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The Asocial Networking
This most unusual book looks at the newfound obsession driving people of all classes, countries and age groups - 'the asocial networking' - a must-do mode of entry into a new social order. If not adopted and mastered quickly, will it cause us to miss out on one of the greatest forms of modern human experience? It is also interesting and ironical to see ourselves socializing with the help of gadgets when we could actually step forward and socialize with the person standing next to us. For the benefit of those who exhibit their social lives online, this book offers little tricks of the trade to master the art of networking and garner tangible gains in the real world. The author discusses our vulnerabilities and weaknesses, which are often reflected in the way we socialize on the web. Some people have, however, mastered the art of masking their inhibitions - has this made them desirable and irresistible in both the electronic and real worlds? The ephemeral nature of our fantasy of socializing online, also poses the danger of obsolescence to the current rulers of social networking, while presenting an open window of opportunity to any innovative and enterprising entrepreneur who can better our societal experiences.
The author attempts to look into the future of mankind and its changing priorities, through the future of social networking. The reader is taken on a mind-boggling and nerve-crackling tour of the virtual world of networking, stopping only to expose the vulnerability of the human mind
The author attempts to look into the future of mankind and its changing priorities, through the future of social networking. The reader is taken on a mind-boggling and nerve-crackling tour of the virtual world of networking, stopping only to expose the vulnerability of the human mind
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First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 30, 2012
//Cross-posted from here
Man is a social animal. This has been taught to us since we were a child and we firmly believe in it not only because it was taught but also because we appreciate the phrase from our experience. Man cannot live alone. He needs a community to take care of him, a group of people always surrounding him, helping him, talking and supporting him. A society is a reason for very existence. Solitude is something we all hate. We always want to be with someone to enjoy the journey called life.
Over time, it has been observed that people have become busy with their own lives. They do not seem to have time for anyone not even for their immediate families. They are lonely but cannot do anything about it. Leveraging the tendency of man to be social and the lacuna that they have no time to socialize, many Social networking sites like Orkut, MySpace, Facebook, etc have mushroomed, which claim to offer a virtual society to all persons who are part of these social networking sites. Our current book for review, The Asocial Networking is about such social networking sites.
Most of us are members of these social networking sites and tend to think that we know in and out about social network and are competent enough to let alone comment but write a book on the same subject. Dhiraj Kumar is one such person who has taken all his strengths and wisdom together to come out with a book on this subject.
The Asocial Network is a collection of 150 short articles which talks about the virtual world created on these social networking sites specially Facebook. It will not be wrong to say that Dhiraj Kumar has tried to give impetus to debate about Real vs Virtual world. Few years ago, I came across a social networking site, viz., Second Life, which had started such a debate among the various thinkers. At that time, my opinion was that it is a useless discussion as it depends on personal choice of someone. After reading this book, the same opinion remains and holds the ground.
I found it difficult to have belief and faith in the convictions of the author that he has presented through his articles in the book. After reading through first few chapters, I was seriously disillusioned to go ahead and read the book. Therefore, I moved to the last few chapters. Surprisingly, I found the disclaimer by the author where he says that this book might not satisfy the need for an intellectual or informed read. The author was himself sure that he might not be taken seriously and his book might not be liked. For me, this disclaimer certainly came true.
I took around a month to read the book as there was nothing that interested me in the book. The book could have been a wonderful read if it would have been a bit more than just some futile generalizations. There is no continuity of flow from one article to another that at points I started thinking that it would have been better that these 150 articles would have been a part of a blog rather than a book.
The only thing that I liked about the author (keeping aside the thoughts, convictions, beliefs, etc. of author aside) was to use lucid writing style and more importantly having courage enough to come out with a book on this subject. It would have been great if the book was divided into sections and each sections catering to a particular conviction. Inclusion of few articles on other social networking site other than FB and removal of few others would have definitely made the book worth enough to be called a good commentary on social networking sites.
Having said this, I do not deny what Dhiraj has said. I believe that whatever he said may happen and some of it is happening in reality in the virtual world. But as far as book is concerned, it failed to impress me as a whole.
My rating 1/5.
Man is a social animal. This has been taught to us since we were a child and we firmly believe in it not only because it was taught but also because we appreciate the phrase from our experience. Man cannot live alone. He needs a community to take care of him, a group of people always surrounding him, helping him, talking and supporting him. A society is a reason for very existence. Solitude is something we all hate. We always want to be with someone to enjoy the journey called life.
Over time, it has been observed that people have become busy with their own lives. They do not seem to have time for anyone not even for their immediate families. They are lonely but cannot do anything about it. Leveraging the tendency of man to be social and the lacuna that they have no time to socialize, many Social networking sites like Orkut, MySpace, Facebook, etc have mushroomed, which claim to offer a virtual society to all persons who are part of these social networking sites. Our current book for review, The Asocial Networking is about such social networking sites.
