Dot Complicated by Randi Zuckerberg #BookReview

A great stocking filler for this Christmas

Title of Book:            DOT COMPLICATED

Subtitle: How to make it through life online in one piece

Author : Randi Zuckerberg

Publisher Corgi ( Random House)

ISBN  978-0-552-17070-3

Genre:            Part autobiography, part guide to balancing our  tech with our  lives

Style: Sassy, ‘American’ and direct. + she writes with a sense of energetic fun

Contents page: Basic   

Index: No Index - Should the book go for second edition this would be handy

Flick through eye appeal: No pictures, cartoons, diagrams, and tables.

‘Time for a breather’ stops : Useful shaded chapter summaries.

Golden Nuggets:  Diamond in the rough projects, hackathons, the turducken of.. etc of American-jargon / slang at its very best, the concept of a Tech Sabbath , the importance of intimacy not always being shared with everyone else online.

Topic Summary:  “Modern life is complicated.” Zandi’s mission is to”  untangle all our wired and wonderful lives.”

War Stories: 'A plenty but of our time e.g. President Obama,   Davos World Economic Forum ..... Relationship with conventional TV etc.

Illustration: None

Quotes: “ But hey, sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission, right?”

 Randi’s Golden Rule  “Repost unto others as you would repost unto you”

Zuk’s Law “ The amount of information we share in the world doubles every two years “

“ There are more pieces of digital content in the world today than grains of sand in every beach on earth .Wow”

Short Review

Agenda Item: Building an Online Brand
It should be a mandatory requirement for
 every board or  management team to read pages 208 -211
whatever their view on social media in their market sector.

Daily use of tech can lead us to feeling  overwhelmed and insecure. It matches with what others have describe as a world that is volatile, uncertain, confusing and ambiguous. VUCA.

 If you are a parent wanting to find out what your children are doing online; a worker concerned about your job security being superseded by a younger person who is more tech savvy; if you are looking to improve your online personal brand or someone looking  for ways to stop your partner using their I-pad in bed ! -   This is a ‘ must have ‘ book for you.

The main thrust of Randi’s mission is for us to develop a better balance between our connected lives and  our lives in the present.

In an online Public space which is also documented, our Professional , Social and Personal lives  will increasingly overlap. The Internet , social networking and mobile tech present us with new ( (additional) ways to communicate , collaborate and live.

Randi also explores the challenging grey areas we are all concerned about namely, relationships, etiquette, Identity  and sharing.  She gives some useful tips on how to unfriend, what to consider when photo tagging and how to know the importance of teaching kids (and OURSELVES) to be more tech savvy.

As someone who was directly involved in the formative years of Facebook and is now at the forefront of the tech savvy media, Randi Zuckerberg is worth learning from.

If you are looking for a stocking filler this Christmas I would definitely recommend this book for both personal and work ( career) reasons to everyone.