i read ‘no filter’ by sarah frier about the origin and rise of instagram as a follow-up to last week’s book ‘careless people’ by sarah wynn-williams.
and as a follow-up, it worked nicely.
events in both books were similar (the inner workings of two social media giants) and took place around the same time (the better part of the last decade).
but the books weren’t too similar, so it didn’t feel redundant. unlike wynn-williams, frier never worked at meta, but is a journalist who constructed her narrative entirely through interviews.
reading them back to back made for some interesting connections, as both narratives reflect each other seamlessly. it’s like they complete the same picture.
the thing i liked most about ‘no filter’ was frier’s emphasis on corporate culture, and how that culture directly shapes the product — and ultimately, the user’s experience on the platform.
personally, i’ve often experienced instagram as the ‘friendliest’ of the social networks — especially the bookstagram community. i found frier’s account of the original founders, kevin systrom and mike krieger, and their struggle to deliberately create and protect a space based on their values, both intriguing and eye-opening.
it reminded me again how much the conscious and unconscious beliefs of a creator, designer, or developer get baked into a product as illustrated by cathy o’neil in ‘weapon’s of math destruction’.
and how those same beliefs and biases then go on to shape culture, because they get amplified far beyond what would be possible without social media. a point that kyle chayka makes in a much more elegant way in ‘filterworld’.
my only regret with ‘no filter’ is that i didn’t read it sooner. five years is an eternity in social media time, and while it’s aged well, it would’ve been even more insightful back when it first came out.
yet another reason to get going on my massive tbr.
so, the question now: what book to follow this up with? let me know which one you’d pick in the comments.
