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#Self: Taming Your Inner Online Menace
Discover the fine art of netiquette, brush up on the world of online dating, and make some spare change without changing your underwear. An indispensable guide to becoming a savvier online you—#Self: Taming Your Inner Online Menace offers practical advice and tongue-in-cheek wit on navigating one of the most intimidating (and exhilarating!) places out there—the internet.
100 pages, ebook
First published May 1, 2011
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96 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 20, 2011
Complete review at : My book review
The Book in a Nutshell
*the book starts from birth of Your Internet life
*walk you through the memory lane
*reminds you of your past mistakes
*makes you realize the folly
*tells you how to grow up, and stop whining on Facebook, and commenting crap
*shows you the direction to a new set of Internet tools/sites to make better use atleast now
*by then, you will know where you stand
*helps you clean your online activities, so that you don't lose a job b'cos of it
*admonishes you on a thing or two
*makes you a better netizen in the end.
The Book in a Nutshell
*the book starts from birth of Your Internet life
*walk you through the memory lane
*reminds you of your past mistakes
*makes you realize the folly
*tells you how to grow up, and stop whining on Facebook, and commenting crap
*shows you the direction to a new set of Internet tools/sites to make better use atleast now
*by then, you will know where you stand
*helps you clean your online activities, so that you don't lose a job b'cos of it
*admonishes you on a thing or two
*makes you a better netizen in the end.
January 31, 2024
"On one side of the computer is Real You, a fairly mature individual who knows a thing or two about life. And on the other side is Online You, a volatile teen still scarred from internet childhood and trying to navigate his way into adulthood."
I would rate 1 star but 2 stars for the humourous fact that it is so outdated just a decade or so after coming. Author has no real pedigree for writing about this but yeah, no idea why I bought this but it easy to blast through and I am reading all my Kobo books alphabetically so here we are.
Fun snippets.
On 'Twitter' (now 'X'):
Key names: Kanye West, Ashton Kutcher, Richard Branson, Russell Brand (LMAOOOOO)
On Flickr being the best photo site for people:
Honorable mention: Instagram (DOUBLE LMAOOOOOOO)
On Tumblr:
Today, budding journalists hang out at Tumblr, the blogging site with a social networking twist. It’s great for anyone who wants to get a story and photos out in the simplest way possible. (HAHAHAHHAHA that turned out great didn't it?)
on memes:
Keeping up-to-date with the latest memes can seem like a full-time job. If Online You is lucky enough to have a few connected, web-savvy people in his network, he’ll have an easier time spotting memes and sharing them (CRINGE)
On trolls:
In real life high school, the sports nuts and the debate team were two very separate entities, oblivious to each other’s activities. But the internet has succeeded in combining the best of both worlds. Online, the two groups are more similar than you might think. (still true)
how to use 'Twitter' (now 'X'):
1) If you’re going to have a Twitter account, make sure you update it frequently. People like to receive new information. To make things easier, download a mobile client to your smart phone — you’ll be able to update on the go. Try out TwitterBerry, PocketTweets and Twidroyd
I would rate 1 star but 2 stars for the humourous fact that it is so outdated just a decade or so after coming. Author has no real pedigree for writing about this but yeah, no idea why I bought this but it easy to blast through and I am reading all my Kobo books alphabetically so here we are.
Fun snippets.
On 'Twitter' (now 'X'):
Key names: Kanye West, Ashton Kutcher, Richard Branson, Russell Brand (LMAOOOOO)
On Flickr being the best photo site for people:
Honorable mention: Instagram (DOUBLE LMAOOOOOOO)
On Tumblr:
Today, budding journalists hang out at Tumblr, the blogging site with a social networking twist. It’s great for anyone who wants to get a story and photos out in the simplest way possible. (HAHAHAHHAHA that turned out great didn't it?)
on memes:
Keeping up-to-date with the latest memes can seem like a full-time job. If Online You is lucky enough to have a few connected, web-savvy people in his network, he’ll have an easier time spotting memes and sharing them (CRINGE)
On trolls:
In real life high school, the sports nuts and the debate team were two very separate entities, oblivious to each other’s activities. But the internet has succeeded in combining the best of both worlds. Online, the two groups are more similar than you might think. (still true)
how to use 'Twitter' (now 'X'):
1) If you’re going to have a Twitter account, make sure you update it frequently. People like to receive new information. To make things easier, download a mobile client to your smart phone — you’ll be able to update on the go. Try out TwitterBerry, PocketTweets and Twidroyd
May 16, 2017
I really tried to keep an open mind with this book. I barely managed to finish it. By the time I was at 60% through, I had to start skimming the text and mainly read headings and titles.
