Dave Eggers, influential writer and mission-minded entrepreneur of the aughts, adds a new theme to the eclectic mix his books have covered. As a whole, his narratives and works have been deeply personal as well as socially relevant \u2013 they include a fictionalized story of a Sudanese refugee, a Syrian immigrant\u2019s experience in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina, and the stories of former prisoners who\u2019d been sentenced to death and then exonerated. Now, the slice of social life that Eggers\u2019 new book,\u00a0The Circle<\/em>, gazes into is our networked culture thoroughly mediated (and owned) by social media (companies). New Yorker Elements blogger Betsy Morais\u00a0sees value in Eggers\u2019 pessimism<\/a>, but uses it as a basis on which to look more deeply into the likes of Facebook and Google as they are today rather than to contemplate the literary merits of the novel.<\/p>\n What\u2019s cooler: Morais cites the published work of DPSI Pioneer Diana Tamir, a doctoral student in Psychology at Harvard on the\u00a0Big Data<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0team, which found that \u201chumans so willingly self-disclose because doing so represents an event with intrinsic value, in the same way as with primary rewards such as food and sex.\u201d \u00a1Go Diana!<\/p>\n New minimalist blogging platform Ghost<\/strong><\/p>\n After much anticipation, Ghost is here. Design and technology site\u00a0The Industry<\/a>overviews the product, highlights its most attractive features, and tells you how you can get started with it. The skinny is that Ghost is all about one thing: writing. According to The Industry\u2019s\u00a0Gannon Burgett<\/a>: \u201cNo extra bells or whistles, Ghost brings content center stage, making sure no unnecessary frills get in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n (Image from:\u00a0https:\/\/ghost.org\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n -Nathaniel, Team Berkman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Team Berkman brings you snack-sized cerebral fodder to ease your afternoon doldrums. Dave Eggers broods about social media Dave Eggers, influential writer and mission-minded entrepreneur of the aughts, adds a new theme to the eclectic mix his books have covered. As a whole, his narratives and works have been deeply personal as well as socially … Continue reading A social media dystopia & new bogging platform (Team Berkman)<\/span> ![\"image\"](\"http:\/\/media.tumblr.com\/cb5fdf76d499f9973b35c7b42bb502bf\/tumblr_inline_mvws2cId8W1rqpdgv.jpg\")
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