Unfriending My Ex
Confessions of a Social Media Addict
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“In this candid and insightful new memoir, Kim Stolz discusses the trials and tribulations of our obsession with social media and mobile technology...a Tweet-worthy, share-worthy, Instagrammable look into our society and the lives we create online.” —Harper’s Bazaar
An incisive, hilarious, and brutally honest chronicle of our obsessions with connectivity, by a self-proclaimed social media addict.
Breaking up used to be easy. You’d sit down, air your grievances, shed some tears, then commiserate with your friends over a pint of ice cream. But then it was over. Your ex was history. And if you lived in a big enough city, chances are you’d never bump into him or her again.
But the golden age of break-ups has come and gone. Today our exes, former friends, estranged relatives, and even that random person we met that one night in Vegas are just a thumb tap away, their lives playing out in an endless soap opera of status updates, selfies, Snapchats, and Tweets. The ways we interact with each other have changed forever. But our desire for human connection remains the same.
In Unfriending My Ex, Kim Stolz shares her stories from the front lines of our emoji-laden, filter-heavy, ultra-connected world, capturing the hilarity and chaos of life both online and off. Whether you’ve spent two hours clicking through a semi-stranger’s vacation pictures or accidentally swiped right on a former flame, Kim Stolz is here to tell you you’re not alone, you’re not crazy, and she’d like a few of those french fries that you Instagrammed at dinner. Smart, honest, and always relatable, Unfriending My Ex is a must read for anyone who likes to hold a book in one hand and their phone in the other.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this brief but lively memoir, Stolz, a digitally obsessed former MTV host and news correspondent in 2008, decides to give up technology for one week. Attempting to live with "less interruption and more deliberateness," she forgoes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Internet, texting, and reality TV, and her iPhone (she allows herself a landline). In a "fugue state" at first, Stolz soon begins reading Walden, likening her one-week technology fast to Thoreau's lengthier seclusion. As she deals with her technology withdrawal, she investigates and considers the various effects of society's (and particularly her generation's) dependency upon technology, finding that texting and smartphones allow chatting without relationship-building, loneliness in spite of keeping in touch, and increased anxiety. She also finds that Facebook fosters jealousy, spying, and virtual affairs, and links the addiction to ADHD (she even unearths an expert who predicts that no one will be spared some sort of "iDisorder"). Though Stolz writes with humor, her insights are nevertheless disturbing, particularly for 18 30-year-olds who check their smartphones before getting out of bed (and sometimes during sex). Her brief conclusion outlines some commonsense ways to change (e.g., put down the phone during dinner; meet face-to face) but readers are left with the haunting certainty that there is no turning back.
Customer Reviews
LOVE
Not only does Kim Stolz lay it all out there, she does it in a funny and incredibly relatable way. I read the book in one sitting at the beach and due to #lol'ing I received many awkward looks from other beach goers. Perfect book for a long flight or beach day! Makes you think about how social media and smart phones are impacting your life! Ok now I'll put my phone down! Thanks Kim!!