In the Swarm
In the Swarm by Byung-Chul Hanby Byung-Chul Han
Shares rank 25 of 30 philosophy books by recommenders
People recommend it as a primer on Byung-Chul Han's ideas, with a sharp take on online shitstorms and digital crowd behavior.
People recommend it as a primer on Byung-Chul Han's ideas, with a sharp take on online shitstorms and digital crowd behavior.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 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
Good primer for Han's ideas
“I recommend you to read In the Swarm by Byung-Chul Han as a primer.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “We are going to kill "unalive"” Insightful on online shitstorms
“Byung-Chul Han hit the right spot when talking about "shitstorms" on "In The Swarm"”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “Tech Fascism Has Come for American Democracy” Pairs well with his other essays
“I recommend reading "In the Swarm" by Byung-Chul Han, and also his "The Crisis of Narration"”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “How elites could shape mass preferences as AI reduces persuasion costs” Worth adding to reading list
“Thanks for the book suggestion; adding this to my queue.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “We are going to kill "unalive"”
Other philosophy books people recommend
The four most recommended other philosophy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tao Te Chingby 老子 and Yang Peng and Jordi Fibla and James Legge | 32 | 3 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert M. Pirsig | 24 | 3 | 89% | 9 | 44 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius | 17 | 4 | 81% | 8 | — | Approved |
| I Am a Strange Loopby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 16 | 1 | 94% | 8 | — | Approved |
| In the Swarmby Byung-Chul HanThis page | 2 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Thanks for the book suggestion; adding this to my queue.”
“I recommend you to read In the Swarm by Byung-Chul Han as a primer.”
“Byung-Chul Han hit the right spot when talking about "shitstorms" on "In The Swarm"”
“I recommend reading "In the Swarm" by Byung-Chul Han, and also his "The Crisis of Narration"”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.