Tag Archives: dystopia

detect deceit and delete

I came across these two stories last week – there’s an algorithm that can detect deceit in your social media feed and Twitter has been telling people they don’t exist.

This led me to ponder what it would be like to be in charge of a social media company with a conscience.

Imagine you’re uncomfortable with providing a platform from which people tell lies that are stored for future generations as the accurate record of our social history.

If your algorithms can detect deceit and detect it more effectively than human beings – that’s the claim – then would you consider it your moral duty to find the lies and delete them all? Of course you’d have to trust the algorithms, and their creators, to not deceive you.

Would you delete everything that appeared to be a lie, no matter how big or small?

I wonder if Twitter is temporarily suspending accounts while it cleanses them.

Have you checked your social media history recently?

Maybe you should…


photo credit: 000109 via photopin (license)

Launch event for Fluence

Fluence was published just over a month ago and after a fortnight of interviews and reviews the official launch took place on 21 July in a packed Primrose Hill Community Library.

I was really pleased that people took the time to come along on a sunny evening and I certainly enjoyed meeting them, reading extracts and talking about the inspiration behind the novel. The most enjoyable part for me (apart from the pub afterwards) was the Q&A at the end.

All the questions were thoughtful and wide-ranging, including Continue reading

Take a trip, with Fluence

It’s been a week since Fluence was published and it’s time to take it (and me) out on a trip.

Over the next two weeks there’ll be an online book tour, which will take in 11 stops and feature a mix of interviews and reviews, and I’ll be at the Penzance Literary Festival on 9 July to take part in a panel on publishing and the evolving world of the Indie Author.

The fortnight culminates with a London book launch in the Primrose Hill Community Library (in conjunction with Primrose Hill Books) at 7pm on 21 July – you’re very welcome to come and join us.


photo credit: harbor via photopin (license)