# The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher

2 Hacker News commenters recommended The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an excellent, well-documented account of how social media platforms work and their effects. No caveat recurs in the quotes.

## Why people recommend it

- Excellent, well-documented book (2 comments): "It is well documented in the book "The chaos machine" by Max Fisher." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47423387)) "the whole "Chaos Machine" book is excellent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48899010))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316703303?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780316703307) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher", https://hackerapproved.com/p/chaos-machine/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).