I have been listening to “The Circle” by Dave Eggers. I would call this science fiction, but I listen to so little fiction I am not actually certain how to categorize the work. The story is set in “The Circle” the dominant Internet company of the time. If you have read or thought about the most prominent Internet companies (Facebook, Google, Twitter), you will be able to identify elements of each in this one fictional company.
The core theme in the book is online privacy and Eggers explores the topic by taking our present situation to extremes. What if a single company had the collective information about presently held by many companies (or the NSA)? What if we all were even more invested in sharing and encouraging each other (a tweet is a zing in the book)?
The story unfolds through the eyes of young Mae Holland who lands her dream job at the Circle and “eats the dog food.” The story identifies the benefits of openness, but then reveals how greater harm may eventually emerge. For example, what if elected officials wore a camera (say something like an improved GoPro)? One volunteers to “go transparent” in a bid for public approval. The outcome is positive encouraging others to do the same. Soon, online ire is directed at those who will not reveal their daily lives as if they must have something to hide. Mae is convinced that everyone should make the same commitment and volunteers. Soon her life is followed by millions of viewers and she is trapped by the popularity and her commitment.
I listen to rather then read most fiction. It takes a long time to get through a book (the Winds of War was 40 hours or so). I had hoped to offer one of the first reviews of this book, but I have already found several (NYTimes, Doug Johnson) . I found the book disturbing as if the author has tweaked a nerve representing a possibility I did not want to acknowledge. I do have a concern with over committing to any one company (Google, Amazon, Apple) even though our economic system encourages growth and market share as the measure of success. It does make you think.