I am, as you know, oddly fascinated with the Internet and Social Media (see: last year when I decided to binge read a bunch of books on social media). So when a friend shared a long-form article about how internet algorithms were leading to oddly homogenous coffee shops, I knew that I had to read… Read More Book Review: Filterworld by Kyle Chayka
I’ve had this book on my radar ever since The Literary Escapade talked about it (the site is currently private but I’ll link to the post in case it ever comes back) but somehow, it escaped my notice when I was doing my binge reading on social media! But it’s never too late to read… Read More Book Review: The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher
I did not plan out my books properly. If I had, I would have read this right after The Accidental Influencer, since Hype (being about scammers and grifters), also talks a lot about influencers and it would have been interesting to consider the two books in tandem. Hype is an ambitious book, trying to explain… Read More Book Review: Hype by Gabrielle Bluestone
After yesterday’s review of how social media and influencing could harm someone, I thought it would be interesting to review another book on influencers; this time looking at how influencing can harm others. This book is about Belle Gibson, the wellness influencer who was found to have faked a cancer diagnosis (meaning her story of… Read More Book Review: The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano
I chanced upon this in the library and since I’m always slightly ambivalent about Instagram and other social media, I thought it would be interesting to read this and see what life is like for an “instafamous” person. The Accidental Influencer is the story of Bella, who creates a satirical wellness account “deliciouslystella” and achieves… Read More Book Review: The Accidental Influencer by Bella Younger
I heard about this book about Instagram from a bookstagram account on Instagram (no surprise there) and of course, my interest was piqued. No Filter is a business memoir, charting the rise of Instagram and its complicated relationship with its users. If you’re looking to find out: What feedback Ariana Grande gave Instagram when she… Read More Book Review: No Filter by Sarah Frier
Warning: Extremely long post I meant to post this at the three month mark but I lost track of time (and kept procrastinating on updating the weekly stats for over a month) so this is coming to you about four months since my last update. It’s going to be a very long post, starting with… Read More Breaking the Smartphone Habit: The Four Month Mark
I have no idea how long social media and the idea of influencers will last (forever? for a few more years?) but the idea of reading a thriller based on influencers was intriguing. Now, I really hated the ending of Hello Sunshine, another book based on social media stars, but I was cautiously optimistic about… Read More Book Review: Unfollow Me by Charlotte Duckworth
This is another one of the books that’s been on the TBR list for some time. While it’s not related to the overuse of social media, I thought it would be interesting to read about how social media is being used as “weapons”. LikeWar argues that social media is being used by various groups to… Read More LikeWar by P.W. Singer
[There is nothing worse than writing an entire review, only to find out that nothing was saved. This is one of the reviews so let’s hope the rewritten version doesn’t leave anything out – though I doubt anyone but I will care] After reading How to Do Nothing, I was motivated to continue reading about… Read More Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport