The Chaos Machine
The Chaos Machine by Max Fisherby Max Fisher
Shares rank 129 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
Recommended as an excellent, well-documented account of how social media platforms work and their effects. No caveat recurs in the quotes.
Recommended as an excellent, well-documented account of how social media platforms work and their effects. No caveat recurs in the quotes.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Excellent, well-documented book
“It is well documented in the book "The chaos machine" by Max Fisher.”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Meta and TikTok let harmful content rise to drove engagement, say whistleblowers” “the whole "Chaos Machine" book is excellent”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Clifford Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| The Chaos Machineby Max FisherThis page | 2 | 1 | 67% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the whole "Chaos Machine" book is excellent”
“It is well documented in the book "The chaos machine" by Max Fisher.”
“The scroll wheel on the mouse doesn't seem to be working”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.