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montigneyrules's review against another edition
2.0
#readingchallenge2024 (my book with an apostrophe in the title)
while the novel had interesting moments, I had two major qualms-
1. there was a lot of repetativeness; a decent amount of the novel could be easily removed, making this a stronger long article, not a full book-
2. I couldn't help but feeling yelled at-
overall, the author achieved his goal- he shifted my paradigms of thought towards the media- as an Instagram foodie influencer, I felt myself cringe as he exposed my 'manipulative' tasks to get free products (sorry not sorry), but his voice was too snarky-
his points felt thrown, shoved, smeared in my face until I understood he was not enlightening, but making fun of it all- so while he made good points, he badgers it all with self-promotion-
while the novel had interesting moments, I had two major qualms-
1. there was a lot of repetativeness; a decent amount of the novel could be easily removed, making this a stronger long article, not a full book-
2. I couldn't help but feeling yelled at-
overall, the author achieved his goal- he shifted my paradigms of thought towards the media- as an Instagram foodie influencer, I felt myself cringe as he exposed my 'manipulative' tasks to get free products (sorry not sorry), but his voice was too snarky-
his points felt thrown, shoved, smeared in my face until I understood he was not enlightening, but making fun of it all- so while he made good points, he badgers it all with self-promotion-
k8teas's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
It was fine, first half stronger than the second. Could have been about 30% shorter.
jacobjonk's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Read this for class
Really interesting peek into the world of media manipulation and how the medium of news information systems have formed such that the cycle is too fast to control for misinformation or manipulation well. The problem isn't even a problem for the people producing journalism because the revenue stream has to be more important than the quality of the content stream for the company to survive. Overall the book caries a heavy cynical tone and I think it lacked some other perspectives but as the point at large goes I think Holiday is correct about the problems he presents
Really interesting peek into the world of media manipulation and how the medium of news information systems have formed such that the cycle is too fast to control for misinformation or manipulation well. The problem isn't even a problem for the people producing journalism because the revenue stream has to be more important than the quality of the content stream for the company to survive. Overall the book caries a heavy cynical tone and I think it lacked some other perspectives but as the point at large goes I think Holiday is correct about the problems he presents
horfhorfhorf's review against another edition
3.0
Try to take everything you read about online media with a grain of salt--especially if it's coming from a self-famed "media manipulator" like Ryan Holiday.
It was an interesting read, but I quickly tired of his approach to repeating concepts for the sake of his word count. The day I finished the book, Ryan posted a link on his Twitter to a piece he wrote about how to write (and flesh out) a 5-paragraph essay to get you through whatever assignment had been handed to you. After reading this book, it's clear he's quite adept at the concepts covered in his article - and nowhere near as "sorry" for his manipulations as he claims.
It was an interesting read, but I quickly tired of his approach to repeating concepts for the sake of his word count. The day I finished the book, Ryan posted a link on his Twitter to a piece he wrote about how to write (and flesh out) a 5-paragraph essay to get you through whatever assignment had been handed to you. After reading this book, it's clear he's quite adept at the concepts covered in his article - and nowhere near as "sorry" for his manipulations as he claims.
papidoc's review against another edition
4.0
Some frightening insights into how we are constantly manipulated and deceived and even coerced into doing, buying, or engaging with things that we otherwise wouldn't. Holiday seems to have recognized and moved away from his unethical dealings earlier in his life, and if so, I'm glad. However, it was troubling to see what he did back then, and to realize there are probably many (many!) others doing the same.
radbear76's review against another edition
4.0
I first discovered Mr. Holiday through his books about Stoicism and they changed the way I viewed obstacles and challenges. This book also opened my eyes and I won't be able to look at online content or the news the same way ever again. The patterns he details are readily apparent once you know what to look for.
dibooks43's review against another edition
4.0
Um olhar impressionante, até assustador, sobre os truques usados para manipular a imprensa, numa altura em que a maior parte do mundo vê as notícias no facebook. Desde "celebrity gossip" fabricada, até transformar insultos em lucros. Um livro que muda a forma como olhamos para as fontes noticiosas
ebonyutley's review against another edition
3.0
The publisher sent a review copy for me to consider Trust Me, I’m Lying for my pop culture students. For many of them, the responsibilities of a media manipulator will be eye-opening, but I also don’t want to be responsible for giving them any ideas. I’ll likely assign a couple of chapters and let them read the rest on their own time. I don’t want the class to become about media manipulation. I want the class to see the value in popular culture but I want them to use critical media literacy too. I admit that I wasn’t sure what kind of company American Apparel was. I get them confused with Abercrombie and Fitch—neither of them produce products or ad campaigns that appeal to me—but then as soon as I googled the ads, I knew them because students do projects on them all the time—half naked waifish looking girls in panties in what could easily be perceived as date rape campaigns, but now I wonder, how many of those images were leaked by author of the book for publicity and weren’t campaigns at all? The tips part of the book is very useful because it shows you how to manipulate the system if you want and how to tell the system is being manipulated if you don’t want to play. The history of newspapers and yellow journalism was informative too. When papers were subscription you didn’t have to be sexy, you got your money, but when they started selling them in the street you had to outsell the other guy by having the best headlines, that’s where the extra, extra, read all about it actually comes from. Then they went back to subscriptions and the reputable news sources stayed that way because they didn’t have to sell sensation—they already had subscription dollars. Papers could trust each other because they had equally high performance and fact checking standards. The blog world is the return of yellow journalism. You headline something sexy and use the link economy to cover your ass. If it’s wrong you were just linking to someone else. Trading up is cool when you're seeking publicity. It’s decidedly uncool when the public is gunning for you because of a false report that someone else traded up. Blogs want the ad dollars to they can sell out and up to bigger blogs/companies and the bloggers want the sexy stories so they can sell themselves out and up to bigger blogs. A whole world that I’ve been apart of without really ever considering how it works.
michll's review against another edition
4.0
It got a little boring for me at parts (I always feel guilty for saying this), but DAMN...I will never be able to read an article / blog post online in the same way ever again. Unless it's from Autostraddle.com. ;) But anyway...this is now the only book I own. With the way our media is focused on the Internet, it may be the only book I need. Ryan says it best in his acknowledgements section: "Here's to books." It's critical that we become hyper-critical toward the information we consume and hyper-protective of our time. Keep books alive...