Jacob Silverman’s recently-released book TERMS OF SERVICE is a call for social media users to take back ownership of their digital lives. Integrating politics, sociology, pop culture and technology, Silverman explores the surprising conformity at the heart of the digital culture and what it means now that none of us can ever be alone. Reflecting on the implications of the collapsed barriers between our private and public lives, TERMS OF SERVICE explains how social media companies engineer their products to encourage shallow engagement and discourage dissent. Illuminating the new era of connectivity as never before, Silverman brings into focus the inner conflict we feel when deciding what to share and what to “like,” and explains how we can take the steps we need to free ourselves.
Silverman’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Slate, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and many other publications. In 2008 the Virginia Quarterly Review recognized him as one of the top literary critics under 30, and in 2012 he was a three-time Jeopardy! champion. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.