This was a big help in helping me relate to my students. Through extensive research and interviews with college students, Freitas explores how the pressure to portray a perpetually happy and successful image online can lead to anxiety, depression, and a sense of disconnection. The book is both insightful and timely, offering a nuanced look at the double-edged sword of digital connectivity. Freitas' engaging writing and the authenticity of her subjects make this an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the profound impact of social media on young people’s mental health.

As someone who grew up with out social media, cell phones, dial up internet.... social media slowly encompassed my life, but I still remember my first cell phone I could only use after 9pm (free minutes) unless it was an absolute emergency. This is an overview over the attitude of students towards social media. I think for the most part is was interesting and makes you think what is the purpose of this social media platform. Personally it makes me want to get off of more of them.

I did not review this book on my blog as I try to avoid posting negative reviews publicly. I also didn't post a review on Amazon for the same reason. My disliked of the book comes largely from feeling like the research wasn't very thorough. Misuse of the words "Sex" and "gender" didn't help. Perhaps that is just a sign of the book being a bit dated, I don't know. It could benefit from an updated version with a better understanding of modern PC terms and understanding of sex and gender as well a better backed up research on the topic of the book itself.

I will keep my own opinion on the topic to myself as its not really relevant to my opinion of the book.

I'm from before all this technology came about. I don't have a Facebook, MySpace, etc... So i only know it as far as I hear or read about it. Yik Yak is a new on I am just going to have to look into... I think it's interesting to read and think maybe us grown ups, who put the stuff out there, are now worrying about how the kids use it or what it does to them. How it affects them. I am also sure the future will sort itself out. I'm not so convinced that what one can post to these sites can hurt your career. Given that many bosses are in the same age group (20-40) I am sure they have info they'd rather not have known, or no longer care. It's just change. Well researched book many will find interesting.

To start out with the obvious, any book like this or any book on technology is likely to be out of date by the time it is published. That's a big problem here. Also, the amount of research and quality, in-depth reporting and writing that is done on this topic in prominent media outlets with the most up to date studies and findings and interviews, renders a traditional book on this topic almost obsolete. That said, I did enjoy the writing and there was some useful information in here, just nothing that surprised me or felt truly original.

Well researched. I often worry about my kids who are growing up in the time of social media - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. I try really hard to be authentic in my social media posts but it's hard when it seems like everyone else's life is so "perfect". But I do disagree that it's at all costs. There has been the "keeping up with the Jones'" mentality for decades before social media but I think it amplifies it.

I have to admit that I did't read this book from cover to cover. It was interesting to dip into with some perspective to be gained on the force of social media. However as a British reader I did find this a very American point of view. Not a criticism as it's obviously written for that market our of USA research.

I wanted to enjoy this book more but I'm afraid it wasn't for me. An interesting concept and title that draws you in but I couldn't finish it.

When I was offered the chance to read this book I jumped at it! This, I thought is right up my alley! I’m studying Psychology at University at the moment and topics like this really interest me.

So perhaps this book could never live up to my expectation but I was really disappointed. It is a solid start to what seems to be an unfinished piece of research; I wanted so much more than page after page of interviews with college students and a little commentary.

To me this book seems to be missing it’s why! There was a lack of in depth discussion into why social media has it’s members gripped in a constant battle for perfection. It would give me a glimpse of reason and debate and then swiftly move onto the next interview. It feel more like a journal piece about a wider piece of research and it just feels like the author could’ve gone so much deeper than she has.

What I did love was the first hand conversation style of the book as it made the conversations feel more true to life rather than just summing up the interviews, which the author could’ve done but it’s so much better that she hasn’t.

I think if you have a passing interest in peoples behaviour and want to get straight into the nitty gritty of why we behave the way we do then I suggest this book isn’t for you. However, if you are looking for a great lecture hall tool to illustrate your points then this would be perfect!

Introduction

Nicholas Carr notes in his fantastic book The Shallows, “When people start debating (as they always do) whether the medium’s effects are good or bad, it’s the content they wrestle over.” This phenomenon is exactly what we see whenever the effects of social media are debated. But could there be something more going on? Could the medium itself be leading to harmful effects? In The Happiness Effect, Donna Freitas presents a strong argument that something more is going on, and she does it in a fascinating way.

Summary

The Happiness Effect is an interesting book in that the chapters are basically narrative transcripts of Freitas’ interviews she conducted at college campuses all over the country, interviews which were supplemented by a massive survey of college students on their habits and views of social media. There are twelve chapters with an appendix directed at parents and educators on how they can help young adults attain a more balanced and healthy relationship with social media. The topics covered include comparisons, keeping up an image, religion, sex and bullying, among others.

