Hype : How Scammers, Grifters, and Con Artists Are Taking Over the Internet—and Why We're Following
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- Create Date：2021-06-30 06:51:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Gabrielle Bluestone
- ISBN：133501649X
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Summary
Drawing from scientific research， marketing campaigns， and exclusive documents and interviews， Vice reporter Gabrielle Bluestone delves into the irresistible hype that fuels our social media ecosystem， whether it’s from the trusted influencers that peddled Fyre or the consumer reviews that sold Juicero。 A cultural examination that is as revelatory as it is relevant， Hype！ pulls back the curtain on the manipulation game behind the never-ending scam season—and how we as consumers can stop getting played。
Reviews
Jodi
，
This is Fyre Festival Documentary: The Book， with a few more internet scammers thrown for good measure。 Never really gets at the "why we're following。" The author frequently extends her social media habits activities to encompass everyone who uses social media。 So there's a lot of "We"when it should be "I。" This is Fyre Festival Documentary: The Book， with a few more internet scammers thrown for good measure。 Never really gets at the "why we're following。" The author frequently extends her social media habits activities to encompass everyone who uses social media。 So there's a lot of "We"when it should be "I。" 。。。more
Lindsay
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Struggled to finish this and skimmed a lot。 The premise and title promised more than the book actually delivered。 How meta is that。 It’s disorganized， jumps from topic to topic， and doesn’t really get to the heart of the why and the how。 The Fyre Festival debacle is meant to be the key through line for the book， but as a book narrative it’s not good。 I’ve read the articles and I’ve seen the documentaries。 The book version should be a better version of the narrative but it’s not。 I know the autho Struggled to finish this and skimmed a lot。 The premise and title promised more than the book actually delivered。 How meta is that。 It’s disorganized， jumps from topic to topic， and doesn’t really get to the heart of the why and the how。 The Fyre Festival debacle is meant to be the key through line for the book， but as a book narrative it’s not good。 I’ve read the articles and I’ve seen the documentaries。 The book version should be a better version of the narrative but it’s not。 I know the author covered Fyre for Vice。 This book feels like it was slapped together to deliver on a book deal secured from that reporting。 Where was the editing team on this？ 。。。more
Caelyn
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clever use of the Fyre Festival to look at the motivations， tactics， and social worlds of scams and hype
Katia
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man this sucked。 such a good premise。 but if i had submitted a college assignment that was 99% just quotes from other people （whole paragraphs of russell brand talking which was barely relevant） i would have failed the class。 so little organization too。 most interesting part was the chapter on caroline calloway。 it would seem the biggest grift of all was this book。
Laura Falcone
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Great premise but this book did not read well。 I found myself putting down after a few pages and then not picking up for another week。
Lorena
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This book was engaging， but at the same time too much and all over the place。 The author goes into great detail about the Fyre music festival， social media influencers and our love of social status， among other topics。 I liked it but I also felt like I had read or seen a lot of the stories/info in other places。 If you’ve read books about how tech & social media are changing us- the author goes over that。 If you watched the Fyre documentary， you will get way more details about it in this book。 Th This book was engaging， but at the same time too much and all over the place。 The author goes into great detail about the Fyre music festival， social media influencers and our love of social status， among other topics。 I liked it but I also felt like I had read or seen a lot of the stories/info in other places。 If you’ve read books about how tech & social media are changing us- the author goes over that。 If you watched the Fyre documentary， you will get way more details about it in this book。 The stories about the sketchy social media influencers were new to me， though。 I found that interesting and would read a book just about that phenomenon。 。。。more
Lauren James
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[Gifted]As a big fan of conspiracy theories， especially online ones， this was the perfect book for me。 I loved learning more about the thinking behind scammers online - there were some really thoughtful interviews in there， which added a lot nuanced analysis to the author's thoughts。 Really fascinating！ [Gifted]As a big fan of conspiracy theories， especially online ones， this was the perfect book for me。 I loved learning more about the thinking behind scammers online - there were some really thoughtful interviews in there， which added a lot nuanced analysis to the author's thoughts。 Really fascinating！ 。。。more
Darien Tebbe
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The book has some valuable information， including links between obvious frauds like Fyre Festival and common practices of many financially 'respected' moguls。 But ultimately it's written too much like a gossip column for me to enjoy。 The book has some valuable information， including links between obvious frauds like Fyre Festival and common practices of many financially 'respected' moguls。 But ultimately it's written too much like a gossip column for me to enjoy。 。。。more
Zachary
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Not a lengthy review， but I really enjoyed this book's look at different scams in the digital age and it's storytelling behind Billy McFarland and the Fyre Fest fiasco throughout conversations and emails。 Bluestone was able to bounce from different points about how influencers are being used as a walking billboard with ads and their own products flooding their multimillion Instagram accounts。 I also enjoyed it's discussion on the "relatable CEO" like Elon Musk， hypebeast products such as Supreme Not a lengthy review， but I really enjoyed this book's look at different scams in the digital age and it's storytelling behind Billy McFarland and the Fyre Fest fiasco throughout conversations and emails。 Bluestone was able to bounce from different points about how influencers are being used as a walking billboard with ads and their own products flooding their multimillion Instagram accounts。 I also enjoyed it's discussion on the "relatable CEO" like Elon Musk， hypebeast products such as Supreme and social media FOMO。 。。。more
Dan Gibson
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Bluestone uses the Fyre Festival debacle to talk about the illusions we're all surrounding ourselves with on social media。 Well written？ Sure！ Well researched！ Absolutely！ Crushingly depressing？ Also yes！ Bluestone uses the Fyre Festival debacle to talk about the illusions we're all surrounding ourselves with on social media。 Well written？ Sure！ Well researched！ Absolutely！ Crushingly depressing？ Also yes！ 。。。more
Juliet Farmer
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Too much focus on one scammer， too little substance
Phillip Korrey
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I was very interested in the subject matter and I learned a lot about the social media influencing industry。 The author does a good job of mixing the main theme of the book Billy McFarland and the Fry Festival， with other interesting stories of influencers and the effects they have on our society。 My only complaint was it was a bit choppy which made it hard to follow。 The author did a good job of putting out some good stories but the organization hurt the flow of said stories。
Lauren Mun
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i loved this book！ so interesting if you’ve watched the netflix documentary about fyre festival， or if you’re interested in media studies！ it was so well-researched and well written， with a lot of tie-in’s to present day。 highly recommend。
Sarah
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Bluestone examines how "influencers" have taken over social media， and how they make gobs of money off selling a lifestyle brand to their followers。 Most of the book focuses on Billy McFarland （Bluestone broke the Fyre Festival debacle）。 Interesting look at how advertising is soooooo pervasive on the internet。 Influencers use their platform to increase their fortunes by manipulating their followers into spending money on their sponsored products。 Interesting topic， my only caveat is that the cha Bluestone examines how "influencers" have taken over social media， and how they make gobs of money off selling a lifestyle brand to their followers。 Most of the book focuses on Billy McFarland （Bluestone broke the Fyre Festival debacle）。 Interesting look at how advertising is soooooo pervasive on the internet。 Influencers use their platform to increase their fortunes by manipulating their followers into spending money on their sponsored products。 Interesting topic， my only caveat is that the chapters are LONG！ 。。。more
Romany
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There’s something about the Fyre festival that is so intriguing to me。 If you’ve watched （any of） the documentaries about Fyre， you will already have heard much of the info in this book。 But I didn’t care！ I loved the accessible， journalistic writing， and the thematic threads connecting popular scammers of the last few years。
Caroline Hirko
