About the Book
'You won't look at your screens in the same way after reading this book' Grace Blakeley, author of VULTURE CAPITALISM
'Logging Off is a life-saving book' Mikaela Loach, author of IT'S NOT THAT RADICAL
'A harrowing but important read' Carole Cadwalladr
We live in a digital world. In the 30 years since we've been online, we've created connections, crossed boundaries and discovered new worlds. We have done things generations before us could never have imagined.
But at what cost?
Growing up as a Gen Z, Adele spent endless hours as a teenager on social media, shaping her view of herself and the world. As a freelance journalist, she has used her social media platforms and digital technology to develop a career in an unfamiliar and competitive industry, benefitting from the opportunities that these spaces can offer. But after losing her sister to online harms, she realised that our current digital world is failing us.
We are an anxious and discontent generation. Our lived realities and our online vulnerabilities are inextricably linked, and this means big business for social media tycoons who want us to stay scrolling at any cost. As Big Tech barons make their billions, capitalising on our emotions, instincts, insecurities and desires, everyday people are losing out.
From workers being fired by algorithms, to online forums dedicated to revenge porn and encouraging suicide, to censorship of marginalised voices and the turbulent impacts of AI, Logging Off reveals that our digital world is currently fuelling crises that only empathy, agency and humanity can resolve. This book is a call for a radical reclamation of our digital world, for a more humane future that empowers us all.
'Poignant, timely and astute, Logging Off is a compelling examination of how our lives have been shaped - and irrevocably changed - by the rise of digital technologies' Yomi Adegoke, author of THE LIST
About the Author :
Adele Zeynep Walton is a British Turkish journalist, online safety campaigner and the author of Logging Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital World. Adele has channelled a personal loss into advocating for a safer digital world for young people. She is a member of Bereaved Families for Online Safety and a youth ambassador for People Vs Big Tech.
As a freelance journalist Adele has written for The Independent, the i, Dazed, i-D, VICE, Metro, The Big Issue, Jacobin, Open Democracy, Tribune, Huck, gal-dem, The New Arab and more. Her articles have been translated into Brazilian Portuguese, German, Italian, Swedish, Turkish and Spanish, and she has featured on Times Radio, LBC Radio, Sky News, BBC Radio Scotland and Channel 4 News and more. Between 2023-2024 Adele was DAZED's first ever political book columnist, where she has interviewed authors including Naomi Klein, Emma Dabiri, Vicky Spratt and more.
She is also the co-founder of Logging Off Club, which brings people together offline at phone free events to reconnect and promote connection, curiosity and wellness
Review :
Not everyone could turn a horrific family tragedy into a smart, compulsive and urgent read about the dangers of social media, but this is exactly what Adele Walton has achieved with her much-needed book Logging Off. She blends together scientific and social research with personal experience to bring to life the impact social media has on all our lives. As the first generation to grow up with social media throughout their childhoods, we urgently need to listen to voices like Adele's if we are to tackle the harms of this technology, while also recognising the joys and connections the internet can bring.
Logging Off is a deeply moving and powerfully argued expose of the technologies that have come to dominate our lives. Walton masterfully demonstrates that these technologies are not neutral - they are designed to enrich their owners and harm their users. You won't look at your screens in the same way after reading this book.
Logging Off is a life-saving book. It's an essential deep-dive into the digital world that everyone needs to read. An important, fascinating, heart-filled page-turner of a debut.
A harrowing but important read from a member of the rising generation of young people who've experienced first hand the dangers of out of control tech companies and killer algorithms.
Motivated by the most tragic of circumstances, Adele Zeynep Walton combines a compendium of contemporary horror stories with a breadth of well-referenced expert testimony, to produce a vital commentary for anyone wanting to better understand our dangerous digital world.
Logging Off offers a thought-provoking digital stocktake, a must read for concerned parents and for all who want to more safely navigate the technological perils we all face today.
Logging Off is a necessary and urgent account of the human cost of social media. Adele does an extraordinary job of helping understand the preventable harm that young people are experiencing. If you are a parent, lawmaker, or work in social media, Logging Off is a must read.
Logging Off is a refreshing wake up to reclaim the beauty of life and authenticity of human connection. While social media has a powerful influence on our relationships and how we see the world, Adele Zeynep Walton successfully argues that we need to reassert our own agency over technology. This book is a much-need clarion call to see the humanity in others, imbue our actions with empathy, and know when to log off so we can turn on a fulfilling life.
Logging Off is a vital wake-up call. In her deeply personal narrative, Adele Zeynep Walton explores how Big Tech profits from addiction, exploits our data, and puts vulnerable people at risk-all while evading accountability, and gaslighting us into believing this is simply what we all want. An urgent call to action for reclaiming our digital lives is now.
Poignant, timely and astute, Logging Off is a compelling examination of how our lives have been shaped - and irrevocably changed - by the rise of digital technologies. Adele has written a must read book on the complexities and real world costs of this new normal, and it is one that should be stocked in every single school library.
An equally enraging and empowering book by a fiercely talented writer and campaigner. Adele's incisive power in her observations is emboldening; her personal experiences a sobering reminder of the human cost of the unchecked Big Tech monopoly over our lives. You will leave this book ready to join the fight against online harms.
Compelling and investigative, Adele Walton is the voice of Gen Z on tech. Logging Off holds us to account for the ills of unbounded technology, showing its unacceptable human cost and pointing towards vital solutions.
Logging Off is a vital spotlight on a digital world left unchecked, questioning the human sacrifice we're willing to make in exchange for living a life online.
