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jeff_finley's review
3.0
I enjoyed this brainy deep dive on the phenomenon of identity in the age of social media. I haven't seen this much nuance on the topic, and I really appreciate it. However, it doesn't tackle the issue of the soul or how all this "identity" stuff are just games of the ego. How our egos will even turn authenticity into an identity which then must be fed and maintained. Social media has accelerated and amplified this phenomenon, encouraging ordinary people to think of themselves as personal brands that now have to do public relations and image management.
For me, I grew increasingly disillusioned with social media and the behaviors it encourages so I deleted my accounts after more than a decade of personal brand building and online business. It sucks to be "off the grid" so to speak, but it's refreshing to live my life without worrying about how I will present it to others. That "second order observation" thing the author speaks of.
I was hoping this book might help me feel better about my discomfort with authenticity vs managing different online profiles, but not really. I mean, at least I can recognize more that what you post online doesn't have to be authentic - but I have a hard time lying or being dishonest. But if I could adopt a more "genuine pretending" attitude, perhaps I could do it. Heck, even writing this review is exhausting because I want to make sure I say how I feel and it's communicated well enough for this "general other" reader to get it.
I've thought about deleting this review entirely because it's taken me a lot of time to gather my thoughts and put them into words, but I also want to contribute and I love reading other people's reviews of stuff. I enjoy hearing what other people have to say... the discussion... even though it's not a real discussion, it's the closest I can get. It's not like I can talk about this book with my IRL friends who haven't read it. So I'll need to write this review to put myself "out there" to be seen and accept the fact that it might be disjointed or incoherent, or not perfectly communicate the essence of how I "authentically" feel about this book. It's only a sliver of my opinion. Which if this was a real conversation, my presence and "beingness" would also be there, my face, my enthusiasm, the back and forth banter, etc. But now, this is just another review to be consumed in a non-linear fashion - that could be read years from my actual writing of it.
Anyway, I've said enough. You get the gist!
For me, I grew increasingly disillusioned with social media and the behaviors it encourages so I deleted my accounts after more than a decade of personal brand building and online business. It sucks to be "off the grid" so to speak, but it's refreshing to live my life without worrying about how I will present it to others. That "second order observation" thing the author speaks of.
I was hoping this book might help me feel better about my discomfort with authenticity vs managing different online profiles, but not really. I mean, at least I can recognize more that what you post online doesn't have to be authentic - but I have a hard time lying or being dishonest. But if I could adopt a more "genuine pretending" attitude, perhaps I could do it. Heck, even writing this review is exhausting because I want to make sure I say how I feel and it's communicated well enough for this "general other" reader to get it.
I've thought about deleting this review entirely because it's taken me a lot of time to gather my thoughts and put them into words, but I also want to contribute and I love reading other people's reviews of stuff. I enjoy hearing what other people have to say... the discussion... even though it's not a real discussion, it's the closest I can get. It's not like I can talk about this book with my IRL friends who haven't read it. So I'll need to write this review to put myself "out there" to be seen and accept the fact that it might be disjointed or incoherent, or not perfectly communicate the essence of how I "authentically" feel about this book. It's only a sliver of my opinion. Which if this was a real conversation, my presence and "beingness" would also be there, my face, my enthusiasm, the back and forth banter, etc. But now, this is just another review to be consumed in a non-linear fashion - that could be read years from my actual writing of it.
Anyway, I've said enough. You get the gist!
yeowu's review
at first it made points… and then it just kept going… and going… and going.
chris_v8_climber_wow_nice's review
5.0
I am genuinely pretending to support this book, mostly based on its content.
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