Who should write the book about being online? I guess an Instagram meme-maker/friend of the band/influencer. But I bought the book because of the front cover blurb so I guess I was influenced.
This is an essay collection very much in the Joan Didion sense–largely a description of living through certain eras or events shown through a loosely related narrative with nearly invisible conclusions and value judgements. These essays cover early internet chatrooms and the process of trying to manage both an online and “real life” persona, becoming an influencer and attending influencer-only events, online dating/dating people who are very much online, a digital detox in a monastery, polyamorous/ENM relationships, and environmental dread.
As with any essay collection, a couple fell flat for me (maybe just not terribly relatable for me?), a couple were okay, but about half of the book was very good. Many of the essays do a. wonderful job of describing both the overwhelming amount of content but also the near impossibility of escaping a world that is increasingly online. This work covers the awkwardness of being and interacting with influencers along with both the dehumanizing aspects of online life (monetizing social media, dating apps, etc.). But also provides humanity to the weirdness of social media (needing to monetize social media, finding love on dating apps, etc.). There’s an acute feeling of not really liking the way things are going but also not really knowing what/how to change things.
My favorite: “In Real Life”
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