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Never Logged Out: How the Internet Created India's Gen Z
One day we logged on to the internet, and then we never logged out.
On 15 August 1995, India officially logged on to the internet. If you're a young Indian today, you come from a generation that used to dream of the endless possibilities that came with having the world at our fingertips, and now must cope with its realities. India's Gen Z is inextricably tied to the internet – connected in more ways
than one. To understand one, you must understand the other.
From the quiet potential of the early internet to Bollywood's clumsy depictions of youth culture, from tote bags and trending aesthetics to anonymous hate and viral fame, from Ask.fm to AI, Never Logged Out by 'extremely online' Gen Z writer Ria Chopra tries to make sense of her generation and how they love, shop,
and live on the internet.
In eight essays, each posing questions about selfhood, love, memory, privacy, anonymity, knowledge, fame, and ambition, Never Logged Out interrogates how the internet makes and breaks this generation. Fresh, funny, and startlingly insightful, Ria weaves together personal anecdotes, cultural commentary, and a sharp understanding of her generation and the world today into a first-of-its-kind book about the experience of growing up on, with, and because of the Indian internet.
On 15 August 1995, India officially logged on to the internet. If you're a young Indian today, you come from a generation that used to dream of the endless possibilities that came with having the world at our fingertips, and now must cope with its realities. India's Gen Z is inextricably tied to the internet – connected in more ways
than one. To understand one, you must understand the other.
From the quiet potential of the early internet to Bollywood's clumsy depictions of youth culture, from tote bags and trending aesthetics to anonymous hate and viral fame, from Ask.fm to AI, Never Logged Out by 'extremely online' Gen Z writer Ria Chopra tries to make sense of her generation and how they love, shop,
and live on the internet.
In eight essays, each posing questions about selfhood, love, memory, privacy, anonymity, knowledge, fame, and ambition, Never Logged Out interrogates how the internet makes and breaks this generation. Fresh, funny, and startlingly insightful, Ria weaves together personal anecdotes, cultural commentary, and a sharp understanding of her generation and the world today into a first-of-its-kind book about the experience of growing up on, with, and because of the Indian internet.
234 pages, Paperback
Published December 2, 2025
45 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 18, 2025
I’ve been wanting to read this ever since i heard ria was publishing a book, as someone who is chronically online the book had a lot of aspects i could relate to (or have lived through) it also allowed me to think more consciously about what the internet as a tool has meant and will mean to me
Alsooo right balance of anecdotal and informational content, might re-read!
Alsooo right balance of anecdotal and informational content, might re-read!
December 26, 2025
Really loved this!! Read non-fiction after quite a while.. it is worth it.
What I liked about this book was that it was well researched, but the how to connect those outcomes of research was well thought, it wasn't just blindly aligning to them, but was thought through by the author. I follow her on instagram, and usually like her writings and reels on that, but this book gave me even more insight into how she thinks.
The best part about it was how she nudges us to think about the questions that matter!
What I liked about this book was that it was well researched, but the how to connect those outcomes of research was well thought, it wasn't just blindly aligning to them, but was thought through by the author. I follow her on instagram, and usually like her writings and reels on that, but this book gave me even more insight into how she thinks.
The best part about it was how she nudges us to think about the questions that matter!
December 22, 2025
when this becomes an international bestseller and classic, i’ll know i called it in the first month of its release. I don’t have any other way to put this but for years i have wanted to read this very book but it simply did not exist. And now it does. @riachops is going places and i’ve known it since her twitter threads days. Thank you for writing this and sharing it with the world :)
December 16, 2025
As a girl who logged on to the internet at 12 years old and has had the privilege of growing up on the internet, the lore behind certain niche things hits so close to home. I have seen the rise of some mega youtubers and have been there for their irrelevance era, have watched trends come and go, certainly bought something just for the sake of it and have fallen down the rabbit hole of quora, reddit or tumblr oh so often. The thesis of each essay was easy to follow and the thread tying it all together was so beautiful, the aspect of having grown on the internet sometimes makes me feel crass but at the same time it does feel like a huge part of my life, so reading this and understanding from a analytical and philosophical lens made me feel a tiny bit better that I AM THE INDIAN GENZ SHAPED BY THE INDIAN INTERNET.