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A deep dive mostly on Billy McFarland， the man behind the Fyre Festival fiasco， as that was who Gabrielle reported on， but also a look at Elon Musk （Tesla/Space X）， Elizabeth Homes （Theranos）， Adam Newman （WeWork）， Caroline Calloway （instagram influencer？）， and those types。 I really enjoyed this book and felt like I learned even more （although I also highly recommend the Netflix documentary on Fyre Festival and the Hulu documentaries on both Fyre and WeWork if you're interested）。 A deep dive mostly on Billy McFarland， the man behind the Fyre Festival fiasco， as that was who Gabrielle reported on， but also a look at Elon Musk （Tesla/Space X）， Elizabeth Homes （Theranos）， Adam Newman （WeWork）， Caroline Calloway （instagram influencer？）， and those types。 I really enjoyed this book and felt like I learned even more （although I also highly recommend the Netflix documentary on Fyre Festival and the Hulu documentaries on both Fyre and WeWork if you're interested）。 。。。more
Ginny Beck
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Good for anyone who is interested in internet culture and/or is interested in entrepreneurship culture and/or is interested in the psychology of scamming and/or is like me and interested in all of that。 Audio version is good！
Eriche
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Special note on the writing style。 Great organizational flow makes this so easy to read。
Sherry
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WHAT ARE PEOPLE THESE DAYS ？？？？ LEMMINGS/SHEEPThe only reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5 is I don't like the subject matter。 Oh Yes， I'm not living under a rock， I know this author is telling the truth; as sad as it is。Why， oh， why do people need "influencers" 。 Why don't they just follow their own hearts and minds and just do/wear/say what every one else does。 You would think it would only be young people but NO/it's so called adults also。I was shocked what I read in this book。 And sadden WHAT ARE PEOPLE THESE DAYS ？？？？ LEMMINGS/SHEEPThe only reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5 is I don't like the subject matter。 Oh Yes， I'm not living under a rock， I know this author is telling the truth; as sad as it is。Why， oh， why do people need "influencers" 。 Why don't they just follow their own hearts and minds and just do/wear/say what every one else does。 You would think it would only be young people but NO/it's so called adults also。I was shocked what I read in this book。 And saddened。 We are all doomed if the future of our country goes this way。JUST SAYING ！！！ 。。。more
Lisa Z。
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This was interesting， but the real focus was on the Fyre Festival。 There are a few other examples of influencers， but it's mostly just about Fyre。 This was interesting， but the real focus was on the Fyre Festival。 There are a few other examples of influencers， but it's mostly just about Fyre。 。。。more
Niamh
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3。5 stars
Jess Cole
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I love reading about scams and blind confidence and this delivered。 Fast easy read with more insight into the background of Fyre Fest plus a handful of other scams and related behaviour。
Kate Hartley
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Gabrielle Bluestone has written an intriguing take on influencer culture in general， specifically how they persuade us that our lives are inadequate。 A rare glimpse into the age of social media scammers will use it to gain followers， clout， and money。 do my essay for me Gabrielle Bluestone has written an intriguing take on influencer culture in general， specifically how they persuade us that our lives are inadequate。 A rare glimpse into the age of social media scammers will use it to gain followers， clout， and money。 do my essay for me 。。。more
pugs
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my main complaint: i wish this book were longer！ it flows nicely and it's an addictive read， especially if you have any interest in social media drama and consumerism or fomo of such。 'hype' is grounded in the disaster that was fyre fest， its founder climbing， and falling - upwards - somehow， even from prison。 along the way are offshoots of the models （"real" vs models -vs。- "not real" ig "models"）， the celebrities and "influencers" online promoting fyre fest， and whatever else you can think of， my main complaint: i wish this book were longer！ it flows nicely and it's an addictive read， especially if you have any interest in social media drama and consumerism or fomo of such。 'hype' is grounded in the disaster that was fyre fest， its founder climbing， and falling - upwards - somehow， even from prison。 along the way are offshoots of the models （"real" vs models -vs。- "not real" ig "models"）， the celebrities and "influencers" online promoting fyre fest， and whatever else you can think of， and then some， prices charged per social media post， the absolute fabrication of "richest people" lists， and the sociopath tactics from the likes of trumps， kardashians， and jenners。 while i loathe conmen， i love hearing the details （esp。 after taking an english class at university that focused on the question of the con: pt barnum， ben franklin， artist jsg boggs， and 'the confidence man;' it was one of my favorites and kept my interest ever since）。 damaged people damaging people。 social media is so bad， but that "what's next？" is awfully good at eating attention。 as i type this on a social media platform owned by - amazon - and they'd rather me bash them on their own site than not having me on it whatsoever; we're all susceptible and pathetic in our own ways， shout out to algorithms and surveillance capitalism。 i want to bury my phone in a corn field。 is the meat of this book really five stars， or do i feel a need to build on the parasocial relationship of an author whose 3-4 star book i just read？ subscribe to my premium reviews to find out！！1！ 。。。more
