Dark Social: Understanding the Darker side of Work, personality, and social media, Ian MacRae

Ian MacRae is the author of six books, the most recent of which is Dark Social. He is a work psychologist, consultant, speaker, and author who writes about a variety of psychology and workplace topics.

We’ve all heard of the dark web, but what about dark social, where expressing yourself becomes difficult and interacting with people in our workplaces brings fear. Ian discusses how this affects workplaces and work ethic in businesses.

Dark Social: Understanding the Darker side of Work, personality, and social media

His previous books looked at the positive aspects of leadership and what a leader should look. Dark social is a continuation of those subjects delving into what happens behind the veil of our workplaces, personality, and social media. See more about his book here.

Dark Social: Understanding work, personality, and social media, Ian MacRae

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Shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2022

From Donald Trump’s outrageous tweets to the impact of the GRU (Russia’s military intelligence agency) on foreign elections, through to echo chambers and amplification by bots and networks – the negative side of social media is becoming ever more apparent. Now far removed from a comfortable landscape of cat videos and family pictures, social media is now open to exploitation from a range of sources, from disgruntled employees to ‘fake news’.

The negative impact of social media upon the workplace can have damaging consequences for businesses. Reputations can be ruined overnight, employees can manipulate social media feeds to their own advantage, and the boundaries between professional and personal social media conduct can become dangerously blurred.

Dark Social is an approachable and widely applicable guide to the dangers of social media, and the steps that can be taken by businesses to avoid any negative consequences as a result of social media activity. Despite these risks, social media should not be neglected – it has become a fundamental part of business literacy and is now an essential element of any successful marketing & PR campaign. Drawing upon illustrative case studies and organizational psychology, Dark Social is a timely and fascinating insight into the darker side of social media.