Description

An invaluable guide to understanding the underlying machinery and technology that grabs our attentionand keeps us coming back by filling us with rage

The original internet was not designed to make us upset distracted confused and outraged But something unexpected happened at the turn of the last decade when a handful of small features were quietly launched at social media companies with little fanfare Together they triggered a cascading set of dramatic changes to how media politics and society itself operateinadvertently creating an Outrage Machine we cannot ignore

Author designer and media researcher Tobias RoseStockwell shares the defining shifts caused by these technologies and how they have ignited a societywide crisis of trust Drawing from cuttingedge research and vivid personal anecdotes RoseStockwell illustrates how social media has bound us to an unprecedented system of public performance training us to react rather than reflect and attack rather than debate

Outrage Machine reveals the triggers and tactics used to exploit our anger unpacking how these tools hack our deep tribal instincts and psychological vulnerabilities and how they have become opportunistic platforms for authoritarians and a threat to democratic norms everywhere

But this book is not just about the problem In a story spanning continents and generations RoseStockwell explores how every new media technology disrupts our ability to make sense of the world from the printing press to the telegraph from radio to television Outrage Machine situates social media within a historical cycle of confusion violence and emerging tolerance Using clear language and powerful illustrations this book reveals the magnitude of the challenges we face while offering realistic solutions and a promising pathway out