Published in 2002 by Matthew Tobin Anderson, Feed seems to have anticipated the future so precisely that in some ways its relevance is less remarkable the closer society moves towards the years the text envisions. The novel is set in the near future and portrays a time when large corporations supply an advanced internet-style connectivity to the citizens of America, a database of seemingly endless information and communication abilities, by way of a direct feed. The virtual reality feed is implanted into the neurological systems of people, and supplies entertainment, shopping and the ability for direct communication with others on the feed without actually talking.

At the time of writing, the rise of social media had only just begun and little had been written in anticipation of its impact on the world. The percentage of adults in the USA, where the novel is set, who were using social media in 2002 was just under 5%, compared to over 80% today. On the global stage, Facebook, which was introduced two years after the Feed was written, has surged to cover nearly 30% of the world’s population today. Together with the increase in potential revenue from social media, which saw the influx of advertisements such as Facebook advertisements in 2007, the internet and the way people interact has dramatically changed. Feed anticipated this relationship, describing a world where humans are connected to a feed that combines social media and consumer processes. The idea of effortless communication, unlimited knowledge at a person’s beck and call, and seamless consumer experiences at first may seem like a perfect world but the experience does not come without a price. This polarity gives the novel its dystopian base.

Dystopian literature is a form of speculative fiction that began as a response to utopian literature. In utopian fiction a perfect world can be imagined or designed, however a dystopia is an imagined community or society that may appear to have reached a perfect balance but is actually dehumanizing and frightening. Dystopian novels can challenge readers to think differently about current social and political climates, and in some instances can even inspire action. Dystopia is a huge part of contemporary young adult fiction. The Hunger Games, Divergent and Starters commonly share stories about life in the aftermath of earth-changing catastrophes with seemingly utopian communities evolving. In the past, dystopian ideals were seen in classic texts such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

The elements of the novel which resonate with society, both at the time of writing and even more so today, are the elements that Anderson presented as obstacles to the perfect world increasing technology could bring. These include the disconnection of people from each other in a meaningful way, the intrusion of commercial enterprises in education, the cost of providing technology and consumer products in the form of exploited countries and workers, and the possibility of health risks as seen through the lesions the characters develop on the text.

The novel was widely acclaimed upon its release and has grown in popularity as the concepts are seen as more believable. It was nominated for the 2005–2006 Green Mountain Book Award, a finalist in 2002 for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, and won both the 2003 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and the 2003 Golden Duck Awards Hal Clement Award for Young Adults.