Gemini Adams
The Facebook Diet is a fun book that offers a hilarious look at the most idiotic, embarrassing and cringe-worthy behaviours of our social media excess. Featuring 50 cartoons that answer the question “You know you’re a Facebook addict when….?” The Facebook Diet encourages us to examine the health of our high-tech habits with funny tips that gently poke at readers to take a digital detox. It’s a laugh-out-loud giftbook that will bring a smile of recognition to Facebook junkies everywhere! It’s the first book in The Unplug Series — a collection of seriously funny books for social media addicts, geeks and the overly wired world!
Why has Facebook become such a huge part of our lives?
Since the dawn of time, humans have used story and images to communicate, to share experiences — both good and bad — to help educate, inspire and entertain our fellow beings. We’ve used paintings, books, scrolls, the spoken word and other art forms and technologies, such as telegrams, the telephone, photography and video to share our knowledge. Since the inception of the internet the way in which we can share information has rapidly evolved. We can reach hundreds, or thousands of people, or a small group of family members or friends with our message. Facebook is just a channel that allows us to use multiple communication tools: text, pictures and video, to share our stories in a highly effective way. The reason Facebook has become such a huge part of everyday life is because it enables us to impart our knowledge, personal achievements, milestones, tips and announcements instantly without cost or need for a third party to sanction or agree to print, publish or transmit our message. It’s kind of like self-publishing on a much smaller scale. Quite simply, it fulfills our innate human need to both share and acquire information from each other.
What made you want to write a book about this sickness?!
I was living in Los Angeles at the time. It’s a very transient city and sadly two of my closest friends had moved away and several of my wider circle of friends had left too. I was feeling quite isolated and lonely. Facebook was the best way to stay in touch with them all. It started out innocently, messaging them, checking their newsfeeds to see how they were doing but over time I found myself using it more and more, while going out less and less! It surprised me how easy it was to get so sucked in. I realised that this is how some people lead their lives, almost exclusively through a screen and social networks and I saw how unhealthy it was. My solution was to sign-up for some local groups where I quickly made some great new friends – out in the real world – meanwhile I still keep in touch with my old friends via Facebook, but I use it far less than before. This experience made me want to shine some light on how easy it is to get sucked in to socialising via our screens and that’s when I came up with the idea for the book and The Unplug Series.
How much of an addict are you?
Nowadays I check it once or twice a day. But, as a writer, social media is also part of the job so I have to research what others are posting, and post on my various pages too. Sometimes I think we’re all going a bit mad though, seriously. It’s like everyone has become a (me)dia channel broadcasting everything about themselves and I sometimes wonder if anyone is really listening! We seem to have moved out of the Information Age into the TMI era, or Too Much Information Age!
When did you first join Facebook?
I actually had to check my Timeline to answer this! It was sometime in 2007 which means I’ve been on Facebook for almost 6 years. If we take the fact that the average user spends 6.7 hours on the site per month x 12 months x 6 years it means I’ve spent approximately 482.4 hours on it so far!
Why is it the perfect Christmas present?
The Facebook Diet is a great stocking stuffer, particularly for those family members, friends and colleagues who don’t quite know when to log off! You know who they are; the ones who check their FB messages during dinner, sneak a peek at the cinema or can’t help but click the blue and white icon before brushing their teeth in the morning! This is a gentle way of “poking” them with a fun, “hey, we’re all as bad as each other” message that will have them chuckling into Boxing Day when they’ll want to get back on and share it with all their friends!
You have written books about loss, food, humour and money, so do you have a favourite genre of writing?
I like to write about topics that have affected me, inspired me, or are impacting on society in massive way. I think the humour element helps, especially with subjects that we aren’t very comfortable with or that we would otherwise find to be confrontational. Humour is a powerful ingredient for healing. So far, all of my published work has been non-fiction but I’ve been toying with some fictional ideas.
What is next for you?
I’m working on the next book in The Unplug Series – The Twitter Diet, then there will be The Instagram Diet and The YouTube Diet, which means I have another 150 cartoons to draw. You can sign up for more funnies and tips on taking time to unplug at the accompanying website: unplugseries.com
Gemini Adams is an artist, educator and multiple award-winning author of several inspiring healthy living and humour books.
Her work has been featured on The Huffington Post, The Today Show, Reuters, Marketing Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, Digital Trends, Geek Magazine, Campus Circle, Ecosalon and her articles have been published in RED magazine, Women's Health, BOOM, Live It Natural, Yahoo.com, OpentoHope.com and In Care of Dad.
Gemini’s works have been translated into Spanish, Chinese and Japanese, and earned her the Mom's Choice® Gold Award, 2013 (Humor Books), Mom's Choice® Gold Award, 2010 (Death & Dying Books), The National Best Book Award, 2009 and the Dad's Seal of Approval, 2009. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship, 2006.
Originally from Salisbury, England (it's about 10 miles from Stonehenge), Gemini now lives between Los Angeles and London with her husband and their two Tibetan Terriers — Paddy and Murphy — who are tasked with keeping her feet warm while she creates!
Her published books include, The Facebook Diet: 50 Funny Signs of Facebook Addiction and Ways to Unplug with a Digital Detox (The Unplug Series, Live Consciously, 2013), Your Legacy of Love: Realize the Gift in Goodbye (Live Consciously, 2009) The Top 100 Recipes for Happy Kids: How to Keep Your Child Active, Alert and Focused (Duncan Baird, 2007). Gemini is also the co-author of, More Than Money: How to Leave Your Family a Lasting Legacy (Celebrity Press, 2011) and Open to Hope: Inspirational Stories of Healing After Loss (White Press, 2011). Find her at online: geminiadams.com @geminiadams