our love and hatred, on our desire and fear.

We shape the algorithms that continually shape us. Our choices are carefully filtered, our desires are selected and manipulated, through technological designs of persuasion.

The information that we receive, over time, becomes a confirmation of our biases.

We play a social game based on a slot machine design, pulling the lever not to win, but to continue playing for as long as possible. The unpredictability before the intermittent variable schedule reward (notifications) attracts us. Our nature is vulnerable to manipulation because we crave approval and acceptance. The more we use technologies that take advantage of our need for identity in a social group, the more we are susceptible to corporate interests and ideological groups. We carefully present ourselves on social media in a favorable manner while these same platforms are cultivating our own beliefs, values, and choices. We think we are free but we are always being used.

Social media is a distraction technology, designed to interrupt our working memory and higher cognitive functions. We are overloaded with hyperlinks, videos, articles, comments, and respond unconsciously to these infinite loops with the primitive parts of our brains, emotionally attached without awareness of what's happening to us in the long-term. Even the presence of a phone in the same room, suggesting an endless connection to possibilities, can disrupt our attention span and forethought.

With the internet and social media and artificial intelligence and virtual reality, so connected in their development, so much still in their infancy, there is an endless potential for growth and connectivity.

Are these tools really neutral, though? What are the true intentions behind the companies that design and advertise and promote on these devices and will these devices be able to be understood properly, or even controlled, as they exponentially evolve into an unknown future, never before experienced in the history of humanity?

People have created devices. Now those devices are creating their nervous systems. They appeal to our deepest natures. They use our vulnerabilities against us.

Will we be able to examine how we use our devices and stop the insidious paths they’re developing in, finding ethical solutions to make them more educational and socially conducive for growth, or will the darker part of our humanity be exploited as we devolve in our communities and mental health and time?

[booklearner · Rating 4 out of 5]

We live in a scary world, but the internet is a whole ‘nother ballgame. I’m not one of those sorts to take risqué pictures– of say, their feet– and post them on the internet. But I do need to be aware of who is out there prowling for my information, how they do it, and why they do it. This, so I can be a critical thinker and make conscious decisions about what I post and why. So, when I saw this book displayed at the library, I checked it out immediately. One thing I appreciated about it is that the author handles lots of information in a reader-friendly format. The last book I read on the realities of the modern tech world (The Aisles Have Eyes, by Joseph Turow—which I do recommend) was not so accessible for the average layman like me. I felt it went as deep as one could wish into the subject matter. If you are on the internet (which you probably are if you’re reading my blog), you need to be informed about what you’re *really* doing to yourself. Big Brother isn’t coming—it’s already here. The author says he isn’t for urging paranoia, however I felt paranoid. If you are apt to worry yourself sick, I wouldn’t recommend this. For all other citizens of planet earth, please stop the self-delusion and rid yourself of ignorance by reading this book.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise piece on the pros and cons that come along with the budding technology in our society. Harrison goes over the effects technologies (specifically smartphones) have on our brains and all the biochemical explanations for how we get hooked on checking our phone over and over again. I liked how he laid out that our intention with technologies isn't to expel them from our existence, rather begin to use them for a good use and with intention in comparison to mindlessly scrolling through feeds.

Collected a lot of good thoughts from his book, and have written them in my note journal.

PS: he quoted my main man Yuval so much - goes to show how smart the man is if he is being cited left and right

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Kopesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deserved 4 stars if it actually contained original content. 30% of the book is made of quotes from other books and authors and interviews. But the quality is demențial.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure whether to cry myself to sleep, or rejoice at all the expensive gadgets we now have & for all the expensive toys & further loss of privacy to come. After reading this man's insight: I'm probably leaning towards the former: "Rather than deploying an automaton to free them to think big thoughts, have close relationships, and exercise their individuality, creativity, and freedom, they look to their smartphones for guidance." (Markoff, John.) i.e. the internet was created as a tool for us to use, not for it to use us.

Born in '73, I've said in the past and swing back to it now; an igen wouldn't believe how good we had it. There were no automated morons staring at smartphones roaming the earth. Come face to face with a real, live dinosaur now, and I doubt that half of 'em would even blink. Enough said.

[PuniPoli]

Dnf

[Ann Kurzius · Rating 3 out of 5]

,

[Cyndie Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book both was and wasn't what I expected. There were some good suggestions about how to deal with social media in a more intelligent way - though there was a really heavy focus on privacy that's ultimate message was "you can use these tools to REDUCE the violations to your privacy but there's really no way to completely avoid privacy violations online unless you work to make major governmental changes."

There were some good insights on how the use of social media impacts us psychologically both as individuals and in our interactions with one another that I found particularly interesting as a conflict researcher.

What I had thought the book was going to be about was whether or not we should choose to engage (or not engage) with certain types of social media posts. While there was some of that (should you engage with trolls?) it certainly wasn't the main focus of the book and a lot of the information on how to engage successfully online was referred out to other experts on the topic or general guidelines were summarized rather than gone through in depth.

Overall, an interesting book on how social media and the internet more broadly is impacting us as people and as a society and what on small and large scales we might do about it. Not actually a small scale decision making decision guide about whether the impact of liking a specific post.