Critical Evaluation

The interviews with the students are fascinating. I got the overall sense that the students were searching for meaning as they tried to navigate this new social media reality, and many are struggling. They loathe the “24/7” nature of social media and smartphones; yet, they cannot get away from it. There seems to be an inevitability to social media that they cannot escape. Many of the students were able to articulate thoughtful critiques of the way they and their fellow students use social media. And yet, despite the thoughtful examination, they still fell prey to this “happiness effect.” They still felt the pressure to project an image of happiness and success.

Interestingly, those students that had the healthiest relationship with social media (in Freitas’ estimation) were those approaching social media from a Christian worldview. They saw social media as means by which they could share their faith, and this approach allowed them to be genuinely authentic. They could share their feelings more freely than most students, Freitas encountered. This approach to social media did not demoralize these students; rather, it “energized” them. While Freitas does not analyze her impression, I was encouraged by this. I know that the Christian worldview can subvert and redeem social media use. Christians have the resources to handle this new reality. When social media is seen in light of God and his gospel, all the temptations to maintain an image, to appear happy, and to stay connected 24/7 are undermined.

My main critique of this book is with the depth of Freitas’ analysis. Freitas seems to suggest that there’s nothing really wrong with the media; it’s that these young adults just haven’t been trained in it correctly. They’ve listened to reactive advice rather than proactive advice. If we simply used social media better, then things would be better. But is that true? It seems too easy. What if the media themselves value things that make for a perfect environment for the “happiness effect” to thrive? That’s a different question with a much different answer.

In the final chapter, she offers eight values for social media use (Vulnerability, Authenticity, Tolerance, Forgetting, Now, Play, Unplugging, Quitting). Each value she offers is helpful and worth putting into practice. It’s interesting that most of the values have to do with using social media less. While she does not come right out and say it, the healthy way to use social media is to use it sparingly (See the research in this recent article from the Atlantic). If the key to a healthy relationship with social media is using it less, then the “how” of social media isn’t the problem. The reactive advice that the younger generation has supposedly acted on from the older generation isn’t the problem. Perhaps, we must go deeper. Perhaps the medium itself values (and therefore encourages) certain behaviors and mindsets. I kept wanting Freitas to go there—to question the medium itself (she does so indirectly in her value of quitting). The evidence she presents is overwhelming. Social media and smartphones are making college students (and probably a lot of older people) unhappy. But she seems to have bought into the inevitability of the media. Everyone’s going to do it, might as well do it, right? Is that true? Is it possible to resist the tide smartphones and social media have unleashed? Marshall McLuhan, an early pioneer of media criticism, reminds us that it’s possible. He states, “There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening.”

Conclusion

The Happiness Effect is a fascinating read into how the younger generation thinks about social media. This book would be an excellent read for pastors. There is a whole generation out there searching for meaning, and they aren’t finding it in the online realms of social media. They find the task of keeping up an image burdensome. They are not happy even though they appear to be on social media. Preachers must understand that many young people coming to their churches are exhausted by keeping up an image. The question before us is, will we give them a gospel that frees them?

Social media is king, and we are its willing servants. While older folk (30+) were introduced to social media sometime in their late teens, there is a generation of people growing up in which a life without social media doesn’t exist. In Donna Freitas’s latest book, The Happiness Effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost (Oxford University Press), she examines what she dubs the “happiness effect” – the requirement to appear happy on social media regardless of what a person actually feels. While many might assume that millennials are self-centered and obsessed with posting their lives on social media, Freitas found that students don’t particularly enjoy the pressure of presenting the perfect version of themselves online. Some students spoke of a “chemical addiction” to getting “likes” and putting enormous amounts of effort into their posts in order to get attention; many students reluctantly found themselves basing their self-worth on their number of likes; and some said any negative feedback had the ability to “ruin their day.” Freitas’s book is an eye-opening piece of research that might cause you to reevaluate the role of social media in your life.

Interesting look at how in recent years the explosion of social media has changed society's perception of itself and its peers.

I knew I had to read this book as soon as I set my eyes on it for two reasons. One, I've always been fascinated by social media and how it affects us for better or for worse, and two, at the time this book went up on NetGalley I had already started thinking of my research for my final year at uni and this seemed to be a good starting point to dig deeper into something I've always been interested in. In fact, I even did a project in high school loosely based on how technology affects kids of this generation where I explored the effects of social media too. So once I set my eyes on this there was no way I'd have let this pass, and when I got approved to read and review this book on NetGalley, I was over the moon.

However, due to TBR problems and what not, I couldn't get to this as soon as I would have liked, and I've been quite caught up with lots of things these days and me picking this book up got delayed and delayed until early this week when I realized it was high time I read it. Even though my research topic for uni ultimately changed to something else, I still was incredibly excited to delve into this.

In The Happiness Effect, Donna Freitas draws attention to what's most important when it comes to social media- the real issues faced by those using them. Not the attention-grabbing, clickbait-worthy headlines propagated on a daily basis. The author sheds light on all sorts of issues faced by young adults in this book, backing everything with research done on students of college campuses. While this research is based on the US, it's largely relevant to anyone and everyone who finds their time consumed by social media. This book provides enough food for thought that you'd find yourself questioning everything you do on social media and thinking about how you're unwittingly letting it all affect you in ways you never imagined.

This research has brought forth something very interesting indeed: the importance of appearing happy on social media. The "happiness effect" that's mentioned in the title is what the author describes as the tendency of people, especially students in this case, to become masters of appearing happy, at significant cost. Social media has produced a world where everyone feels pressurized to present the best virtual presentations of themselves, oft obsessively, in a quest to be "Liked." The author has presented various point of views of students and how they feel social media has made them behave online, and it's quite very surprising to note that many actually do feel they have been made to put up facades to convince their "audiences" that all is always well. In the words of one of the students,

"People share the best version of themselves, and we compare that to the worst version of ourselves."

How true this is! This is something I've noticed on a personal level, and however aware I am of it, I still haven't been able to resist comparing myself to what I see online at times. It was incredibly fascinating to read about various students and their individual struggles dealing with this on a daily basis. The author notes a significant common theme in most social media users: the need for one to carefully craft, cultivate, and curate public profiles at all times. The author has also done a great job at explaining how the pressure to appear happy all the time can even warp how students see themselves, as successes or failures.

Various other topics are explored, including but not limited to, the professionalization of Facebook, "the Selfie Generation", expressing religious and political views online and the effect of religiousness on social media usage, racism and misogyny on social media, sexting and the hookup culture, anonymity, bullying, and smartphones. The author also talks to students on how and why they take timeouts from social media and how this helps them, and ultimately provides tips and suggestions on how we can step back and rethink about the effect social media has on our capacity to be vulnerable. In this gem of a book, Donna Freitas manages to present to us an unbiased look at how social media has changed all our lives to a great extent in such a small span of time, and it's definitely a must-read for all of us who spend a significant amount of our time online.

Reviewed online in conjunction with several other titles; here is relevant section:
THE HAPPINESS EFFECT by Donna Freitas (2/1, Oxford UP) is subtitled "How social media is driving a generation to appear perfect at any cost" which is clearly a high interest topic for our students and faculty. Unfortunately, this book seems to be geared more to parents and takes an overly serious, scholarly tone. Freitas, a researcher affiliated with the University of Notre Dame and Hofstra University , says, "in our constant attempts to edit out our imperfections for massive public viewing, we are losing site of the things that ground our life in connection and love, in meaning and relationships." She bases her work on a survey and college student interviews which are liberally quoted.

Thanks to NetGalley for this review copy!

Social media is all around us, whether we like it or not. No matter where you go, you will see people constantly checking their phones, taking selfies, or updating their Facebook status. I am one of those people who have spent a few minutes looking at my feed and thinking, “Everyone looks so happy – what am I doing wrong?”

I’m doing nothing wrong. I’m of a generation where I don’t feel pressure to put on a happy face to my peers. I don’t worry about what a potential employer might think of me, based on my social media output. For a change, I feel happy to not be a college student or a Millennial. The pressure (both internal and external) that this generation is under is immense. There is nowhere to hide, nowhere to truly “be yourself” – because the whole world is watching.

The author interviewed a wide sampling of college students around the United States and put together their thoughts in this thought provoking book. Most of the interviewees spoke of selecting the best moments to share on FB, while saving the gossip and melancholy thoughts for sites that encourage anonymous postings. I learned about a site called Yik Yak, where there are no identities, and no boundaries. I also learned that when some students took a self-imposed “holiday” from their cellphones, it was like a vacation. They spoke of truly being in the moment, rather than recording it for their wall.

There was a chapter on relationships, and how students felt about hookup sites like Tinder. In an interesting juxtaposition to this theory by Simon Sinek (click here for video), Freitas notes that college students are very capable of socializing and meeting people, having complete and meaningful conversations with each other, and being empathetic. When they are around their friends, they don’t become awkward and seek to lose themselves in technology; they interact and communicate like any other generation. Sinek, on the other hand, claims that Millennials and future generations will be unable to communicate face to face, due to their smartphone addiction.

For me, the best part of the book was the last 2 chapters, where the author fleshes out her theories and explains her thought process. I support her suggestions of wi-fi free zones, and professors requiring a basket for cellphone “parking” during classes. I also applauded the inclusion of different races and religions, providing needed diversity and showing the reader how circumstances were different from one person to another.

The interviews were informative, and sometimes shocking, but at times they became repetitive and clogged the flow of information. Perhaps if she organized the book differently, it would have been a bit shorter. She did summarize each chapter at the end, while allowing the thoughts and quotes from each interviewee to illustrate her theories.

One thought that kept occurring to me was how happy I was to be older in today’s world, as I mentioned before. It’s a shame that technology has become such a big part in our lives; I can only hope the human race does not become lost.

I think this book covers a lot of interesting topics and it carries an important message too, it makes you wonder for what purposes do you use social media. Are we trying to appear perfect on social media at any cost? Also, it was interesting to read about how Muslim girls and Orthodox Jews use social media.

However, I only rated this book as 3 stars because I didn't feel like I was in the target group of this book. I felt like this was written for parents whose children spend a lot of time on social media and by someone who is clearly older and sees this topic as an outsider to social media, not an insider. And that made it a bit annoying. It made teens and young people in general seem like we are anxious and insecure (like that's anything new) and I think even if it somehow explained how it's all necessary, it did it in a negative tone.

With a subtitle like "How Social Media is Driving a Generation To Appear Perfect At Any Cost", how could I not request this book from NetGalley?

Based on interviews with many students across campuses in America, The Happiness Effect looks at social media and topics like:

- The importance of being 'Liked'

- The Professionalisation of Facebook

- Selfies

- Religion on (and Off) social media

- Anonymity (like Yik Yak)

- Bullying

- Facebook official

- Smartphones

- Taking a Timeout

and so on. It's mostly a collection of interviews, so the voices of the students really shine through.

For me, I really loved this book. A lot of what it says rings true. It is, however, very country-specific. For example, most of my Singaporean friends on 'Facebook' don't seem to do the 'Professionalism' thing, while it's the total opposite in Japan. In Japan, Facebook is like LinkedIn. It seems to be the same in America, where Facebook and Twitter are considered 'Professional'. On the other hand, it seems like Twitter is to Japan what Snapchat is to America.

So the book may not be very relevant once you're out of America. Still, it is fairly relevant, because we are getting more and more dependent on smartphones. And the chapter of anonymity and how people start refraining from giving the unpopular opinion reminded me why some people use apps Dayre - because it provides a greater level of anonymity than Facebook (though of course, it is not totally anonymous. But that is probably related to a discussion of Networked Privacy).
"Our devices and our compulsive posting and checking are helping us flee ourselves."
I actually agree a lot with this quote. I've been very restless lately, and I realise that I pick up my smartphone whenever my brain doesn't want to engage. While I don't post much, I do lurk a lot, and that's not a good thing. It is time for me to add a bit more of intentional stillness into my life.

Ok, this is a rather disjointed review, but I wanted to end with this quote:
"What I have called the happiness effect throughout his book - the requirement to appear happy on social media regardless of what a person actually feels - is an effect of our own making. We are the ones who have created this problem. Young adults have internalised the lesson that if you want say anything happy, you shouldn't say anything at all, even if you feel despair, dismay, anger, or any number of other emotions common to human experience, from us."
This book isn't out yet, but I think that if you're at all interested in thinking about social media, you should definitely get it once it's published.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

When I first saw this book, I was very interested in the topic. I was lucky to receive an ARC on NetGalley. This book deals with social media and its effect on people, centered around college aged students. Freitas has surveyed and interviewed college students on thirteen college campuses across the United States and asked questions about anything from sexting to relationships to faith to addiction to their smart phones. As and educator and a mother, I have often wondered if the interactions with social media that I notice are as harmful as it can sometimes seem. College students are really the first generation has "no precedent for a life lived and celebrated and picked apart on a virtual scale." This book made some really interesting points and observations. I especially enjoyed the chapter about faith.
This book has a ton of good information to take in. I think it is a great book for anyone who works with students or has children who are interacting with social media. There are lots of great ethical questions that are brought up regarding what the long term implications of social media are.