'Un friending my ex' – book review

Do you do any of the following ?

1. Look down under the table, at your phone, when you discuss with a friend who is across the table ?
2. You say ‘LOL, ‘ROFL’, ‘OMG’, ‘WTF’, ‘Ah really’, and ‘Thats great’ when your friend speaks to you ?
3. Fiddle with the computer when answering a phone and fiddle with the phone when sending an e-mail on the computer ?
4. Have panic attacks when you find an empty pant pocket – meaning no phone ?
5. Check the Facebook Status to know whether your friend is alive ?
6. Check into Foursquare even if you visit the bathroom ?
7. Do your thumbs keep scrolling up and down even when you read a newspaper ?
8. Do you pinch a wall poster to expand and try to zoom in ?

If any one of the above is true, then you have mild soc-med ADHD – Social media induced Attention Dysfunction Disorder.

If two are true, you better seek medical help.

If three or more are true, check into a hospice as you are hopelessly ADHD-ic.

And take heart. You are not alone. You can count on Kim Stolz, the former MTV personality and current Citigroup Vice President, for company. She was also obsessed with social media and gadgets so much so that she felt she was being a slave to the iPhone.

In an entertaining book ‘Un friending my ex’ , Kim Stolz deals with the after effects of a severe addiction to social media. She tries to stay away from her iPhone for a week and describes her travails in detail.

In her trial of social media abstinence, she tries reading  Henry Davis Thoreau’s Walden, and various other books, yet struggles to maintain equilibrium. She describes her struggles during her soc-med abstinence period so vividly that we begin to get images of the famous ‘withdrawal syndrome’ of people addicted to substances.

There are certain streaks of brilliance that leap at you from the book – the studies that had been conducted by various researchers and the details about those – is one such. Other times, you are treated to familiar situations like measuring your self worth in terms of the number of Facebook friends you have, the intimidation that you are subject to in case of an adverse comment by a ‘friend’ or the lack of response from a ‘friend’ and the like.

There are other aspects that dwell on whether Facebook ‘friends’ are really friends at all ? These areas would appear familiar to you.  They appeared so for me.

Whether Kim overcomes her social media obsession or not forms the crux of the book. In the end she describes ‘moderation’ as the means to overcome the addiction. This seems more preachy towards the end. But is there a definite way to end this soc-med menace at all ?

If you read the book, you :

1. Would know you are not alone
2. Would know that Social media addiction is a disease
3. Know it is stupid to be connected at all times.

If you don’t read the book :

1. Apple, Samsung, Zuckerberg et al will become richer at your cost.
2. Your thumbs would twitch when there is even a piece of paper
3. You wouldn’t know if Angelina Julie you see is on paper or is on an iPad.

This book is easy available on the best coupons and deals website where you can also redeem the Amazon coupons to save your money.