Book review: "The Circle"

David Eggers have written a fascinating book about the future of work and social life. The book is a futuristic novel, but it could equally well be considered a business book. I will not be surprised if The Financial Times will short-list this book for its annual business book award.

The novel is set in the near future and Mae has just landed a job at a social media company called The Circle (think Facebook on steroids). It is a novel so I will not spoil the fun by disclosing much about the content. The Circle has a campus-like work environment where the young employees work, eat vegetarian food, do yoga, and party on campus. Most employees are very devoted to The Circle and some even live on campus (think Google on steroids).  

The core of The Circle's business model is a social network that generates advertising revenue. The Circle is using the latest technology to get the most out of its employees. Many of the technologies described in the book will surely become reality in a near future; for instance facial recognition and low-energy videocams. However, the strength of the book lies in the description of the benefits and problems associated with a company knowing a lot of details about most human beings. The book has a fascinating description of the benefits of transparency in social life. The work-life in the book is as far removed from a 9 to 5 job as you can get. Most people have become quite sensitive to human interaction and they often feel hurt when the social network doesn't appreciate them. 

Like it or not, social networks will become more powerful in the future and this book gives a great insight in that future. Highly recommended.

The touchy-feely people populating "The Circle" makes me think about Frans Bengtsson's Swedish classic "The Long Ships". There men are men, so don't expect to learn much about modern organisational life. Still it is a great read and you will learn a great deal about trust in an environment with very poor communication channels.