Social-Media Disrupters

From The New Yorker’s archive: pieces on tech magnates and their impact on how we consume information. View in browser | Update your preferences Social-Media Disrupters This past week, Elon Musk declared that he would allow Donald Trump back on Twitter, then wavered over his planned purchase of the social-media behemoth. As billionaire tech magnates dominate the public square and transform how we consume information, we’re bringing you a selection of pieces about social-media disrupters and their impact. In “Plugged In,” from 2009, Tad Friend profiles an earlier incarnation of Musk, when the Tesla C.E.O. was focussed primarily on pitching his vision for electric cars and colonizing Mars. In “Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy?,” Evan Osnos writes about the social-media platform’s evolution (or devolution) from a networking site to one of the leading disseminators of extremist rhetoric and propaganda. In “Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet,” Andrew Marantz examines the destructive impact of rampant online conspiracy theories and hate speech. Finally, in “What Is It About Peter Thiel?,” Anna Wiener considers the influence of the first outside investor in Facebook—who, after serving as one of Trump’s biggest donors in 2016, continues to make forays into Republican politics, recently backing two Trumpian Senate candidates, J. D. Vance, in Ohio, and Blake Masters, in Arizona. For Thiel, Wiener writes, “the processes of liberal democratic life are either an obstacle or a distraction. . . . What’s on offer is a fantasy of a future shaped purely by technology.” —David Remnick From The New Yorker’s Archive Letter from California Plugged In Can Elon Musk lead the way to an electric-car future? By Tad FriendAugust 17, 2009 Letter from Silicon Valley What Is It About Peter Thiel? The billionaire venture capitalist has fans and followers. What are they looking for? By Anna WienerOctober 27, 2021 Annals of Technology Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet How do we fix life online without limiting free speech? By Andrew MarantzMarch 12, 2018 Profiles Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy? The most famous entrepreneur of his generation is facing a public reckoning with the power of Big Tech. By Evan OsnosSeptember 10, 2018 You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.