I actually didn't enjoy this book, and found it a bit disappointing.

It felt like I was reading Emma’s blog posts or a series of magazine article’s.

This gave me a lot to think about with how I connect on social media and in the digital space. Also how much time I spend connected daily.

While I was already thinking about these things this book gave me a lot more to ponder.


See myself coming back to this title as I continue to monitor and think about my connections.

As a social media obsessed person this book was life changing. Would highly suggest to anyone else who realizes they need to disconnect.

Social media is destroying our world and until we recognize that there's nothing that can be done about it. This book needs to be read by everyone. The other purposes of social media probably started out with good intentions they have devastated so many parts of our world. Just in how we speak to each other alone. In the mere fact that we don't speak to each other anymore unless it's absolutely necessary. There is no such thing as dating other than online dating. I Do not like this disconnected world we live in and I think this book has some real excellent insights into what has happened and what we can do to move forward. Dear readers, for the good of all, disconnect from your phone so you can connect to a real and more honest life. We need the art of social life back. Crippling social anxiety was not much of a thing back in the day. It was just part of life, dealing with people. And I miss it. Thank you #netgalley for allowing me to read this excellent book and I hope everybody gets a copy at some point in their life.

This nonfiction audiobook, Disconnected, gives listeners an insight into lack of connection in a world that is constantly connected through technology. Focusing primarily on social media, Gannon gives an informative and thoughtful discussion without being persuasive or condescending. Instead, her advice is gentle and evidence based, while giving you tips and support towards creating a new and more balanced relationship with your devices.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to listen to and review this audiobook.

As a stay at home I often feel like I use social media and my phone too much, especially after the lockdowns over the last few years.

This audio book gave lots of insights and really made me think more about my social media use. I recommend listening to this to help you spend more time offline!

This book was just what I needed! As I'm gearing up to do a digital detox in the month of July, this book helped me with the reason why I'm doing it.

It made me reflect on my social media time and the time I'm sitting and staring at my phone.

I would've liked this book better as a physical book so I could've taken notes and reread sections.

Find yourself sucked into social media? Hours of mindless scrolling? This book has great advice for anybody who has found themselves using the internet/social media too much. There is great hints and tips to disconnect, and what I liked about them the most is that they are feasible suggestions that anyone could implement.

This book made me realize how social media creates an illusion of being well-connected when in fact it can make one feel so disconnected, alone, and lonely.

As a teacher in the new normal educational setting, social media is one of the portals I use to connected with my students. It also serves as an alternative learning management system because it's free, accessible to students, and easy to navigate. But it also has its downsides. My students are easoly distracted and has short retention span. I also experience the same. Added to this, misinformation is rampant in social media sites.

This book gave me ideas through helpful and precise prompts that will enable me to reflect and focus on how I use social media, the Internet in general, to my advantage. Added to this, the author also presented a lot of helpful ideas to make social media work for us and not against us. At the end of each chapter is a journal or writing activity that I am sure my students will enjoy too.

In <i>Disconnected</i>, Emma Gannon acknowledges that it is not possible to completely disengage from the internet and specifically social media. However, she does look at how to keep it from bringing down your quality of life. She includes tips on stepping away from our phone and engaging in the “real” world and has prompts for the reader to reflect on their own social media usage.

I like that the author narrated her own audiobook. I think that there are a lot of people out there who will be able to relate to the points this book is making; however, I wasn’t one of them. I would say the book is mainly aimed at millennials, as Emma tackles the issues of always being connected from her own personal experience, which is likely to be different from younger people’s experience. The prompts would have been better at the end of each chapter instead of in the middle.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

I'm always excited about content (ugh this word) that deals with being online and reshaping our online ecosystems. I was quite intrigued because the book seemed to recognize that we each have a unique experience on the internet and was seeking to address how we get the best out of it.
Anything that does not immediately say "Internet. BAD. Go outside and SMELL the roses" is a perspective i want to hear about!
It did however spend a lot of time doing exactly that. I did like the exploration into how humans have always wanted display things they like - be it above their fireplace in stone huts or on Instagram. Wanting our display to be lauded is just something social media has thrown into the mix.
The book steers far from a deep dive though. It can be called an elongated essay, maybe.

