Radio 2 Book Club: The Cyber Effect

The Cyber Effect by Mary Aiken will feature on the Radio 2 Fact not Fiction Book Club on Thursday 18 August.

The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of Reading Agency and library staff from across the UK. Find out more about the non-fiction strand of the Radio 2 Book Club.

You can win 10 copies of The Cyber Effect for your reading group – just visit our Noticeboard.

The Cyber Effect

From Minecraft to Facebook, from Tindr to internet trolling, our world is rapidly changing and we need to understand it. If you’re concerned that your toddler can manipulate an iPad with the dexterity of a Google executive; that a mobile has apparently merged into the hand of your child; that your teenager is spending hours in the bathroom with their iPhone; and the main goal in modern dating appears to be avoiding any face to face contact…then it’s time to read about the analytics of a world now dominated by technology, and most importantly, to understand the huge impact of technology on human behaviour.

Part intuition, part clinical acumen, Mary’s approach aims to both predict and explain human behaviour. Everyone needs to read this book.

Selection panel review

Our library reading panel found The Cyber Effect fascinating – here are some of their comments:

“The author is a leading cyber psychologist and a leading expert on investigating online behaviour. Each chapter includes interesting case histories. There is a wealth of very relevant information and the book made me think about how heavily I use the internet and my smartphone! The author is interesting and provides information in a very accessible way. I found the book very thoughtful and easy to read. It’s a very relevant read – very informative with clear easy to follow writing. Each chapter is well structured. The information is not too technical. This is such a relevant topic as to how we interact with one another on a daily basis online.”

”A good mix of psychology theory, personal anecdotes and practical advice. This book is extremely relevant to today’s ever growing digital society, whether you are a digital native or digital immigrant you will find this book interesting and insightful. Interesting observations on how we now use mobile devices, the amount of time we now spend checking Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat – we need more affirmation of self-worth and ability from our virtual online communities than we do from our everyday. It does make you reassess how you interact daily with technology. I think most people would agree that we spend far too long attached to our devices.”

About the author

Director of the Cyberpsychology Research Centre, Academic Advisor to Europol and Lecturer in Criminology at Middlesex, Dr. Mary Aiken is the world’s premier specialist in Forensic Cyberpsychology, a hugely charismatic and inspiring figure. She advises at national and European level in policy debates and recently co-led a White House research team. Mary is a Producer on CSI: Cyber a worldwide television series that was inspired by her work as a cyberpsychologist, Oscar winning actress Patricia Arquette plays Mary in the show.

Get involved

Tune in to the Radio 2 Arts Show on Thursday 18 August to hear an interview with Mary Aiken talking about her book.

Do you want to read The Cyber Effect? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter using #CyberEffect, or follow author Mary Aiken. You can also see what other readers thought, or add the book to your group’s reading list.

Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website.