Fake news, trolls and other charms. How does social media work (for better or worse)?

Abstract

The technological changes that occurred between the end of the last century and today have led to a radical transformation in the production and organization of social life, also altering the theories and methods of social research. In this scenario, the book by Ernesto Calvo and Natalia Aruguete “Fake news, trolls and other charms. How does social media work (for better or worse)” aims to describe how social networks operate. To do this, the authors discuss communication strategies, mechanisms of political po-larization, and the construction of communicational events and media frames, articu-lating theoretical analyzes with case studies. The publication reviewed here is central to understanding the virtual world-of-life and makes it legible for future research and interventions.