Confessions of a Media Manipulator - Trust Me - I'm Lying

As someone who wasn't very familiar with the nuances of the blogging world, or the incentive structure, I'd say that this was an eye opener. If you're an average content consumer, this book will change how you feel about what you read on the internet. You might become a bit cynical about it all. If you're someone trying to get your content "up there," it will show you some strategy to accomplish that. If you're a seasoned blogger, you might know much of what Ryan talks writes about. Nonetheless, it's a very well written book that has value for readers like myself. Lots of examples too.

Very interesting and terrifying view of how the media works from blogs to big newspapers and TV news. Gave me a new view on how to filter and better consume the BS found in blogs and many online postings from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other sources. It is clear that it is also up to us to filter and avoid generating traffic for sites that only work to misinform us.

Reading Arrogance by Bernard Goldberg and this book by Ryan Holliday brought more clarity to how the media works. How to manipulate the media is interesting debate as each business owner/idea shaman or product marketer wants the media listening. This books far out examples of ways Ryan Holliday achieved this goal. He got the media to share the message by playing their game. I found it interesting and I do understand all enws is slanted. if we want to know more must do our own research.

This eye-opening book takes a serious look at how misinformation proliferates through blogs, and not by accident. As someone who has made it his business to exploit the weaknesses in today's online media for fun and profit, Holiday explains the pernicious incentives that drive bloggers and supposedly serious media to publish misleading and even made-up content. It's all about clicks, and the only way to keep the clicks coming is to churn out titillating headlines, many times a day. It's a serious and well-documented book. A bit self-congratulatory in places, but very well-written. It's a really good read.

A valuable book, but with one basic message that is repeated over and over: bloggers will write anything to get get page views to make money from advertising. This was written in 2012, however. Now that we have Adblocker, how has the business changed?

Full disclosure: I don't read many books anymore. I read tons and tons of online news articles, a few select blogs (usually travel related), and a Facebook feed. This book made me want to read more books.

I picked it up because the idea seemed interested and I was curious to see how he gamed the system. He definitely makes that clear, but far beyond that, he exposes the problem. I do wish he had given more solutions, although he acknowledged why he didn't in the conclusion.

It is also fascinating to see how much of this, written five years ago, parallels to the politics of the world we live in today. Much of the confusion and misunderstanding happening in 2017 has traces back to how many of us get out news, which in turn, informs our facts, and determines what "fake news," is to each of us. Ryan Holiday hit this part spot on.

If you are considering giving this a read, consider no longer, buy or download it.

Very refreshing, helped me to realize how fake all the news articles are and how much our lives are consumed by them! I just went back from a trip in Cambodia, Thailand and India, and had limited access to social media and internet. However, my life there without social media only gets better and happier everyday, and I feel fulfilled in real life rather than spending my time consuming content online.
You are bored in your own life so that you go on social media to consume these time wasters.
Beware of your own situation, and stay smart!

A sensational read. Ryan rehashes the same points over and over again. This book in my opinion could have been under a hundred pages. But an author's gotta sell, right?

Other than that, very informative. Ryan is an excellent storyteller and writer. After reading this book, I find myself applying a healthy dose of skepticism to any news I read or hear.

I was fascinated by the information in this book. I gave it four stars instead of five only because the text is repetitive, making the same point over and over, chapter after chapter, and also because the author overuses the gimmick of referring to himself as the "bad guy". But those are just details. You will see blogs differently after reading this book.

An apolitical marketing drive based off the limitations the blog medium as created an awful political and cultural atmosphere based off polarization and false outrage. I've fell into a lot of these online driven movements, got disgusted by the time I wasted, and had some knowledge about how sick the system was but never packed into a cohesive work like this.

It is remarkable that these blogs, that base themselves off being outraged at the frailty of others, the excesses of others, that view themselves as liberals (oftentimes, or truth seeking conservatives other times) are reactionary idiots.

The book itself goes by quick, but there is a lot of repetition (oh, you worked for the industry) and could've used an editor at cutting some of the bulk off. There's also other times where it could go more in depth, but somehow fears the audience will lack the attention span necessary--I would've loved to have seen the author go more into the history of yellow journalism and even more definite specifics of modern "journalism." The best thing I can say about the book is that its likely to make you cut off the internet hate machine for a little while, and focus on things that actually matter in your life.

Finally somebody tells the truth about the media and the internet and social media. You'll never respect journalism again, of course you don't now but you can't stop reading, watching and believing what they tell you because of the programming.

Why trust Ryan Holiday about lying? ...because he's telling the truth!

It never ceases to amaze me, all the non-sense posted on TV, radio, in blogs that is reported as factual news to which people repeat it as fact without even looking for any evidence, should the content creator be assertive enough to fake any. We watch cable news networks like Fox or CNN expecting to get informed when in fact all we can is disinformation. Men like George Orwell and Edward R. Murrow warned us of this, heck even Howard Beale, A FICTIONAL CHARACTER warned us!

And now Ryan Holiday comes a long to admit he's a part of all this disinformation. Well at least I'll give him some credit for that. He's clearly admitted after the fact the damage that this media manipulation causes and his concern about it. He tells you what he's done and what others do, so once you understand the process at least you have a way to start reviewing the sources of media to decide for yourself if they are credible.

As fictional character and Mad prophet of the airways, Howard Beale said on his own de facto tv "news" program, "Right now, there is a whole an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube (tv, but Internet also applies here too)!", ...(it's a long speech, so I paraphrase here)..."Television (and the same goes for Internet) is not the truth. Television is a goddamned amusement park!", ... (paraphrasing)..."We're in the boredom-killing business. If you want the truth... Go to yourselves!"

To your own peril if you can not discern the difference between fact and fiction in your own life. At least Ryan Holiday offers you a map of the media landscape, but it's up to you to know the difference. Read it and anything by Neil Postman if you insist on watching tv news or reading blogs for your sources of information.

Good night and good luck.

An interesting read, that really changed how I view the things I read online. In addition, it is well-researched and provides the proper history and background to the media/publishing industry so that the uninformed reader like myself can fully understand the problems in the modern media environment.

I went into this book knowing very little about the modern media, but I found it to be both eye-opening and entertaining.

Great book. Well written. So much good information. If you're a news junkie, you might feel like an idiot while reading this book. He gives hundreds of examples of how so many "big stories" in the news are just plain made up to make a buck. The stories are funny and entertaining.

Interesting subject, but 75% of the book just felt like a rehash of the first 25%. I gobbled the first 50 pages but really struggled through the rest...still, it's insightful and highly relevant for anyone working in digital media.

Ryan deals a blow to the promise of crowd sourcing. We've been sold on the virtue of crowd sourcing - that the best idea wins. It doesn't, the stickiest idea wins. This creates an incentive for manufacturing sticky ideas.

For those looking to manufacture sticky ideas, the media is setup perfectly for manipulation. The media incentives are set up to favor sticky ideas too. The problem for readers is careful reporting isn't sticky; controversy, scandal, and snark are.

For the individual, the solution may see obvious, opt out. Ignore the news like many others - Taleb and Ferriss - have suggested. Ignoring the problem doesn't really solve it either. You can't isolate yourself from the effects of media. One of Ryan's goals is to show how much products, celebrity, elections, and government decision are influenced by the media (or media manipulators).

The reader may be disappointed that Ryan does not offer any solutions. He doesn't because a solution requires changing the rules. The best you can do is to play your game to their rules. This is what Ryan did.

Does Ryan deserve criticism for manipulating? Is he a hypocrite? If Ryan truly believed in the causes/artists/companies he supported, I give him a pass. The media manipulate has the same burden as the warrior. Karl Marlantes describes entering the "Temple of Mars" in What It Is Like to Go to War. We don't get to choose the rules; we only get to decide if the game is worth playing. According to Marlantes, if the warrior enters the Temple of Mars with a clean spirit they should be absolved of their actions committed during the war.

TMIL also contains a meta lesson on learning ones craft. On his blog, Ryan calls this the "swarm strategy". Reading and dissecting multiple viewpoints is a source of power. Playing your own game to their rules require complete understanding of the system, the players, and the incentives.

Finally, I want to comment on the writing. The writing is good. The writing is good enough to hold against fine essay writing. The chapter about snark could stand on its own. The reading is smooth and the retention is high.

Reading this book really opened up my eyes to the way that content I have for a long time suspected fictitious is generated and why. Learning about the way that the system of content creation operates feels a bit disconcerting, but also incredibly empowering (not in the sense of being someone who now has the ability to generate deceptive content, but more so in being able to more easily identify it and decide whether or not I want to support it in any way).

I'd recommend this book become required reading for students attending any sort of formal institution (high school, college, technical school...) and anyone wanting to get a an understanding on the operation and agendas of traditionally trusted media sources. This book is the guide to how internet media works, who it serves, and who it takes advantage of.

Wonderful. An insider's expose on how easily manipulated news media is with a nod to how we're repeating the same mistakes from the days of yellow journalism. I've always had an idea that this is what was going on, so it's nice to see it straight from the horse's mouth. The writing is clear and the information is great. You can also view it as a bit of an autobiography as Holiday discusses his remorse in the part he had to play in the new media monster.

A very important read and this should be required reading for anyone that's on the Internet..which includes you. This book can even be depressing as it paints a bleak, but very real, picture on online "news" and marketing.

Almost like a gripping novel, I couldn't stop reading the web of deceit and manipulation in the media. I'm not a conspiracy fanatic, but this book certainly opened up my eyes to the "behind the scenes" skullduggery of the media today.

Ryan's perfect blend of story and "how I did it" made for an easy read and, for those so inclined, a play book on how to move one's agenda into the spotlight.

Read this book, regardless of your agenda, motive or affiliation. You'll be entertained, informed and empowered.

This book is a mixed bag. The author certainly has done/knows about some of the 'dirty little secrets' about modern marketing and promotion. He gleefully shares these in the first half of the book, which is the enlightening and educational part. However I feel the second half of the book where he rails against his own style of practices to help "clean up" the system is very disingenuous. If things really got "cleaned up" he would be out of a job and, quite frankly, although the players have changed (its bloggers now, not the local newspaper reporter) I believe this is pretty much how the system always worked.

Even if you don't agree with my assessment of the situation or the author's true feeling on the matter, overall I would still rate the second half of the book fairly redundant and weak (effectively stressing the same points over and over).

So basically this is 1/2 of a good book, 3 stars.

Fascinating look into the secret lives of those who get us to buy what we don't need. After reading this book I will never look at a blog, the Huffington Post, or any news provider the same again. Clicks are the new commodity!

Go to Gawker.com. Look at the headlines. Get enraged. Get sad. Get mad. Then, read this book. In Jerry Maguire they said "show me the money" - well that money is expressed through page views. The headlines, the stories, they are designed to keep you clicking, the Pavlovian response that we are now accustomed to on the internet.

Holiday peels back the curtain on the shady dealings of the web. Why? Why not? How does he know? He did it. He invented some of the tricks. This will teach you them - for good, for bad, for revenge, for knowledge. You will never look at Drudge the same way again.

All in all, the book was fantastic. Some others complain about the cursing - who cares? I don't. I'm from Brooklyn.

This is what I can say - you can get a summary of what is going on in the book elsewhere in these reviews. You won't get this - I bought multiple copies and have given them as gifts - clothing brands to aspiring journalists. That is the best review I can give.

-AFW

The main takeaway from the book is that the engine behind the media is not "to inform, but to startle." Bloggers work in what's referred to as the "digital sweatshop," paid by how many people see their posts, not how objective or even true their stories are. With a quota around twelve posts a day that depend on attracting clicks, not to serving the public, it's easy for people like Holiday to feed juicy stories to bloggers who are desperate for good shocking headlines to get free publicity around the internet. Example: Holiday purchased ad space on a billboard for Tucker Max's movie release. He then vandalized the billboard himself, took pictures of the aftermath with his phone, and submitted the pictures to various blogs he identified to be anti-Tucker Max. Using a fake email, he pretended to be a Max-hater and voila, the blogs posted the story, other blogs picked up the story, and Holiday gets tens of thousands of dollars worth of publicity for the cost of one billboard and a few emails. There are posts on some of the aforementioned sites that don't even hide the way they find stories. They encourage readers/sources to craft their own stories and submit them to be published. Viewing the media through this lens, I finished the book skeptical of any public message. In order to reach any level of being truthfully informed, you need to ask experts yourself or find media sources who work outside of the media machine.

Required reading for everyone.

Affirming what you already knew and filling in the gaps, Holiday gives an insider view to the latest in an age old problem. It's not that this book should be a revelation; it is a confirmation that nearly everything that fills your feed is hollow and worthless. Even knowing that, the book details how today's current click-bait system works and will help the reader navigate the pitfalls both in their personal and business life.

The news tries to monetize our attention and outrage for more ad revenue because the incentives are not properly aligned with the public. If a blog gets a story wrong they can write one or two more articles to get extra clicks and ad revenue for messing up their first story.

Just two things would make this book perfect: it could use another round of proofreading; it could be a little less repetitive.

Besides that, a dark look at what are the costs of our 'free' acess to news and entertainment online.

Damn good book! I found myself looking at websites that I thought were credible news sites only to realize that they are just blogs with official names. I even caught a media manipulator in action with certain articles that were posted to cause a group of people to take action. This is a must read.

I purchased the book seeking effective strategy for online promotion. I was not disappointed. Holiday provides specific and actionable advice as well as examples of how to exploit blogs and new media. However, the book goes beyond mere tactics and explores the systemic evils of pay-per-click journalism.

Ryan Holiday was a twenty-something year old PR rock star with all the gifts, timing and ethos to become the best at what he did quickly and even invent some new tricks along the way - he gives these all to you with brutal transparency and honesty, that's the first half of the book. My main fear is that you might stop there, don't.

The second part turns this around, and it's like our hero reforms. This isn't that pithy career story, "I worked for McKinsey, realised it was all bullshit and now I do motorcycle maintenance" kind of reform; but something new, something bigger. It's the kind of earth shattering "everything you've ever known is a lie" kind of moment, except in this case he was one of the people lying to us.

Ryan's writing is filled with a depth of research sorely lacking in most writing about this industry. As one of the most prolific readers I've ever known (are you on his reading list?) you feel a whole world of ideas and parallels informs every chapter. From the striking parallels with early publishing trends in the 1800s to helpful metaphorical tie with Vietnam and more. There's a lot lying beneath this book and it shows.

It's full of real examples, useful ideas and courageous analysis. I'd say it would entice the media monster enough to comsume him if it wasn't full of the poison everyone in the media can't suffer: the truth about how news is created and why.

It's not the book I expected him to write (young man wanting to make something of himself in the world? See his blog), but is one that has opened my eyes nonetheless.

Do you read the news? Thought so. Read this book.

A fantastic interpretation of the media from someone who has really engrossed themselves in 'the monster', itself. While I did enjoy this book, I felt as if there was a repetition of various concepts that led to nonchalant reading. I would highly recommend this book.

Human nature is a truly scary thing. Our ability to prey on each other for personal gain, whether that is physical, financial or psychological, never ceases to amaze me.

This book is testament to the need to be very selective about who and what you give your time and attention to.

I never realized how much journalists didn't care about the story, just how many page views and clicks it would generate, opened my mind up to that world.

It described the beginning of the papers and journalism as a profession, If you like learning history its gives you a fun breakdown into the print world, and where it went.

An interesting book for sure, kept me engaged, and I learned something, 5/5

Having just finished reading this book opened my eyes on the mechanics of the media machine and how all the inner parts work to deceive you. Let's face it! More then half the stuff we read, watch or hear is inaccurate news information, so the lesson to be learned here is take everything with a grain of salt.

I purchase many books via the store. However, in this instance, I found an audio version read by the author, at an online library and listened to that – for 6.5 hours. My point: my review will not be labeled “verified purchaser”, but I did listen to it cover-to-cover. My take-away: while the whistle-blowing author makes some interesting points, he takes rather too long in doing so. The book’s basic theme is: 'don’t believe everything you read'. On the “pro” side of the review balance sheet: while there’s nothing terribly new about the book’s theme, its application to internet ‘journalism’ is timely. On the review balance sheet’s “con” side: there are moments which strike one as both fatuous and childish. 1) The fatuous – opining that a single incident of Dick Cheney’s manipulation of the ‘press’ not only facilitated the commencement of US hostilities against Iraq, but may have been pivotal to the war effort strikes as fatuous & politically naïve. 2) The childish - the author’s use of profanity to bolster his arguments comes off as little more than adolescent self-indulgence.
Bottom-lining: do I regret spending 6.5 hours listening to the author wax, albeit occasionally ineloquently, upon the ‘don’t believe everything you read’ theme, particularly when it comes to internet blogs? no, I do not. Would I dedicate 6.5 hours listening a second time? no, I would not.

This book gave me insight into networks of how PR, Journalism, and politics it would have been difficult to decipher otherwise. I highly recommend it for anyone who does any kind of WRITING at all. Great work, Ryan.

Then this book is perfect to drive traffic although Holiday seems to think you are a rube for blogging and looks to make a rube of you, but what do you care if your blog is getting traffic right?

Well written, you can tell this kid is crazy smart. It just wasn't what I thought it was going to be.

Incredible to read about something that is happening right in front of my very eyes. I understand things better. Biggest thing and most scary part -is that people don't have conscience and revel in the misfortunes and unravelling of others and sadly? Will continue to do so...

This is an easy, and entertaining read. Ryan will confirm all of your cynicism. Great for bloggers and amateurs, not so much for professional marketers and PR people who already know the drill. Key takeaway: He's not lying, he's not sorry, and he's not done.