For some reason, the author assumes that the reader is a male in their late 20s or mid 30s. While humour can be a good method of getting your message across to a reader, constant sarcasm and condescending tones can only be tolerated for so long.
The incessant "remember all those awful people in high school? Well let's put a label on everyone in our adult world so that we can parallel the two and embrace our inner-snark" became so repetitive and tiresome. My high school experience wasn't nearly as bitter as the author's.
I was able to learn about a few websites or services that are since long abandoned or terminated, but otherwise this was a waste of time. I hope the author has since made piece with their awful experiences in high school because it seemed like this book was a way to offload a lot of baggage.
For some reason, the author assumes that the reader is a male in their late 20s or mid 30s. While humour can be a good method of getting your message across to a reader, constant sarcasm and condescending tones can only be tolerated for so long.
The incessant "remember all those awful people in high school? Well let's put a label on everyone in our adult world so that we can parallel the two and embrace our inner-snark" became so repetitive and tiresome. My high school experience wasn't nearly as bitter as the author's.
I was able to learn about a few websites or services that are since long abandoned or terminated, but otherwise this was a waste of time. I hope the author has since made piece with their awful experiences in high school because it seemed like this book was a way to offload a lot of baggage.
September 28, 2018
A fun read! It reminded me about some crazy past items on the Internet.
October 17, 2016
It was actually surprisingly interesting and informative. I have no idea where I got it from but it's a good read.
January 1, 2012
I didn't get very much from this book. I've spent a lot of my life on the 'net and, as such, a lot of this stuff was old hat to me. I've had to think very hard about how to rate the book, as certain things I found useless could be invaluable to someone less 'net savvy. Other aspects of the book, however, pissed me off regardless of whether or not it was new advice to me.
The premise of the book is that the first big wave of mainstream internet users, despite being in their late 20s and early 30s, are still mere teenagers in online terms, as ubiquitous consumer internet only became a reality ~15 or so years ago. This choice in demographic is very purposeful; it targets the small generational segment between Gen X - who are already old enough to be established without needing to rely overmuch on the internet - and Gen Y - who grew up with the internet and see it as a simple extension of the self. And, much like all advice for high school kids, this advice is already a little stale and will be mostly obsolete in a short time. There is some 'timeless' wisdom in here; if you want to read it, then do it sooner rather than later.
My biggest problem with the book is that it's written from a 'Web 2.0' perspective. At times it feels more like a guide for extraverts to bend the introverts' paradise to their "Hey look at me" whims. It also seems very strongly geared toward people who live in cities and (aspire to) work in specific knowledge-based industries like media or design. This is another of those "might be useful to someone else" situations that made it hard for me to rate the book.
I don't want to further belabour the obvious here. If you're older than, say, 30 then there might be some useful advice at places here. If you're not very experienced at using the 'net - or think its sole purpose is email and Facebook - then there's definitely some useful advice in here. Of course, if you're someone like that then you're not actually reading my review anyway...
The premise of the book is that the first big wave of mainstream internet users, despite being in their late 20s and early 30s, are still mere teenagers in online terms, as ubiquitous consumer internet only became a reality ~15 or so years ago. This choice in demographic is very purposeful; it targets the small generational segment between Gen X - who are already old enough to be established without needing to rely overmuch on the internet - and Gen Y - who grew up with the internet and see it as a simple extension of the self. And, much like all advice for high school kids, this advice is already a little stale and will be mostly obsolete in a short time. There is some 'timeless' wisdom in here; if you want to read it, then do it sooner rather than later.
My biggest problem with the book is that it's written from a 'Web 2.0' perspective. At times it feels more like a guide for extraverts to bend the introverts' paradise to their "Hey look at me" whims. It also seems very strongly geared toward people who live in cities and (aspire to) work in specific knowledge-based industries like media or design. This is another of those "might be useful to someone else" situations that made it hard for me to rate the book.
I don't want to further belabour the obvious here. If you're older than, say, 30 then there might be some useful advice at places here. If you're not very experienced at using the 'net - or think its sole purpose is email and Facebook - then there's definitely some useful advice in here. Of course, if you're someone like that then you're not actually reading my review anyway...
February 14, 2016
This book just randomly appeared in my Kobo not long after I bought it, but I never had any desire to read it until now. What bothered me in this book (besides some parts that were supposed to be funny, but really weren't, and all the stereotypes), is that it's supposed to be a guide showing people how to behave online so then can create this online persona who is "cool" and popular, instead of just being themselves. In order to do that, the author teaches the reader how to use the internet language properly, what to post and where, which social media you're allowed to use and which ones you need to avoid because you don't wanna look outdated. There was some sensible stuff there, like what posts you should let your boss see on Facebook, but most of it is ridiculous. It's one of those guides to "success", but for your online self, telling what's "right" and what's "wrong".
There was something the author said that caught my attention: "Let´s face it, we all compare on Facebook, and it's hard to watch others lead a charmed life." We all know people who post pictures on Facebook where they seem to be having the best time, when in reality they were smiling just for show and were actually feeling miserable. So many people go out of their way to pretend they have a wonderful life on social media, but they're just trying to compensate for a meaningless existence. And that's pathetic and depressing because they're hiding from their real life. And this book seems to be promoting that, this made up fairy tale life, built on appearances, with no real foundation.
On the bright side, there was some good advice on how to protect yourself online and how to make/save money using the internet, even though a lot of the information provided seemed a bit obvious to me. But that might be because it's been a few years since this was released. ;)
There was something the author said that caught my attention: "Let´s face it, we all compare on Facebook, and it's hard to watch others lead a charmed life." We all know people who post pictures on Facebook where they seem to be having the best time, when in reality they were smiling just for show and were actually feeling miserable. So many people go out of their way to pretend they have a wonderful life on social media, but they're just trying to compensate for a meaningless existence. And that's pathetic and depressing because they're hiding from their real life. And this book seems to be promoting that, this made up fairy tale life, built on appearances, with no real foundation.
On the bright side, there was some good advice on how to protect yourself online and how to make/save money using the internet, even though a lot of the information provided seemed a bit obvious to me. But that might be because it's been a few years since this was released. ;)
Read
January 22, 2016The book started off with a lot of expectation. The author pointed down the evolution of internet along with the young teens in 90's. As the teens level of maturity grew, their view about the internet changes in early 2000's. Then She moved into the world of blogging, facebook and twitter and how they changed the teens thinking. For the youth who want to share whatever they come across in fb and twitter, this book has got some tips on consequences it may have in their future and how to get rid of it.
The book then gradually loses its path and is deviated to "how to use internet effectively" with lot of suggestions and ideas from the author across various field of interests. It's good to come across a list of web sites which I have not heard of but the title seems to mislead the readers after a while.
I recommend this book for those social media addicts. This has got some good information to take away.
The book then gradually loses its path and is deviated to "how to use internet effectively" with lot of suggestions and ideas from the author across various field of interests. It's good to come across a list of web sites which I have not heard of but the title seems to mislead the readers after a while.
I recommend this book for those social media addicts. This has got some good information to take away.
April 30, 2014
One of the few (the only?) books I've ever read written in the second person. Having created a generic Online You, Madden breezes through a quick history of the internet followed by many pages of capsulized information on managing all aspects of your surfing life. Written in 2011 and presumably up-to-date then, this book was out of date before it was published (only as an e-book) and thus is more of a nostalgia trip than a today's useful guide. It's hard to know who would benefit from this book. Those who use the internet regularly are presumably far beyond the simplistic cautions and suggestions here and those who aren't would be better suited by talking to friends or someone under 20.
December 4, 2011
This book was really entertaining, quite funny and full of advice and internet websites to check out. The author divides "you" into an online you and the real you and uses high school analogies to make her points about how online you is sabotaging the real you by doing silly things on the internet that real you would never actually do in real life.
