Janice Harayda
May 31, 2023

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That's such a perceptive comment about the leveling effect of social media. Jaron Lanier makes a similar point in "You Are Not a Gadget": that social media algorithms and the choices they offer us can shape (and narrow) the aspects of ourself that we express.

It's ironic, though, that it's happening. Social media (and the internet generally) had the potential to widen our knowledge and experience of the world, and yet, as you say, the opposite often seems to be happening. In many ways they've shrunk rather than expanded our worlds. We need to try to take a big-picture view of what's going on, and I appreciate your. doing that.

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Janice Harayda
Janice Harayda

Written by Janice Harayda

Critic, novelist, award-winning journalist. Former book editor of the Plain Dealer and book columnist for Glamour. Words in NYT, WSJ, and other major media.

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