10 Books To Get Your Chronically Online Bestie
A perfectly crafted list for your chronically online bestie whose screen time is 10+ hours a day
Photo by Nick Fancher
There comes a time in every chronically online person’s life when you become self-aware of just how much the Internet has burned a hole in your attention span. You realise that social media has pulled you into an Inception-style metaverse wherein even your algorithm is showing you videos about what social media is doing to your psyche.
When this sort of reverse-Nirvana is reached, it may be time for a change of medium, but not necessarily of topic. Mass culture has become meta as well, and much of contemporary literature is seeking to dissect the internet, and even mimic its formatting. As such, we’ve curated a repertoire of books your chronically online friends may not only enjoy, but desperately need, ranging from anthropological discourses, a novel, theories of love and anxiety, and even a Wattpad-esque collection of fragments detailing the sexual fantasies of various women, compiled by the woman who played Margaret Thatcher in The Crown, of all people.
Should We Go Extinct?: A Philosophical Dilemma for Our Unbearable Times
by Todd May
Replace doom scrolling with doom reading! Todd May, renowned philosopher and advisor to NBC’s The Good Place, navigates anthropocentric discourses, realistically and pessimistically, in an assessment of the most pressing contemporary dilemma: Would the world be better off without us?
Want
by Gillian Anderson
With Want, acclaimed actress Gillian Anderson (The X-Files, The Crown) takes a page out of her Sex Education Character, outspoken sex therapist Gene Milburn’s, book. It is a collection of anonymous letters from women all over the world, detailing their sexual fantasies. NSFW but a great bedtime read, if you know what I mean. This addictive read is a generation-defining book, and, if your screen time is upwards of 10 hours, the likelihood that you’re fucking is already low, so this is a great substitute <3
All About Love: New Visions
by Bell Hooks
Everyone and their dads (actually the world might be a better place if the latter of those was true) has heard of this book. In typical Bell Hooks fashion, it was astoundingly ahead of its time and has thus gained quite a lot of traction on the Internet in recent years, and for good reason. Hooks offers radical new ways of thinking about love and interconnectedness in our private and public lives, constructing visions that should be required reading for all.
The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality
by Amanda Montell
Prone to overthinking? Probably due to too much doomscrolling, but no judgment; I’ve had my fair share of Reddit-induced panic attacks, as I’m sure every chronically online girly has. Emma Ginsberg of Everygirl media group said this book pulled her out of a year-long Internet spiral, so if your friend has been complaining about spending too much time online this might be the book for them. Amanda Montell explores the cognitive biases that shape our actions, and how these biases impact our daily lives in an era of information overload.
The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation
by Cory Doctorow
This one is for the chronically online besties who deal with anxiety well since this book is sure to make your brain spiral as Cory Doctorow dives into how we lost control of our digital spaces. As John Walters put it, it’s a “horror story of American corporate thinking”—doesn’t that sound like a great read?
Doppelganger: A Trip Into The Mirror World
by Naomi Klein
In Doppelganger, Canadian writer Naomi Klein offers an insightful and subtle exploration of contemporary global politics through a shakedown of the most surreal parts of modern life, fusing memoir and political analysis to situate her and her worldview in her intellectual and social milieu.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**
by Mark Manson
This is a classic; I don’t need to sell you on it. You and I both know your bestie that spends 3 days putting together the perfect Instagram dump probably needs to learn to not give so much of a fuck. But you didn’t hear that from me.
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion
by Jia Tolentino
I love a collection of essays, and Jia Tolentino went above and beyond with Trick Mirror. The book comprises nine essays on an array of topics, including Internet culture, marriage, scams, and contemporary feminism. It hits every topic that you’ll usually encounter if you spend 10 minutes scrolling your For You page—but it’s a book, so it makes you feel productive.
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy
by Jenny Odell
All our online besties loveeeee to stick it to the man, and Jenny Odell is right there with us! In How To Do Nothing, Odell delivers an action plan to resist capitalist narratives of productivity and techno-determinism, showing how we can become more meaningfully connected to each other in the process.
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
by John Green
Everyone who grew up in the golden age of the Internet, aka the Tumblr days, recognizes the name John Green (he had every tween in a chokehold). And yes, we’re talking about the same John Green who wrote The Fault In Our Stars. However, instead of a tragic teenage love story, this book of essays offers a beautiful, timely collection of musings on the human condition.