Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This essential book is a rallying cry for women to recognize and reject the ways social media is being weaponized against us -- and instead wield it to empower ourselves. Many women and girls are trying to unplug, from low-tech weekends to Instagram hiatuses and screen time alerts. But disconnecting from the influence of social media is way more complicated than deleting or restricting access to an app.
In Over the Influence, Kara Alaimo demonstrates how social media affects every aspect of women's lives -- from our relationships and our parenting to our physical and mental wellbeing. Over the Influence is a book about what it means to live in the world social media has wrought - whether you're constantly connected or have deleted your accounts forever. Alaimo shows why you're likely to get fewer followers if you're a woman. She explains how fake news is crafted to prey on women's vulnerabilities. And she reveals why so much of the content we find in our feeds is specifically designed to hold us back.
But we can change this. Alaimo offers up brilliant advice for how to get over the influence -- how to handle our daughters' use of social media, use apps to find the romantic partners we're looking for and bolster our careers, and protect ourselves from sextortionists, catfishers and trolls. Over the Influence calls on women to recognize and call out the subtle (and not-so-subtle) sexism, misogyny and misinformation we find online and use our platforms to empower ourselves and other women.
Synopsis
This essential book is a rallying cry for women to recognize and reject the ways social media is being weaponized against us -- and instead wield it to empower ourselves. In Over the Influence, communication professor and CNN Opinion contributor Kara Alaimo reveals how social media is affecting every aspect of the lives of women and girls--from our relationships and our parenting to our physical and mental well-being. Over the Influence is a book about what it means to live in the world social media has wrought--whether you're constantly connected or have deleted your accounts forever. Alaimo shows why you're likely to get fewer followers if you're a woman. She explains how fake news is crafted to prey on women's vulnerabilities. She reveals why so much of the content we find in our feeds is specifically designed to hold us back. And she explains how social media has made the offline world an uglier place for women.
But we can change this. Alaimo offers up brilliant advice for how to get over the influence--how to handle our daughters' use of social media, use dating apps to find the partners we're looking for, use social networks to bolster our careers, and protect ourselves from sextortionists, catfishers, and trolls. She also explains what we need to demand from lawmakers and tech companies.
Over the Influence calls on women to recognize and call out the subtle (and not-so-subtle) sexism and misogyny we find online, reject misinformation that is targeted to us because of our gender, and use our platforms to empower ourselves and other women.