Review of Superbloom by Nicholas Carr
This book really fucked me up.
I've long thought that I've grown up in a uniquely interesting time in regards to the digital age, as when I was attending middle school Facebook started to replace and supplement much social interaction. This book took that perception of mine to the tenth power. When friction is removed from communication (as it has been with phones, texting, social media, etc.) there are real consequences. I used to think I was bad at texting. I could never determine tone from someone else's text and had a hard time coming across the way I intended over text. After reading this book, I realized that it's not that I'm bad at texting, it's that texting is bad at me. Texting strips down what I initialize as a cohesive thought with tone and rhythm of delivery and sends it to someone instantly. When the medium is the message and the medium is a text, what am I really trying to get across?
That revelation is just one of many that I had while reading this book. I recommend it to anyone who has struggled or felt anxious with any type social media (of which I'd argue there are more than the products of the few companies that come to mind initially). It's a book I will definitely be returning to as I reevaluate how I communicate with others.