The Psychodynamics of Social Networking

by Aaron Balick

Over the past decade, the very nature of the way we relate to each other has been utterly transformed by online social networking and the mobile technologies that enable unfettered access to it. Our very selves have been extended into the digital world in ways previously unimagined, offering us instantaneous relating to others over a variety of platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In The Psychodynamics of Social Networking , the author draws on his experience as a psychotherapist and cultural theorist to interrogate the unconscious motivations behind our online social networking use, powerfully arguing that social media is not just a technology but is essentially human and deeply meaningful.

Genres: Psychoanalysis, Psychology

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Daniel Elk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really impressive. It takes a totally different approach to social media and social networking to anything else I've read. It looks at the real meanings and motivations of people's social media use. Unusually, it uses applied psychoanalysis to do so, but it's a contemporary psychoanalysis that looks at our fundamental motivation to relate to each other and make meaning of that relating more so than the speculative libido/Freudian models you might be used to.

This book should crossover from psychology and social media and be read by those interested in culture in general. It's really a fascinating read and I look forward to more from him.

[Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aaron Balick's book is a careful application of the psychoanalytic theory to the relational dynamics of social media.