The Facebook Book

by Greg Atwan, Evan Lushing, Aurora Andrews (Illustrator)

The Facebook Book , by Harvard alums and early Booksters Atwan and Lushing, follows in the fine satirical tradition of The Official Preppy Handbook and The Hipster Handbook , full of anecdotes (true and semi-true), tips (useful and useless), and other insights, including chapters on the Ethics and Etiquette of using the 'Book, what your profile really says about you, and a Facebook dictionary (which defines for the uninitiated terms like "frenemey" and "fauxmance"). The Facebook Book will appeal not only to undergrads, but also high schoolers (to whom the site was recently opened), savvy parents, and anyone who's tapped into Web 2.0 culture and counterculture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor

191 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

Reviews

[Katie Mauger · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't get it. Was this supposed to be funny? I don't know if this could have been less funny if they tried. Maybe it's just cause it's so outdated now, but I started using facebook more frequently when I went to college in 2008 (when this book was published), and I still did not get the humor. Plus it seemed to be over-the-top kissing Mark Zuckerberg's ass and excessively praising Facebook and Harvard. Also, bad predictions are bad. The "clever" writers here tried to predict the demise of Linked-In (still going strong) in 2009, and disregarded other social media networks simply because they were more popular in other countries than in the US. Was that satire? Hopefully. Even if it was though, it was not well done.

[Autumn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Written as if the only people who use (or should use) Facebook are Ivy League students. Not funny, a bore.

[LouisaLei · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is lame.
Maybe it’s the dated grasp it has on Facebook. Maybe it’s the not so witty remarks on people and Facebook. I don’t know, maybe its just the whole idea it has on Facebook. I mean Facebook! Facebook! Facebook…
I mean, I appreciate the lot of French terms. I get it, author. You're lexicon is nice.
I just found it really, really boring. Rare instance of me jumping paragraphs and awfully drawn pictures.
Maybe this book's better off in a library somewhere in Silicon Valley. Not in my shelf, I have to admit.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a grand, sweeping look at the Facebook phenomenon much in the form of an instructional guide. Unrefined, undergraduate humour coupled with esoteric references to popular culture mostly unknown outside of North America made some of it hard to follow. While there were some places where I laughed out loud, my lack of knowledge of Generation Y and their ilk hampered my enjoyment. But I certainly give it an A for effort. Give it a try - maybe you can understand more than I did!

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute and witty at times, but overall, I wasn't that impressed by it. Maybe I was expecting more from it...? Maybe it's because all of the things that were made fun of in the book have been made fun of before in other mediums. I read the entire book in an hour. Not much substance, and I found myself flying...errrr, scanning through the final 50 pages or so.

[bigmuzz]

saw this while shelving in the library, had a quick skim and decided to read it. being a big fan/user of facebook, a lot of the stuff in this book was pretty familiar and amusing, some laugh out loud moments in the book, but not overly hilarious. a good way to waste some time, and also to find out what to avoid when using FB in order to avoid looking silly. :P

[Adrianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A satirical look at facebook? Yes, please.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's nothing to say about this book except that it's funny.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous, but a bit outdated now because of Facebook's constant changes.

[Iris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hoped it would be funnier, but I guess the main problem with it is that it's so outdated.