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Electric Graffiti: Musings on a Facebook Wall
Gus Silber, well-known journalist and wordsmith, has over the last few years written some extraordinary commentary pieces on his journeys around his neighborhood in Johannesburg and his digital wanderings through the global village we call social media, and posted them to Facebook. Gus’s followers know what insightful and frankly charming pieces he writes, and we’re bringing those digital missives to the page and discerning masses. This is a collection of over 50 of Gus’s most-loved social media posts – covering everything from understanding house-breaking hadedas, the meaning of pathos, deciphering Joburg style, and everything in between.
224 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2020
6 people want to read
About the author
Gus Silber
16 books1 followerGus Silber is an experienced writer and technology fetishist.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 6, 2020
If social media has taught us anything, it is that everyone has an opinion.
Some opinions gain more traction than others as people shout louder, stoop lower, and fight dirtier than everyone else.
And sometimes, gratifyingly, you get a social media account that gains a huge following by being honest, reliable, thoughtful, well-informed, generous, and eloquent.
I know. It hardly seems possible in this day and age, but it's true.
Gus Silber is one such, who cut his social media teeth on Twitter. He was an early adopter of the platform, joining in June of 2008. His follower count now stands at an impressive 126,000. These are actual human beings - with no bots or bought followers in sight.
Silber took to Facebook some years later, but has already accumulated 5000 friends, the maximum allowed by the platform. Should you wish to see what he posts, you would now have to join his additional 1922 followers.
It is fair to say that Silber took to Facebook like a duck to water - using the platform as a medium for his reflections on everything from the death of a folk music legend to his daughter's graduation.
They say that social media has eroded our concentration spans to the point where we can no longer focus on anything longer than a clickbaity soundbite. It might seem counterintuitive therefore for Silber to use his Facebook wall to publish column-length pieces. But his readers have not only indulged him in this regard, they actively look forward to his posts.
The pieces are so very well written, you see, and properly informed too. Silber calls upon his decades of experience as a journalist to comment knowledgeably on matters both local and international.
It is in the sphere of contemporary music that he really comes into his own, drawing on his many years as a music journalist.
The publishing team at Bookstorm had the excellent idea of collecting Silber's Facebook posts into a book. It is not the first time his journalism has appeared in collected form and most likely not the last.
Even if you follow Gus on Facebook, you will be charmed and enlightened by this revised and edited collection. There were some columns that were new to me, thanks to the vagaries of Facebook, and others that felt like an opportunity to revisit old friends. This is precisely the kind of optimistic, uplifting content we need right now.
I highly recommend Electric Graffiti, available as an ebook. Or buy it in paperback when the lockdown ends.
Some opinions gain more traction than others as people shout louder, stoop lower, and fight dirtier than everyone else.
And sometimes, gratifyingly, you get a social media account that gains a huge following by being honest, reliable, thoughtful, well-informed, generous, and eloquent.
I know. It hardly seems possible in this day and age, but it's true.
Gus Silber is one such, who cut his social media teeth on Twitter. He was an early adopter of the platform, joining in June of 2008. His follower count now stands at an impressive 126,000. These are actual human beings - with no bots or bought followers in sight.
Silber took to Facebook some years later, but has already accumulated 5000 friends, the maximum allowed by the platform. Should you wish to see what he posts, you would now have to join his additional 1922 followers.
It is fair to say that Silber took to Facebook like a duck to water - using the platform as a medium for his reflections on everything from the death of a folk music legend to his daughter's graduation.
They say that social media has eroded our concentration spans to the point where we can no longer focus on anything longer than a clickbaity soundbite. It might seem counterintuitive therefore for Silber to use his Facebook wall to publish column-length pieces. But his readers have not only indulged him in this regard, they actively look forward to his posts.
The pieces are so very well written, you see, and properly informed too. Silber calls upon his decades of experience as a journalist to comment knowledgeably on matters both local and international.
It is in the sphere of contemporary music that he really comes into his own, drawing on his many years as a music journalist.
The publishing team at Bookstorm had the excellent idea of collecting Silber's Facebook posts into a book. It is not the first time his journalism has appeared in collected form and most likely not the last.
Even if you follow Gus on Facebook, you will be charmed and enlightened by this revised and edited collection. There were some columns that were new to me, thanks to the vagaries of Facebook, and others that felt like an opportunity to revisit old friends. This is precisely the kind of optimistic, uplifting content we need right now.
I highly recommend Electric Graffiti, available as an ebook. Or buy it in paperback when the lockdown ends.
October 2, 2020
This book is such a gift. In a couple of different ways.
Gus Silber's latest, Electric Graffiti, is billed as 'Musings on a Facebook Wall'.
It's a series of quirky, charming, interesting, fun essays/posts/stories/musings/thoughts/clever ramblings (if i just said ramblings you might think that they're long and verbose, and they absolutely aren't. Barely is there a word out of place.) All carefully curated by the publisher, off our Gus' Facebook wall.
They range in subject matter from 'Grammarchy' (the anarchy of bad grammar and word nerds), to life in South Africa and architecture and family life, and stories from his brilliant career in journalism, and libraries, and books, and the pronunciation of the word 'Ibis'.
It is charming, and delightful, and funny, and sweet, and full of great jokes and lovely puns.
THIS is the perfect Xmas present for just about anyone you know, seriously. Go buy ten, and then you can brag that your Xmas shopping is sorted, with another eleven weeks to go
Gus Silber's latest, Electric Graffiti, is billed as 'Musings on a Facebook Wall'.
It's a series of quirky, charming, interesting, fun essays/posts/stories/musings/thoughts/clever ramblings (if i just said ramblings you might think that they're long and verbose, and they absolutely aren't. Barely is there a word out of place.) All carefully curated by the publisher, off our Gus' Facebook wall.
They range in subject matter from 'Grammarchy' (the anarchy of bad grammar and word nerds), to life in South Africa and architecture and family life, and stories from his brilliant career in journalism, and libraries, and books, and the pronunciation of the word 'Ibis'.
It is charming, and delightful, and funny, and sweet, and full of great jokes and lovely puns.
THIS is the perfect Xmas present for just about anyone you know, seriously. Go buy ten, and then you can brag that your Xmas shopping is sorted, with another eleven weeks to go
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews