First published 2016
Christian Rudder examines how internet data transforms our understanding of human behavior. For decades, researchers relied on surveys and limited experiments to study people. Now they can observe actual behavior through social media posts, dating profiles, and online interactions. Rudder shows how Facebook likes predict sexual orientation and intelligence with surgical precision. He reveals that attractive women receive more job interview requests and explains why having haters signals popularity. The book contrasts how people present themselves publicly versus privately online. Data analysts have become the new sociologists, extracting insights from massive digital datasets without traditional filters. Rudder demonstrates how mathematics becomes humanized when applied to real behavior, turning numbers into storytellers of our era. The book offers readers a new lens for self-understanding in the digital age.
Genres: non-fiction, 21st-century, artificial-intelligence, academic, algorithms
Vibes: informative, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: data-driven-storytelling, new-sociologists
296 pages · Paperback · AGUILAR