I listened to the audio-book and it wasn't quite clear to me when we moved from one section to the other.

Another thing that did not work for me in the audio format were the "quick prompts". These would suddenly pop up out from nowhere and I could not really absorb any of it coherently. My understanding is most people listen to audiobooks while doing some other activity - cooking, walking or cleaning? The prompts being pushed to the end of the chapter, like a summary , would give people a chance to make note of them if they'd like to. Soothing book ti listen to, but I did not feel like I learnt much that was new.
2.5 Stars

An advance copy of this audiobook was made available for review purposes with courtesy of NetGalley, Andrew McMeel Audio and Publishing, and the author Emma Gannon. Thank you. The audiobook is narrated by the author, who speak clearly and very well fit for this job. It was perfect.

This brief book (128 pages in the book format, less than 4 hours with audio) discusses how today's "connectedness" can create major disconnect on human level in our day-to-day life. Today, many of us have digital profile on many different platforms, and addicted to social media. Technology has enhanced our lives for sure, yet individually we feel disconnected and lonely. This book discusses ways to retrieve our true selves away from internet profile. I feel this is important because many of the topics she discusses hold true to many of us - especially if you are millennials. Mental and psychological isolation caused by developed technology is a serious issue today and need to be addressed. It's good to uncover some of the ways to connect on a personal level again.

The author I believe is in early 30s, and the target audience is likely about the same age. I felt that I am out of this target audience because my relationship with digital devices and culture in general isn't the same as the authors. I feel that if you are also a millennial, this book can suits you better. Also there are many similar books previously published and I personally didn't find anything new out of this book. With that being said, to me, it would be an average book at 3 stars. I like its conciseness and clear voice, and it's likely I won't remember much about this book in a few weeks, similar to an entertaining Instagram post.

Do we post every detail of our lives on social media? Have we created a SM alter-ego for ourselves? Why do we reach for the phone the first thing in the morning?

Social media has slowly but surely taken over our lives. As someone who was born in the mid-80s in India, I (and my generation) have grown up with the invention and growth of technology. From playing cassettes in Walkmans to burning CDs with our favourite songs to switching to the pen drive (I see I forgot the infamous floppy disk altogether!), we have seen it all. Now we create playlists on Spotify and share them for all to see.

If the purpose of social media was to bring people together, it did succeed in the initial years. Long-lost friends were found, and NRI relatives were brought back into the fold. But slowly, we are all drifting off again. Because how interested are we really in knowing what some distant friend or relative is doing?

The author, Emma Gannon, is a prominent influencer in the Twitter and Instagram space. However, after a few years of popularity, she talks about how she felt the need to connect with a few real people rather than engage with hundreds of unknown ones who don't know (and don't give a damn) about how our lives are. All of them form their opinions based on a photo or a tweet and rarely change them. In fact, we all have become so attuned to these unknown followers' reactions that we think a lot before posting something online - will those people "like" it?

With quick prompts, the author encourages us to disconnect: put down the phone and look at the world around us. She has peppered the narrative with anecdotes that could feature any of us.

It is a short audiobook (2+ hours) that I finished in an afternoon but it kept me thinking for quite a while.

4.5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Audio for the audio ARC.

Disconnected: How to Stay Human in an Online World is a self-help book by Emma Gannon. The ebook version is 128 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at three hours and is narrated by the author.

This book is a quick read about how we as humans have become more dependent on the internet--especially during the pandemic--while also reducing physical contact. Gannon does a deep dive into the manipulation of algorithms, our data as salable products, and where we might be able to go from here. At the ends of chapters, she provides easy-to-follow "quick prompts" to help remind yourself who you really are outside of the always-connected internet.

I was nodding in agreement a lot while listening to this book. I felt very seen by this book, partly because I am also an "elder millennial" like the author. In general, I really liked her prose! I think I'll have to check out her podcast, Ctrl Alt Delete.

