Tales from Facebook

by Daniel Miller

Facebook is now used by nearly 500 million people throughout the world, many of whom spend several hours a day on this site. Once the preserve of youth, the largest increase in usage today is amongst the older sections of the population. Yet until now there has been no major study of the impact of these social networking sites upon the lives of their users. This book demonstrates that it can be profound. The tales in this book reveal how Facebook can become the means by which people find and cultivate relationships, but can also be instrumental in breaking up marriage. They reveal how Facebook can bring back the lives of people isolated in their homes by illness or age, by shyness or failure, but equally Facebook can devastate privacy and create scandal. We discover why some people believe that the truth of another person lies more in what you see online than face-to-face. We also see how Facebook has become a vehicle for business, the church, sex and memorialisation.

After a century in which we have assumed social networking and community to be in decline, Facebook has suddenly hugely expanded our social relationships, challenging the central assumptions of social science. It demonstrates one of the main tenets of anthropology - that individuals have always been social networking sites. This book examines in detail how Facebook transforms the lives of particular individuals, but it also presents a general theory of Facebook as culture and considers the likely consequences of social networking in the future.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction

220 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2011

About the author

Daniel Miller is Professor of Anthropology at UCL, author/editor of 37 books including Tales from Facebook, Digital Anthropology (Ed. with H. Horst), The Internet: an Ethnographic Approach (with D. Slater), Webcam (with J. Sinanan), The Comfort of Things, A Theory of Shopping, and Stuff.

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

On the second page, the author says that Facebook was founded by "Mike Zuckerberg." I probably should have stopped reading then.

[Adam Beigman · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are looking for ethnographies to connect the key concept of technology, globalization and technology to in IB anthropology, this is it. Otherwise, please don’t read this.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had only come to hear about this book through an assignment for my course at university in which we had to choose between three books and write a review based on if it displays 'good sociology'. I'll admit I chose Miller's Tales from Facebook because it was the shortest even though Philippe Bourgois's In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio seemed to be a much more interesting choice!
The book itself anthropological study into the use of Facebook in Trinidad, and what it has come to mean for its users on the island. In part one there are twelve portraits, rather short tales, of how Facebook has come to effect twelve people's lives. This is great for those who have picked this book up to read outside of academia for some aspects are indeed written as if this is a novel rather than an ethnographic account written by an anthropologist, but some of the stories were rather dull and there was quite a lot of repetition.
Part two is much more analytical and probably of more interest to those who are studying anthropology or sociology as a discipline. It uses some of the material discussed in part one to try and draw together conclusions for the findings.
An issue with this book is that the analysis is quite pushed into the end due to the focus on the portraits where he has already incorporated a lot of his own opinions. It didn't develop quite the insight into Facebook that could have been done due to the heavy focus on Trinidad's usage.
Overall the book could be an entertaining read for some but for those studying the disciplines involved it does not quite deliver on what it promises to. The focus on Trinidad and trying to depict it as different for other countries is quite poor for there are similar incidents to those mentioned in the portraits that have occurred all over the world.

[Dragoș · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel Miller's Tales From Facebook builds upon his previous Trinidad related new media work. It's a very hard book to review as it consists of two very distinct parts: a large 13 case study/vignette section addressing individual informants in their relation to Facebook and a shorter anthropological interpretation of facebook. The first part is flawed, easy and pleasant to read but flawed, suffering from classic 'anthropologist trying to be a writer' syndrome, with Miller going on lengthy diatribes and flowery introductions yet often being a bit sparse in his ethnography. The second part is a bit unconvincing and repetitive at times but overall solid thanks in no small measure to 'standing on the shoulders of giants', in this case using Facebook as illustration for a thirty year old theory on fame on the Kula circuit by Nancy Munn, itself drawing on Malinovski's work. This final illustrative bit is perhaps the best and most convincing part of the entire book.

All in all Miller's Tales from Facebook is a decent anthropological foray into the social dynamics of social networking and a interesting virtual snapshot of Trini culture.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book disappointing and it didnt deliver the insight or analysis of facebook users that I was hoping for. Infact I found the case studies in part one of the book dull with far too much of the authors opinion which should have been left in the analysis in part 2. I was expecting extracts of postings, seeing the events unfold for myself with cautionary words from the participants.

Parts 2 of the book deals with the analysis of part 1 and a conclusion which included many references to other research and further reading together with references to the authors previous books.

The author was working on another project in Trinidad when this project began hence all the research was done there and not in the USA or UK as I assumed when selecting this book. He spends alot of time telling of the importance and significance of Trinidad as a study which was unconvincing.

[Andrew Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miller attempts to argue that in Trinidad Facebook culturally manifests differently from the United States. He does make this point, but it is weak at best. He talks about sexuality, relationships, business, and other elements of Facebook in Trinidad, but these do not seem to be unique to Trinidad. For example, a couple who divorce because they cannot trust one another on Facebook, or a star whose sexuality is exploited via Facebook, both happen in the United States as well. The most annoying element of the book is it's anatomy. The first 160 pages are anecdotal stories about Trinidad and how "different" it is. All the analysis is crammed into the final 50 pages. If you're looking for what Facebook looks like in Trinidad, then this is a book for you. However, if you're looking for examples of local cultural manifestations resulting from global digital exchanges, look elsewhere.

[Hanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat boring, lots of rambling and not-getting-to-the-point. This was a book I chose to read for a uni course and it was hardly academic. There's a small portion of sociology-related analysis at the end of the book, but 2/3 of the entire book are stories about Facebook use in Trinidad. Good read if the topic (Trinidad&Facebook) interests you, but for academic purposes, don't bother.

[Cindy Leighton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I was reading this book hoping to use it in my high school IB Social Anthropology class thinking it would be a topic they could relate to and enjoy. Unfortunately the insights were not groundshaking and the case studies boring.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my University assignment on how Facebook is displayed by media to make society anti-social. I hope what I got out of this book applies.

[Andre O. bueno · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book showing some histories of Facebook users and how people see Facebook nowadays.

[Laura]

Interesting, if somewhat dated, given the ever-changing nature of social media.