Most of us are members of these social networking sites and tend to think that we know in and out about social network and are competent enough to let alone comment but write a book on the same subject. Dhiraj Kumar is one such person who has taken all his strengths and wisdom together to come out with a book on this subject.
The Asocial Network is a collection of 150 short articles which talks about the virtual world created on these social networking sites specially Facebook. It will not be wrong to say that Dhiraj Kumar has tried to give impetus to debate about Real vs Virtual world. Few years ago, I came across a social networking site, viz., Second Life, which had started such a debate among the various thinkers. At that time, my opinion was that it is a useless discussion as it depends on personal choice of someone. After reading this book, the same opinion remains and holds the ground.
I found it difficult to have belief and faith in the convictions of the author that he has presented through his articles in the book. After reading through first few chapters, I was seriously disillusioned to go ahead and read the book. Therefore, I moved to the last few chapters. Surprisingly, I found the disclaimer by the author where he says that this book might not satisfy the need for an intellectual or informed read. The author was himself sure that he might not be taken seriously and his book might not be liked. For me, this disclaimer certainly came true.
I took around a month to read the book as there was nothing that interested me in the book. The book could have been a wonderful read if it would have been a bit more than just some futile generalizations. There is no continuity of flow from one article to another that at points I started thinking that it would have been better that these 150 articles would have been a part of a blog rather than a book.
The only thing that I liked about the author (keeping aside the thoughts, convictions, beliefs, etc. of author aside) was to use lucid writing style and more importantly having courage enough to come out with a book on this subject. It would have been great if the book was divided into sections and each sections catering to a particular conviction. Inclusion of few articles on other social networking site other than FB and removal of few others would have definitely made the book worth enough to be called a good commentary on social networking sites.
Having said this, I do not deny what Dhiraj has said. I believe that whatever he said may happen and some of it is happening in reality in the virtual world. But as far as book is concerned, it failed to impress me as a whole.
My rating 1/5.
October 20, 2020
I picked up this book randomly from a book sale without intentionally knowing anything about it. I just read the cover description and subject matter and it seem to me a compelling one. I gave every benefit of doubt to the author and was non judgemental towards whatever the author was really trying to convey. And I had pretty much the same experiences and opinions about social media as his, before I read the whole thing.
But it didnt really made me think highly of this text. The author presented some 150 articles on his experiences on social media, particularly Facebook. I find many of them relevant but most of them might be personal to him, but totally irrelevant to me.
I dont know that whether we should spend so much time musing and introspecting on something so trivial and artificial as Facebook, but considering that we spend nearly all of our time on such trivial platform, so why not!! But the essays here do not provide any valuable insight but some random disappointments from the author.
Anyways not everything is bad here. Kumar has good command over the langauge. It has good prose and it is very well edited book. Maybe I was too critical of the book, but the subject matter is so confined and cliched that it becomes hard for anyone who writes about it.
But it didnt really made me think highly of this text. The author presented some 150 articles on his experiences on social media, particularly Facebook. I find many of them relevant but most of them might be personal to him, but totally irrelevant to me.
I dont know that whether we should spend so much time musing and introspecting on something so trivial and artificial as Facebook, but considering that we spend nearly all of our time on such trivial platform, so why not!! But the essays here do not provide any valuable insight but some random disappointments from the author.
Anyways not everything is bad here. Kumar has good command over the langauge. It has good prose and it is very well edited book. Maybe I was too critical of the book, but the subject matter is so confined and cliched that it becomes hard for anyone who writes about it.
April 5, 2014
If you read books to gain some knowledge, avoid this book.
If you read books to get some perspectives, avoid this one.
If you read books to look cool, avoid this one.
If you read books to even just kill your time, then too, please avoid this one.
If you read books to get some perspectives, avoid this one.
If you read books to look cool, avoid this one.
If you read books to even just kill your time, then too, please avoid this one.
July 1, 2012
Few backs when I got this back, initially I thought it will be having some serious case studies or some interesting observations about virtual life or social networking. But sadly after going through this I felt it like a bunch of thesis put together in chapters about A to Z of facebooking. I don’t mean it’s bad. At times his observations (with a psychological touch) are interesting and at times it’s too bland. And also I didn’t understand why the author named the book as “the asocial networking” as he focuses mostly on facebooking.
My Take: The book is all about a rehash of in and out of facebooking. Some interesting, but not wholly. If you don’t have much clue about what is facebooking, but wanna know why people talk a lot about facebooking and also why people spend so much time on it, then you can check this book out. For others I guess it all depends on your interest. Not a must read But interesting in parts.
My Take: The book is all about a rehash of in and out of facebooking. Some interesting, but not wholly. If you don’t have much clue about what is facebooking, but wanna know why people talk a lot about facebooking and also why people spend so much time on it, then you can check this book out. For others I guess it all depends on your interest. Not a must read But interesting in parts.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews