Born to Be Liked: Living on Facebook

Journalist Oriani’s hilarious gimlet-eyed view of the Facebook phenomenon starts with a look at the range of emotions that a first-time user may feel (“Checking your notifications every 30 seconds for the next 10 hours will turn you into a psychopath before dinner”). Then, in the book’s funniest and most sharply observed section, he describes more than 20 of the most basic and common “Facebook types” that users encounter, including the Newscaster (“They have a compelling urge to communicate to the rest of the world their every single action from the moment they wake up to their late night farewell”) and the 24/7 Healer of the World (who “can make you feel guilty about a remarkable number of issues”). Oriani also amusingly details the many meanings that a “like” can have (“I like your status updates in the hope that you will help me with my doomed project that I obsess over night and day”). To anchor the humor, he includes some fascinating interviews with experts on social media as well as some typical users, who give more serious and illuminating observations on Facebook and “why we can’t live without it anymore.” (BookLife)