Special thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing an audio galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

I thought this audiobook was a good reminder on how social media consumes our lives.. It wasn’t an 8hr long book repeating the same thing over and over in different ways. It was straight to the point. I enjoyed the reminders about what social media can do. I learned a couple of new ways to detox from social media. I would read another self help book from this author. There was nothing political. Nothing confrontational. I enjoyed this.

This book was part personal reflection and part self help. Emma reflects on how the pandemic has forced us all to embed our lives more in the online world. Work, social hour, and family connections have all had to become digital and they're all continuing to stay digital. The work expectation now is that people have a constant online presence and respond to emails almost instantly. Social media continues to encourage people to post things that are "like-worthy" and not always honest or real. All the things that are supposed to connect us with one another are really just disconnecting us.

I loved that at the end of each chapter there were suggestions for how to disconnect in healthy ways. This book was definitely an eye opener and made me re-evaluate my own relationship with the online world.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

*Listened to and highly suggest the audiobook format -

Disconnected doesn't tell you to cut out social media but rather focuses on the importance of human contact and how it is affected by obsession with our online presence. It's fair to say there are many resources out there noting the negative effects of our time spent in the online world, but Emma Gannon gives some great tidbits and prompts to help the reader question and evaluate how social media really plays into our lives. Gannon answers some of these questions for us without making the reader feel judged but instead understood - why do we care about our number of followers/likes? Because we as humans want to be seen. Why are debates more hostile than ever? Because we set up blinders online by choosing not to follow (aka "listen to") opposing opinions and therefore have a harder time engaging in these conversations in real life.

I have to admit after listening to this audiobook, I did a Follower/Following profile clean-up with Gannon making the point that if you wouldn't interact with these people in a room or feel good looking at their content, why would you follow them? This book was short and sweet making it all the more consumable and possibly a more-than-once read. I recommend Disconnected for those looking to improve their relationship with social media!

As many of us do, I spend entirely too much time on the internet for work, school, and social reasons. Some days it feels like from the moment I open my eyes until I lay my head down at night I am on some type of device. This has become draining for me lately and when I came across this quick audio I was very excited. Emma speaks about how its so hard in a digital age to remember to live your life outside of social media, to remain authentic, and to still nurture those relationships you have in real life. While none of the information in this book was ground breaking, it was a very nice reminder of how social media can take over our lives. I enjoyed the little tasks in here you could do, and how personable Emma was when talking about her struggles and what helps her. Overall it was a super quick listen, and I really enjoyed it.

3.5 rounded up to 4 for netgalley.

Thanks so much!

Where is the line between your ability to control the technology in your life and the technology in your life controlling you? This is the question Gannon attempts to aid the reader in answering. More importantly, the author provides concrete strategies for taking back control and making technology a healthier-or at least less harmful- force in our lives. Plus, she does it without simply say, “Get rid of everything.”

There is plenty of critique in this book, especially around the intersection between capitalism and technology and social media. However, Gannon also infuses the humane back into the conversation by emphasizing the need for grace, compassion, and self-care in our relationships with our devices and technological history. It was these pieces that made this book so compelling, inspiring me to integrate small strategies into my own use of technology, such as unsubscribing and unfollowing accounts that evoke harmful comparisons or the need for purchasing “cures” to make me thinner, prettier, happier, etc.

It's a short read/listen that I was able to finish in just one evening, and it’s worth the time. In the end, it gave me the metaphorical space to realize how much I’m craving a more humane experience of my world outside of screens.

As someone who feels like I spend too much time online, I jumped at the chance to listen to this book! I found it interesting how much of our lives revolve around internet use and how quickly it took over without me really realzing it. As a result, I find myself thinking intentionally about my internet use and whether I really need to be online or not. I liked the prompts that are used, they have helped me change my behavior and set better boundaries.

I liked the narrator and am enjoying the quiet space when I'm not mindlessly scrolling on social media. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to improve their relationship with the internet and social media.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, NetGalley.