December 10, 2025
While I am not Gen Z, half my life has been on the internet, and this book made me realise how much that experience has shaped who I am today and how it will continue to influence who I become. It also reminded me to be cautious about how the online world tries to slot us into predetermined lists and checkboxes. On the internet, you are always a target audience for someone, and your value to them depends on how neatly you fit into the categories they have created.
When you never truly log out, your life becomes a performance for others, and every past moment stays preserved for anyone to revisit.
It makes you wonder how often the labels the internet places on people begin to feel true simply because they are repeated, and how easily those simplified versions start to replace who they really are.
When you never truly log out, your life becomes a performance for others, and every past moment stays preserved for anyone to revisit.
It makes you wonder how often the labels the internet places on people begin to feel true simply because they are repeated, and how easily those simplified versions start to replace who they really are.
December 15, 2025
so cool. never have I ever read something that romanticized a topic so awesomely and also educated me a lot about it. the vocab and the quirky sentences. fab. so fun. so beaut. so unputdownable. oof.
December 23, 2025
Never Logged Out is a title I immediately loved. The more you sit with it, the truer it feels. It brought to mind that iconic line from Hotel California—“You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.” Though originally about drugs, it feels uncannily apt for the internet. In a world where even my toaster needs an internet connection, being online is no longer a luxury or a choice; it has become a necessity we’re all forced to live with.
The book is fast-paced—almost deceptively so. I often had to consciously slow myself down because I found myself reading too quickly, carried along by the rhythm of the writing. I especially loved the way the author weaves in quotes from others between pages; they add texture and pause, allowing the ideas to breathe.
The range of topics the author takes on is impressive, and many of them linger long after you’ve finished reading. The point about our growing over-reliance on ratings, in particular, is one I know I’ll be thinking about for a while. Each chapter feels like a sharp, interesting short essay, making the book highly readable and engaging.
That said, the chapter My Bag felt a bit scattered. It begins strongly with ideas around identity and consumption, then shifts to planned obsolescence, and finally to sweatshops. Just when it feels like the author is about to reinforce a central argument, the focus changes. Each of these themes is important, but together they dilute the impact. A tighter focus around one central idea would have made the chapter far more powerful.
Overall, Never Logged Out is a compelling, thought-provoking read that captures the uneasy reality of our permanently connected lives, one that we may occasionally want to escape, but can never truly log out of.
The book is fast-paced—almost deceptively so. I often had to consciously slow myself down because I found myself reading too quickly, carried along by the rhythm of the writing. I especially loved the way the author weaves in quotes from others between pages; they add texture and pause, allowing the ideas to breathe.
The range of topics the author takes on is impressive, and many of them linger long after you’ve finished reading. The point about our growing over-reliance on ratings, in particular, is one I know I’ll be thinking about for a while. Each chapter feels like a sharp, interesting short essay, making the book highly readable and engaging.
That said, the chapter My Bag felt a bit scattered. It begins strongly with ideas around identity and consumption, then shifts to planned obsolescence, and finally to sweatshops. Just when it feels like the author is about to reinforce a central argument, the focus changes. Each of these themes is important, but together they dilute the impact. A tighter focus around one central idea would have made the chapter far more powerful.
Overall, Never Logged Out is a compelling, thought-provoking read that captures the uneasy reality of our permanently connected lives, one that we may occasionally want to escape, but can never truly log out of.
December 11, 2025
I began following Ria on Instagram earlier this year after coming across some of her reels, e.g. the origin of the word 'Paparazzi', the joys of having a diverse friend group, etc. I liked the way she expressed her thoughts and was really excited to see how it translates into writing in this book. I got exactly what I hoped for, and I'm really happy I got to read this!
Never Logged Out has a lot of strengths - I love the range of topics, from relationships on social media to knowledge/the idea of knowing with the internet to the portrayal of internet/social media use in recent Hindi cinema. I especially enjoyed the moments when Ria put in her own anecdotes about various aspects of growing up with the internet. As a young millenial or a very old Gen-Z (based on which definition you take), it was also really relatable. The more information-based passages in the book were nicely integrated and didn't feel too dense. I also especially loved that this book didn't just give me information but actually left me raising questions about my own use of the internet and its impact on how I think - something that I had never really thought about too deeply before.
