Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives
ISBN:9780316036146 read summary

This book opened my eyes even more to my world around me. After reading this book I realized just how much i was affected by my surroundings and can now understand myself better.

A nice try to explain the importance of social networks for our success, health, wealth, hapiness, relationships, behaviours, emotional states, etc. It confirms many things that we already knew or suspected. Contains a lot of research data and references, while trying to make those understandable by common people. This is stuff that should be teached in schools.

I have not read the book, so this is not a review (I've given it 4 stars just to reflect what most people seem to average out at) . . . but in thinking of buying it, I look at the options . . . . and wonder why the Kindle edition costs more than the paperback?

it summarize my life filosofy: it 's not about what you know, in the life it's all about who you knnow!

What happens to my friends, my friends' friends and my friends' friends' friends when I finish my review about this books which is about social networks? What happens when I say I recommend this book and state this on some social networking / social reading site? Can I affect 10 people? Can they affect 100 people in total? And can those 100 people affect about 1000 people? And what about simpler things such as my eating habits? Does my weight and lifestyle affect a much bigger circle of people than I thought? What about voting? Everybody knows that a single vote nearly never changes anything and rationally, economically I should not vote. But I do? Am I irrational or am I simply acting according to the hidden laws of social networks?

You'll find many answers in this thought-provoking book. You'll ask lots of questions, too. And you'll never view your circle of friends with the same perspective again.

The last 40-50 pages of the book seems a little bit out of focus, jumpîng from subject to subject without providing much context and connection but taking these imperfections into account I can still say this is one of the books that deserves to be categorized as "food for thought". I have marked lots of pages and references for further reading and pursuing a better understanding of why we do what we do.