She quotes comments from real Facebook posts to authentically and convincingly illustrate the points she makes. Being an addiction psychiatrist, Dr Flores is in her own domain when she skillfully analyses the many negative effects use of social media may have on the human mind and behaviour. If you don’t have an account, you are saved! That’s what Dr Flores seems to mean here.Īlthough Facehooked deals specifically with the problem of addictive behaviour generated by Facebook and the fallout of such addictions, much of what It says about the negative effect of Facebook applies to other social media. So, if you are on Facebook, voluntarily limit the time you spend there. You can’t be a John Gielgud and act on stage while your eyes remain glued to the screen of your ipad or smartphone. You can’t play the violin, write a novel or paint a picture while interacting with your Facebook friends. Most of the activities that make us humans and help to separate us from other animals are to be done solitarily - in silence.

Yet that’s a reality now, perhaps that virtual existence is more real than our real lives? If you think otherwise, read this book. So, it is inexplicable how so many of us get addicted to their virtual lives and virtual identities. But is it the same when it happens in a virtual medium? Every sane person will and should have doubts.

Social interaction is good and healthy in real life. Dr Suzana Flores’s book vindicated the worst fears of this reviewer.

Facehooked by Suzana E. Flores