Review: Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are

I was lucky enough to hear media literacy guru Julie Nilsson Smith speak at a recent conference, and she recommended Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, which sounded really interesting and relevant to a project I am working on, so I had to run out and buy it. I am glad I did!

This book didn't tell me much I didn't already know in an abstract way, but it did give some really concrete and eye opening examples. And some of the data was just plain fascinating. And, he didn't stick only to internet data. For example, he discusses how data sets were used in the decision to purchase race horse American Pharoah.

Stephens-Davidowitz, a former Google data scientist, spends a lot of time talking about internet data, particularly from Google, but also from Facebook and other providers like PornHub (yup, he talks a lot about sex). 

Overall this book was very fascinating, but it's purpose really goes beyond that. We all need to understand how our data is collected and used, and what it tells the world about us - both in good and bad ways. We all share an awful lot of data about ourselves without even realizing it; it's hard not to these days. But we should at least be aware of it and be thoughtful about when and how we do it. 

Stephens-Davidowitz does have a short chapter at the end that deals with the ethical implications of this information, but I think this issue really could have used a more in-depth discussion and been a more prominent part of his book. 

Despite that, I still think this book can be a great educational tool (which is part of why I read it). First, it helps educators be more aware of what is going on. But more importantly, I think it can be used as an educational tool with students directly. For older students, it could be assigned as a course reading, or parts of it could. Even with younger students, using some of his examples in a discussion or presentation adds interest and helps reinforce the point that we are sharing a lot of our personal data. 

It's also just plain interesting to think about how much data scientists and social scientists can learn about us as a species from these new forms of data, and you can see Stephens-Davidowitz's enthusiasm for this throughout the book. It certainly opens up a whole new world for researchers.