Bad Influence: The buzzy debut memoir about growing up online

(Paperback)

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'An ideal summer read' EVENING STANDARD

'Equal parts insightful and entertaining - whatever your take on influencers, Bad Influence is a great read' YOMI ADEGOKE

Oenone didn't set out to become an influencer. The word barely existed when she started posting on Instagram at university to document her 'fitness journey' after a toxic relationship came to a messy end.

In this humorous meditation on her digitized life, Oenone chronicles the pits and peaks of coming of age online. Grappling with modern-day issues on a public stage - from body image and personal boundaries to the limitations of online activism, Bad Influence examines what happens when your day-to-day reality becomes #content - and that #content pays your bills.

It asks: can you truly be authentic online Can social media be a force for good Is it necessarily bad for our mental health

Written with wit, warmth and honesty, this is a candid account of what it really means to be an influencer, from someone still figuring it out: the good, the bad and the instagrammable.

'Warm, juicy, and eye-opening, like having a chat with a best friend' ANNIE LORD

'If ever a book captured the zeitgeist, this is it' GRACE CAMPBELL

'Funny, warm and brilliantly engaging' LUCY VINE

Reviews

A warm, witty peek behind the influencer curtain. Oenone is equal parts insightful and entertaining - whatever your take on influencers, Bad Influence is a great read * Yomi Adegoke *
Warm, juicy, and eye-opening, like having a chat with a best friend * Annie Lord *
Boldly unfiltered and beautifully written, Bad Influence is a fascinating peek behind the social media smokescreen. A smart and nuanced read for our extremely online times * Lauren Bravo *
A brilliant and necessary look at an industry that is wildly misunderstood, as well as a thoughtful and self-aware interrogation of millennial culture, identity politics and contemporary relationships * Olivia Petter *
Like a glass of wine with your most loveable, charming and vulnerable friend. Oenone brings so much nuance to the concept of influencing and living online...If ever a book captured the zeitgeist, this is it. * Grace Campbell *
Bad Influence is witty, honest and refreshingly self-aware. It effortlessly encapsulates the experience of a generation fumbling through life against a backdrop of social media and explores what it truly means to be 'an influencer' in today's digital age. Oenone Forbat is one to watch * Hannah Skelley, Fashion Assistant at The Times *
I absolutely flew through Bad Influence and loved every page. Oenone has written such a fascinating and self-aware dissection of what it's like to live life in this parallel online universe. It's not just an interesting and incredibly honest memoir, it's also funny, warm and brilliantly engaging. It will leave you questioning about so much - but definitely not how many stars this book deserves. Five stars! * Lucy Vine *
A fun and frothy insight into what it really takes to game the algorithm. An ideal summer read * Evening Standard *
Oenone writes with real honesty and authenticity, highlighting the good and the bad aspects of having a platform and exploring the life behind the grid squares - the anxiety, scrutiny, and judgement * Glamour *
The strength of Bad Influence is its meditation on the deep-seated paranoia that comes with being constantly exposed to so many people * The Economist *

Author Bio

Oenone Forbat is an influencer, podcaster and fledgling comedian. Her Instagram account started off as a fitness and wellness page, but has since evolved into a hub for other 20-somethings navigating this uncertain time in their lives. She now creates content about books, sustainable fashion, modern day dilemmas, and everything in between. Her podcast Adulting - about all of the things we never got taught in school - has been downloaded over 4 million times.