If I had to suggest any improvements, I would probably just say that I would have liked some discussions to be even more developed, and have read more of Ria's opinions, criticisms, and predictions on the various aspects of Gen-Z behaviour with the internet. But hopefully there will be more books to come in the future!
Never Logged Out has a lot of strengths - I love the range of topics, from relationships on social media to knowledge/the idea of knowing with the internet to the portrayal of internet/social media use in recent Hindi cinema. I especially enjoyed the moments when Ria put in her own anecdotes about various aspects of growing up with the internet. As a young millenial or a very old Gen-Z (based on which definition you take), it was also really relatable. The more information-based passages in the book were nicely integrated and didn't feel too dense. I also especially loved that this book didn't just give me information but actually left me raising questions about my own use of the internet and its impact on how I think - something that I had never really thought about too deeply before.
If I had to suggest any improvements, I would probably just say that I would have liked some discussions to be even more developed, and have read more of Ria's opinions, criticisms, and predictions on the various aspects of Gen-Z behaviour with the internet. But hopefully there will be more books to come in the future!
December 22, 2025
I wanted to read this book primarily because I saw that a chapter of it was based on Ask FM, a social media site that blew up when I was a teen. I enjoyed the general ideas in every chapter, but felt that the material had more of a “research paper” vibe than I liked.
The book talks about how India’s Gen Z has been shaped by the Internet - the idea that one day, we logged on to the Internet - and then never logged out. This is particularly true when I think about my childhood and early adulthood - lots of my thought processes and ideas have been moulded by various types of social media: Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, YouTube. There were more niche ones like Club Penguin and Ask FM, but on the whole, internet culture played a big part in both how my friends and I perceived the world and how we were perceived.
I think overall the author did a good job, because each essay made me think.
The book talks about how India’s Gen Z has been shaped by the Internet - the idea that one day, we logged on to the Internet - and then never logged out. This is particularly true when I think about my childhood and early adulthood - lots of my thought processes and ideas have been moulded by various types of social media: Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, YouTube. There were more niche ones like Club Penguin and Ask FM, but on the whole, internet culture played a big part in both how my friends and I perceived the world and how we were perceived.
I think overall the author did a good job, because each essay made me think.
December 25, 2025
This book feels like an intellectual conversation with a best friend about the internet - makes you laugh, throws in a pop culture reference, brings up nostalgia, feels vulnerable and definitely, makes you think.
The beauty of the book lies in the structure through which the author views the internet - selfhood, love, memory, privacy, anonymity, knowledge, fame, and ambition. In my opinion, this also provides us a framework through which we can reflect upon our internet journey, interaction and persona.
A much needed book that provides a snapshot of the relationship we have with internet right now. Personally this book has helped me get back into non-fiction. Looking forward to more books from the author Ria
The beauty of the book lies in the structure through which the author views the internet - selfhood, love, memory, privacy, anonymity, knowledge, fame, and ambition. In my opinion, this also provides us a framework through which we can reflect upon our internet journey, interaction and persona.
A much needed book that provides a snapshot of the relationship we have with internet right now. Personally this book has helped me get back into non-fiction. Looking forward to more books from the author Ria
December 14, 2025
I devoured this book in a week. Have been following Ria’s work for quite a few years now. Her blogs, reels and tidbits are all over my echo chamber. This book felt like a memoir on behalf of my entire generation, Gen Z that is. It is so well researched and keeps you hooked because of the so many pop culture references and things that entice us.
I feel so happy to have read this for now I have a better perception about the internet, aka life itself.
I feel so happy to have read this for now I have a better perception about the internet, aka life itself.
December 25, 2025
4.5
I usually don't read non fiction but Ria Chopra talks about too many interesting things for me to not read it
I usually don't read non fiction but Ria Chopra talks about too many interesting things for me to not read it
December 26, 2025
read it as someone who wanted to learn, explore and witness the world through Ria's eyes. absolutely enjoyed every bit of it and the new rabbit holes i delved into while reading
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews