Technology

Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now: 8 key ideas

by Jaron Lanier

The core ideas of Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.

1. IDEA 1 OF 8

   Social media changes behaviour

   Lanier, a computer scientist and pioneer of virtual reality, argues that social media platforms are designed to modify users' behaviour for profit.

   He urges people to consider quitting. His argument focuses on how the systems work.

2. IDEA 2 OF 8

   A business model causes harm

   Lanier coins the acronym BUMMER for the business model of platforms that gather data and sell influence over users.

   He blames this model, not the internet itself. In his view, the harm lies in how the money is made.

3. IDEA 3 OF 8

   Users lose free will

   Lanier argues that constant feedback and manipulation reduce people's ability to make their own choices.

   Users are steered without noticing. Small nudges, repeated millions of times, can slowly shape habits and views without a person's awareness.

4. IDEA 4 OF 8

   Platforms bring out the worst

   Lanier argues that social media rewards outrage and makes people meaner.

   Negative emotions spread faster. Posts that provoke anger tend to travel further than calm ones. Platforms that count clicks therefore end up rewarding the loudest voices.

5. IDEA 5 OF 8

   Truth suffers

   Lanier argues that social media spreads false information and makes it harder to know what is true.

   Content that excites people often spreads faster than careful, checked reporting. Over time, the shared sense of what is real gets weaker.

6. IDEA 6 OF 8

   Empathy declines

   Lanier argues that people see different personalised feeds, making it hard to understand others' views.

   When each person lives in a different information world, it is hard to see why others think as they do.

7. IDEA 7 OF 8

   Users become unhappy

   Lanier argues that social media can make people feel worse about themselves.

   Comparison and manipulation drive unhappiness. Constant measuring of likes and followers can leave people anxious about how they look to others.

8. IDEA 8 OF 8

   Politics becomes harder

   Lanier argues that social media polarises politics and helps extremists.

   Quitting, he suggests, might encourage better platforms. He argues that sharp divisions are rewarded by the system, so calm and moderate voices are drowned out.