Disconnect: Why We Get Pushed to Extremes Online and How to Stop It

Many of us know an anti-vaxxer or a selfie-obsessed narcissist who clutters our social feeds; an online conspiracy theorist or a child whose face is buried in a smartphone. Some of us even live with one. How do we pull these people back from the brink of a digital abyss?

In this compelling account, researcher Jordan Guiao reveals what happens when we fall down the rabbit hole of online addiction and radicalisation. He profiles COVID-19 ‘freedom fighters’, QAnon conspiracists, social media egoists, online gamers and men’s rights activists, tracing their path into obsession and how they found their way back. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience and the latest research on addiction, he prompts us to ask: how can we use the tools that connect us to stop isolating us? And what should our governments do to protect us?

In an age of online outrage and social media schisms, where Big Tech tracks our every click, it is time for a conversation about how to use the internet safely and for social good. Let’s stop the disconnect and create an online world we can all be proud of.