Charles Seife is a professor of journalism at New York University and the author of five books including Zero. In this crisply written and well-developed work, he probes the various ways in which digital information is changing our interaction with the world, perception of identity, social bonds, and views on public discourse. Behind the scenes Seife sees "an ever-escalating arms race, waged by robots and corporations as well as humans." The prize in this algorithmic war is "who gets the ability to affect your reality, to shape your social interactions, to manipulate your beliefs and control your behavior."
One of the spin-offs of digital information is the lack of respect for authority in the brave new world of Wikipedia where anyone can write an essay and claim to be an expert. Another development is how crazies who linger at the edges of society can now, thanks to the Internet, take over the news with their odd or weird views. Stealing the Internet spotlight is also the dream of sock puppeteers who invent phony personas to advance themselves in the public eye. By now everyone is familiar with bloggers attempting to raise money or sympathy for their plight. Last but not least are "bimbots," phony women on line whose purpose is to lure lonely men.
In sum, Seife states: "Digital information gives power to the people, but it gives even more to those who prey upon us." The author warns those who willingly are giving away their e-mail lists to giant social media sites in exchange for paltry benefits. Be sure to savor Seife's appendix where he writes about "The Top Ten Dicta of the Internet Skeptic."
