For almost a decade Susan Matt and I worked on Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid; Feelings About Technology From the Telegraph To Twitter. The book was released May 1st 2019 with Harvard University Press.


Media

New York Review of Books: Scrolling

Salon: Americans’ inability to cope with boredom is spurring the spread of coronavirus

Salon From digital filters to plastic surgery, "Zoom vanity" has a long history

Harvard University Press Blog: Technology, Biology, Chronology

Washington Post: Instead of FOMO Covid-19 demands we embrace JOMO -- the joy of missing out

Washington Post: How Silicon Valley breeds boredom, loneliness and vanity

The Psychologist: Book Review: Technology Changing Our Emotions

Entrepreneur Magazine: Best Books of 2019 For Entrepreneurs

Next: Your NEXT great read: book recommendations for 2020

Novara Media: How Big Tech Helped Cities Become an Incubator for the Greatest Currency of Our Age: Loneliness

The Atlantic: How the Loss of the Landline Is Changing Family Life

Sojourners Magazine: Has Technology Killed Our Capacity For Awe?

Tree Hugger: Tips From an Introvert on How to Enjoy Being Alone During Coronavirus

Educause: The Connection Business

CNET: How tech and social media are making us feel lonelier than ever

Los Angeles Review of Books Blog AI Doesn't Know How You Feel

NPR's Innovation Hub Feeling Lonely? You've Got Company

VOX: Bored and Lonely? Blame Your Phones

Slate: Americans Were Lonely Long Before Technology

Lapham's Quarterly: Building Your Brand Crafting a sense of self—while trying not to look self-absorbed—in the nineteenth century.

The Guardian "Chips" Podcast: Technology is messing with our emotions: Chips with Everything podcast.

Blog // Los Angeles Review of Books: Pride and Privacy

Open Letters Review: Review by editor Steve Donoghue

Nature (International Journal of Science) Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week’s best science picks

Internet History Podcast: Is Tech Making Us Lonely, Bored, Angry, Stupid?

The Unplugged Challenge Podcast: Changing Emotions in the Age of the Selfie

Ver: Como as tecnologias alteram as nossas emoções

SonntagsZeitung: Achtung, wir alle werden Langweiler!

La Recherche: Emotions, Le Retour En Force

Urgente24.com: Siglo 21 vs. Siglo 19: ¿Por qué hoy nos sentimos más solos?

Grumpy Old Geeks Podcast: 342: Fortress of Solitude (starts at minute 27:08)

Standard Examiner: The Decline of Awe

Dagens Arbete: Under den digitala snuttefilten

La Giornata: La tecnologia ci provoca nuove emozioni

Zetland: Chat er for samtalen, hvad porno er for sex. Her er, hvad din telefon har betydet for dit følelsesliv

WICN Radio: Interview with Inquiry host Mark Lynch

Here's a Publisher's Weekly review:

"Weber State University educators Fernandez, an assistant computing professor, and Matt, a history professor, productively combine their expertise in this informative book about the cultural link between emotions and technology. Examining various platforms and devices, from the 19th-century telegraph to modern innovations, including Facebook and smartphones, they tell a powerful story of how new forms of technology are continually integrated into the human experience. A particularly fascinating chapter outlines the history of anger in American society, from a trait to be publicly suppressed, especially in marginalized groups, to something which social media has transformed into “a right of all.” Another revealing section compares modern concerns about the narcissism of selfies to 19th-century moralizing about photography—perhaps surprisingly, observers then thought photographs might dispel rather than promote vanity, by providing people with more honest portraits than had been customary in painting. Rather than condemn modern technology out of hand, Fernandez and Matt simply connect emotional constants of the human experience to new platforms that alter how they are expressed and perceived. Anyone interested in seeing the digital age through a new perspective should be pleased with this rich account."