Trust Me, I'm Lying
Trust Me, I'm Lying by Ryan Holidayby Ryan Holiday
Shares rank 36 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
People recommend it as an insightful look at how online media manipulation works, though some say it is dated.
People recommend it as an insightful look at how online media manipulation works, though some say it is dated.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: 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
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Insightful look at online manipulation
“the analysis that I find most insightful is also the first one that I read”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “The Monks in the Casino” “a deep but somewhat dated look at the online influence industry”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “The Age Verification Trap, Verifying age undermines everyone's data protection” “Trust Me I'm Lying is a great book on the topic”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “The Internet Is Drowning in Secret Ads”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Writing considered not very good
“The book isn't very good, but it flags something relevant here.”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Bun Rust rewrite: "codebase fails basic miri checks, allows for UB in safe rust"”
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 | — | — |
| Trust Me, I'm Lyingby Ryan HolidayThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
All 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Talks about how he did this as part of a marketing strategy when he was working at (IIRC) American Apparel”
“for a more current and better developed discussion”
“Trust Me I'm Lying is a great book on the topic”
“The book isn't very good, but it flags something relevant here.”
“a deep but somewhat dated look at the online influence industry”
“the analysis that I find most insightful is also the first one that I read”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.