In an interview in 1974, famous British science fiction writer, science writer & futurist, Sir Arthur Charles Clarke made a path-breaking prediction in the context of computers. He claimed that the then big & bulky-sized computers would drastically reduce and be available in everyone’s home. I wonder what his reaction would be to see his claim becoming a reality further extending to the internet, social media & the Influencers boom! This is the Influencer era and as rightly pointed out by Malini Agarwal in her latest book, Under The Influence: How to Survive and Thrive Online, today everyone’s an Influencer.
List of Contents
About the Author
I doubt anyone knows who started this Influencing thing. However, a select few influencers who made it big in the initial days of influencing are now the celebs of the influencing world. Malini better known as MissMalini is one of the globally celebrated OG Influencers herself. She is the best person without a doubt to share her viewpoints on social media and about influencers.
Donning many feathers in her cap, Malini is the founder of MissMalini Entertainment, Good Creator Co. (now a part of Good Glamm Group), Girl Tribe women-only community and an author. Her first book about her journey into blogging & influencing was a bestseller. This is her second book with Harper Collins.
Book in a Snapshot
Book Title – Under The Influence: How to survive and thrive online
Author: Malini Agarwal
Genre: Non-fiction – Media Studies/Communication/Sociology
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Publishing Date: 22nd March 2024
Pages – 240
Available Formats – Paperback Edition & Kindle Edition
Price – Rs. 345 & Rs. 171 respectively on Amazon for Paperback and Kindle versions
Available Online at – Amazon.com
Book Breakdown
The initial few pages of the book have acclaimed influencers like Kusha Kapila, Ranveer Allahbadia and more talking about their first interactions and experiences with Malini Agarwal. The book starts with the author discussing in depth the different generations like Gen Z, Millenials, Gen Alpha and their ethos. Further, she gets the reader to identify his or her Internet personality type. The first four chapters are kind of starters served by Malini before she serves the three main course dishes in the form of Malini’s Internet Rule.
What Didn’t Work in this Book:
From the book perspective nothing at all, it was a breezy read. But a thing that slightly bothered me or might bother a few others also was the mention of Sushant Singh Rajput’s then-girlfriend. She could have used a better example to explain social media trolling and media trials than this one. This is purely, my opinion though.
What Worked in ‘Under The Influence: How to Survive and Thrive Online by Malini Agarwal’
- The way Malini has dissected and explained different concepts in the book ranging from Generations to Trolling or Content Creation is brilliant. For the same, she used anecdotes from her journey, examples from social media, experiences shared by celebs and successful social media influencers. This makes the concepts and the point she wants to make more relatable and easy to absorb.
- The explanations are done considering psychological & sociological aspects.
- I didn’t know about Vir Das’s Landing episode on Netflix, thanks to you Malini, I went ahead and had a ball of a time seeing that one.
- Many important lessons in this book can be learnt by aspiring social media influencers and non-influencers on social media etiquette, what to expect after becoming an influencer and good content creation.
Eager to read a book on Spiritual growth, this should help Spiritual Anatomy
Verdict
Under The Influence: How to Survive and Thrive Online by Malini Agarwal is a must-read for all influencers actively engaged in content creation or those active on social media sites. Being a social media influencer, especially in a developing nation like India can be a double-edged sword cause you interact with a diverse audience. Nevertheless, to tread safely in digital space this book comes in handy. One can learn to survive & thrive online.
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