99 Reasons Why Everyone Hates Facebook by Emmet Purcell

Alright Facebook anti-fans, Emmet Purcell is here with a book of 99 reasons why the Facebook of 2013 isn't as good as it once was. And no, this isn't a list of 99 witty one-liners, it's a collection of short sections grouped into chapters. It reminds me of a blog (is there a blog? I would love to read it!)

99 Reasons is a fun, and occasionally thoughtful look into why Facebook evokes complaints - yet still keeps its users. From things like how you have to friend certain people, to Timeline and yes, even Graph Search, this is one of the most up-to-date accounts of Facebook.

I don't agree with all of his reasons (for example, I love Instagram!), but I do agree with his status-section. In particular, the one about self-pitying/emo statuses. I've always thought that anyone who posts a "my life is terrible/I'll never be happy/etc" status than says "oh, you don't understand" or "I don't want to talk about it" is just clamouring for emotion. But that's just me. My statuses all have pictures and are generally "I've just done this!"

I mean, I could post something like "I don't understand why everyone's version of my love life is more interesting than mine sob sob sob" but what would that achieve? I'm not giving details to anyone but my closest friends! And I don't need more interrogations when I actually return to Singapore. So I don't bother posting stuff like this.

Yet while this book mostly rants about the terrible side of Facebook, the author admits that he's still on it. He calls Google+ a ghost town (twice), and while I disagree, I guess it's because he hasn't found a way to actively engage the awesome users here. (I really believe in the Google+ for interests, Facebook for friends thing)

And although I call this "rant" (to be fair, the author calls it a rant too!), the writing style is anything but hateful. It's actually very funny (I don't dare to think of how what kind of impression I made laughing to myself), and it made me see the humour in the things that annoy me.

While I'm still going to be on Facebook (it's how most people make sure I'm still alive - and a lot easier than skyping every day), it's nice to know that there are people who share my complaints with Facebook.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.