How to Stay Safe Online: A digital self-care toolkit for developing resilience and allyship

by Seyi Akiwowo

A powerful, comprehensive guide for digital self-care and allyship from a leading activist for online equality

Digital spaces are a positive force for change, connection and community, but left unregulated, they are not always safe. Globally, women are 27 times more likely than men to be harassed online. This is worse for Black women who are 84% more likely to face online abuse than white women. There has been a 71% rise in online disability abuse and 78% of LGBTQ+ people have experienced hate speech online.

How to Stay Safe Online will teach you how to spot, respond to and proactively defend yourself from online abuse and learn how to be a good ally to those experiencing it. An urgent and necessary digital self-care tool, this book will help you to support victims and empower friends, teachers, parents and willing allies to help make online spaces safer.

With a blend of practical advice, Seyi's personal experiences and interviews with Jameela Jamil, Hera Hussain, Gabby Jahanshahi-Edlin, Laura Bates, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Luciana Berger, How to Stay Safe Online
This will be the go-to guide to developing resilience, greater compassion for others and authentic allyship online.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Technology

256 pages, Paperback

Published June 20, 2023

Reviews

[Yasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much recommended for everyone (who engages in the online world).

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant and eye opening book. So articulate and so well researched and I really appreciate Seyi for being upfront and honest about her own trauma and negative experiences. I already see the positive effects that this book and that Glitch overall have had on online spaces and it inspired me to start posting on my public accounts again after experiencing the phrase that Seyi coined "Online Misogynoir".

So glad Glitch exists and Im excited for its future.

[K UMEH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seyi's approach is grounded in an incredible level of candor and courage in sharing her story, making this work incredibly powerful. The text is filled with many "aha" moments that challenge conventional thinking about online protection.

Crucially, the book doesn't just diagnose the problem; it provides actionable solutions that are immediately useful for practical personal applications and overall well-being.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in protecting their presence online, from individual users seeking better boundaries to professionals needing a robust framework for digital risk assessment.

[Stephany Efflina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to me to decide whether I want to give 4-stars or 5-stars for the rating of this book. However, I give 5-stars because the book gives detail topics and explanations related to online abuse and how to be safe in the online world. I hope people can read this book and be the good ally.

[Madalene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book of tips about how to make the world both a better place for all online, as well as how to protect yourself from the toxic behavior that exists currently there. However, like "The Chaos Machine", it doesn't seem likely that the people who most need to read this book will.

[Rachel Tripp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this readable, and vital book to anyone who uses the internet which in effect means it is a must-read for almost everyone.
The author combines her personal experience of abuse with in-depth knowledge of the sector to create a book that is as accessible as it is important. Acknowledging and calmly taking apart such common advice as ‘just block them’ or ‘don’t go online’, she is ambitious and fearless in her demands of the tech companies who profit from abuse, as much as she is kind and honest about the real impact that online abuse has on real people.
The intersectional lens makes this book rightly challenging, and it does not let any of us off, while somehow also having the comforting feel of a knowledgeable big sister who takes you out for a hot chocolate to dispense some tough love: she has seen it all, she knows you and loves you, and wants both you and the world to do better.