All Your Friends Like This: How Social Networks Took Over News

by H. Crawford, Andrew Hunter, Domagoj Filipovic

ALL YOUR FRIENDS LIKE THIS is a topical, punchy and provocative look at how social networks are taking over the news. How do you get your news? Chances are not from a newspaper or the TV - that's so old-school. If you're anything like the rest of us, you get it from Facebook or Twitter.

 The great power shift from traditional media to social networks is happening right now. This boom means that, for millions of us, our first exposure to information about the world comes from our friends, not news media.

 But social networks don't do news the old-fashioned way. Because we share stories that make us look good, inspire us and fire us up, the tone and flavour of the news-making process is irrevocably altered.

 What does this mean for media? For journalists? The audience? Are we better off or worse off because of it?

 Highly topical, provocative and totally absorbing, ALL YOUR FRIENDS LIKE THIS does for the media what Freakonomics did for economics. If you're interested in the news, in what we read and why we read it then this game-changing book is essential.

 

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to give this one star, but I gave it a second star out of pity for the wasted potential. I think this book was a little premature in the Share Wars project. Had they waited a few more years, I think they would have a better data set and been able to draw better conclusions and better examples. Unfortunately, this book seemed unclear and mixed in its intention - it would make a loose point and then break off on a vaguely relatable tangent.

Aside from above, it was poorly written, which I was not expecting from two journalists. They deviated from more journalistic styles of writing to styles that suggest they were experimenting with the idea of writing a fictional novel. And on the note of fiction: where were their references? Pretty poor practice for journalists.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas, but very influenced by their Australian background

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book at the airport to occupy myself on a long flight, and finished it off today. It was pretty interesting, though very light on content, which could have been easily covered in an article or essay - I am not sure I would especially recommend the book if you are looking for something in depth. Fine for a plane ride though! The book explores what stories are shared on social media and why, and what effect this might have on what we treat as news. It looks at the recent rise in 'hoax' stories, the reasons they gain ground, and the motivations of those who produce them. And it tells the story of 'share-wars', an Australian organisation that tracks and analyses sharing trends on social media using a tool called 'The Likeable Engine', developed by the authors.

[Rachel Hynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating insights into the effect of social networks on news and newsrooms since the early 2000s. The authors start with the question, ‘what makes a story shareable?’ and their journey of discovery takes them to some interesting places including Hegel-era Prussia and Britney Spears-era LA. They do an excellent analysis of original data collected from the Likeable Engine, the software they developed to track sharing of news stories from around the world on Facebook and Twitter.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it and took some great ideas out of it. I had to laugh a few times and thought it a real must read for anyone in the marketing or social media business and anyone in journalism, though I'm in none of those. They manage to make the fact that cats rule the news not depressing. That's pretty awesome, as it really should depress me. Very well written.

[Robbie Sellars · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I enjoyed the examples in the book more than the analysis and theorising. Felt like it could have been much shorter.

[Tiffany Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and topical look at the rise of social media, its impact in traditional news models and what drives people to like and share stories. It certainly has me looking at my behaviour when sharing stories online!