She covers everything from posting on facebook and twitter, to job hunting, dating and other ways to network with people with the same interests as you. She also spells out various netiquette rules that people probably do know but ignore too often.
My only complaint is that the information in this book will be out of date within a few months.
She covers everything from posting on facebook and twitter, to job hunting, dating and other ways to network with people with the same interests as you. She also spells out various netiquette rules that people probably do know but ignore too often.
My only complaint is that the information in this book will be out of date within a few months.
May 23, 2012
Based on the references, this e-book seems tailor-made for people of Generation Y, give or take a few years. Sometimes, it's a trip down memory lane, other times it's slap of common sense; some useful information to remember -- of which is promptly forgotten because one moves on to the next chapter. It's not horrible for a free read and if you remembering the way it was (assuming you're of a similar age as stated at the beginning).
May 11, 2013
This book says that, because the internet is so young, everyone uses it like they're still teenagers. It says we need to grow up. But isn't that what makes social media so appealing - that everyone uses it like a fucked-up teenager? Certainly the only entertaining thing about this book is that it reads like it was written by a teenage Republican. I read it only because it came free with the Kobo app for Android.
July 26, 2012
I read this book simply because it is a free book on KOBO. Since it is already in my device, so I thought why not just give it a go. It was an ok book, informative but most of them I already knew. But, I found out some new cool stuff, like there is such a thing as "Google Art Project"! No one told me that.
But this book is quite entertaining, nonetheless!
But this book is quite entertaining, nonetheless!
January 10, 2014
It was around when the author suggested a scenario where your Neopet would die if you didn't give it food you had to pay real money for that I understood this book was bad.
I hope you like books about how ever-so-lulzy memes are, chapter upon chapter of glorified links pages, and the occasional dollop of misogyny just because. I can't imagine why you had to give this one away, Kobo.
I hope you like books about how ever-so-lulzy memes are, chapter upon chapter of glorified links pages, and the occasional dollop of misogyny just because. I can't imagine why you had to give this one away, Kobo.
August 11, 2016
Your Online Self in contrast to your Real Self. The author definitely knows what she is talking about. It's very will written with a great sense of humor. I got a couple of new things that I didn't know and that made it worth it. This books was sitting in an old ereader app, and I don't have any idea how long it was there, but it's still mostly relevant.
May 16, 2012
This book explains the internet to thirtysomethings who can't really internet well. It was promoted and free in the Kobo store. Its other redeeming quality is that it is mercifully short. I am not really sure why I read it.
September 4, 2012
I thought this book was funny. If you want to understand how it all started, this online lifestyle we do now with facebook and twitter, then you want to read this. I still think twitter is pointless after reading this and seeing the how-to in how to be a great tweeter.
March 8, 2013
Though not overly helpful and a bit dated, this short "guide" was actually pretty funny in some parts. It got a little tedious towards the end, but for a quick read, it wasn't horrible. I found the parts about emoticons and the dos and don'ts of Twitter to be especially hilarious.
June 11, 2013
Interesting read with some helpful information. One odd thing was that this book is about being more mature online, acting like an adult, but all the comparisons used were that of high school. If I need to be an adult online why should I act or use websites in a high school manner?
October 20, 2011
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December 20, 2011Interesting book for (writing comments...)
July 17, 2012
Hilarious and informative!
January 1, 2013
easy read, funny, informative and very tongue-in-cheek in its humour.
February 23, 2013
awful book. funny in a few parts, but they are the only bright spots in the book.
March 25, 2013
Nice book, nothing special actually but still a good guide to survive the Internet social jungle. I particularly liked the chapters about work & online ways to make some money.
February 27, 2019
I had to lower the rating, because I don't even remember having read it. I vaguely remember borrowing it, but that's it.
December 20, 2013
I just read this book because it was given to me as a gift. Entertaining, and kinda useful.
April 4, 2014
OK. Most of it I already knew, and most of the rest was not relevant to me. Readers should bear in mind that this sort of material goes out of date very quickly.
January 20, 2014
Thanks for the free book.
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