Daniel
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The whole book is poorly organised。 McFarland’s Fyre story was presented in 8 long chapters with lots of irrelevant details。 The rest of the points were sprinkled in between with lots of repetition。 Hype is:1。 Lots of marketing， especially with influencers on Social media。 Even if there’s no real product to sell。 2。 Celebrities， where good connection （read: elite class kids） helps。 Pay them to endorse the product。 3。 Paid bots to hype up。 Didn’t learn much from this book。
Hayley F
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Many thanks to Harper Collins for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review。 You can read my full review here。Hype was one of my most anticipated releases of April 2021， but did it live up to my expectations？ Well， yes and no。I was drawn to the premise of it looking at how online personalities are scamming others in various ways。 As a blogger， I’m always interested in reading about the dark side of the influencer industry so an exposé sounded right up my alley。 And i Many thanks to Harper Collins for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review。 You can read my full review here。Hype was one of my most anticipated releases of April 2021， but did it live up to my expectations？ Well， yes and no。I was drawn to the premise of it looking at how online personalities are scamming others in various ways。 As a blogger， I’m always interested in reading about the dark side of the influencer industry so an exposé sounded right up my alley。 And it was。 At least the bits that weren’t focused exclusively on Fyre Festival。Don’t get me wrong， I’m fascinated by the whole Fyre drama。 However， I didn’t expect this book to be quite so heavily focused on the subject。 （Roughly half of the book is Fyre-related。） I really enjoyed the discussion of how hype and social media are affecting us but whenever it came back around to Fyre Festival， I was desperate for it to change topic again。 Overall， I did enjoy reading Hype。 But it probably would have gotten a higher rating from me with less focus on Fyre Festival。 I’d recommend this to anyone who is interested in reading about Fyre Festival or wants a non-violent true crime book。For even more reviews， check out hayleybythebook。com。 。。。more
Michael
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An interesting look at how people regularly fall for scams online， but it sometimes feels overstuffed and a little aimless。 The Fyre Festival is the main bulk of this book， but Bluestone also segues into other scammers like Caroline Calloway。 There are some statistics and studies shown， but I would have liked to see more of why people love scammers as much as they do， and I would have especially liked to see what the impact is on people。
Rose Hriz
，
This is a very interesting book。 It looks as how we are fooled into believing something we see on the internet while ignoring all the facts。 Influencers appear to have wonderful lives that we would like to live。 However， are these lives real or is everything faked。This is an eye opening book。 I would recommend reading this book。Thank you to #goodreads， @HanoverSquarePress， and @Gabrielle Bluestone for a copy of this book。
Chelsea
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This was a really timely read for me， and the author’s presence and voice pulled me along。 I say timely because I’ve been watching/reading a lot about a） social media’s effect on and presence in modern life， b） financial crimes， and c） con artists。 This book also added a layer about influencers which expanded my understanding since I purposefully try to avoid following most influencers， for these very reasons。 I don’t think it sounds fun to obsessively consume yourself for profit and clearly the This was a really timely read for me， and the author’s presence and voice pulled me along。 I say timely because I’ve been watching/reading a lot about a） social media’s effect on and presence in modern life， b） financial crimes， and c） con artists。 This book also added a layer about influencers which expanded my understanding since I purposefully try to avoid following most influencers， for these very reasons。 I don’t think it sounds fun to obsessively consume yourself for profit and clearly there are lots of people out there using the power they gain from that influence in thoughtless and morally/ethically ambiguous fashion。Read this if you liked the Fyre documentaries （there’s a lot rehashed here but additional interviews and context added， as well as enmeshing what happened in the broader context） or HBO’s excellent Generation Hustle series I just watched， or just if you’d like to step back and consider what’s happening on the internet these days。 。。。more
Savanna
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