Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection

As social media platforms and other technologies diffuse into our everyday lives, Silverman acts as a much-needed digital skeptic, drawing out the resulting ideological shifts and questioning what these changes mean for society. The book presents a state of affairs that simultaneously provokes outrage, incredulity, and despair: notions of authenticity and selfhood as affected by Facebook, the economic and social effects of the so-called "sharing economy," digital serfdom, and what Silverman terms "the informational appetite" for raw data. Silverman is an optimist, though, and he provides numerous policy changes for readers to advocate, such as a digital bill of rights, a universal basic income, and regulation of data brokers. But the book also makes clear that with continued citizen inaction and apathy, tech companies led by cyber-libertarians and techno-utopians will continue to build a world with interests that don't match our own. Silverman proves himself an astute cultural critic as he addresses the complexity of the current moment in technology. Agent: Lauren Smythe, Inkwell Management. (Mar.)