Real helps you reconnect to yourself in a world of likes and lies.
Join real ones from around the world — just like you — shifting their relationship with social media to live with more meaning, connection and aliveness, everyday.
Social media is the world’s most normalised addiction
The same behaviours we could consider addiction in other contexts — like gambling or drinking alcohol — we often don’t associate with our social media use. But when was the last time you went a day without scrolling?
Take the self-assessment quiz to better understand your level of social media use.
Who are you beneath the filter?
Real blends cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain how social media challenges and disrupts your identity — and how you can reclaim it.
Author Alexis Zahner is a business psychology expert, podcast host and self-confessed tech addict who has spent 15 years inside the very platforms she writes about. Drawing on her own messy, honest journey back to herself, Alexis doesn't lecture. She gives you a practical framework for understanding your online habits and rebuilding a relationship with social media that works for you.
In Real, you’ll:
Discover how dopamine loops and algorithms shape your behaviour and learn how you can interrupt the cycle
Understand how your online identity fragments over time and how to reconnect with your whole self
Set personalised digital boundaries that protect your mental health and wellbeing without cutting you off from the world
Navigate parasocial relationships, comparison culture and illusions of credibility with confidence
Build rituals anchored to your real self, creating lasting change that goes far deeper than a detox
Complete with journaling prompts, self-assessments and reflection exercises, Real is as practical as it is illuminating. For anyone tired of living in the likes, suggested posts, sponsored ads and curated highlights, this book will change how you see your feed.
Most importantly, it will change how you see the real you.
Pre-order Real now and unlock exclusive bonuses!
Pre-order Real before launch and unlock exclusive access to bonus content, invitation-only book launch events, and live sessions — for you or your organisation.
Limited offer only — first come first serve until booked out!
1 copy
For you
Book Launch Invite + bonus unpublished chapter
-An invitation to an exclusive book launch event in either Townsville, Mackay, Brisbane, Sydney or Byron Bay
-Get access to a never before published chapter ahead of the book’s release
2 copies
Reading buddy
Book Launch Invite for you & a friend + bonus unpublished chapter
-Get access to a never before published chapter ahead of the book’s release
-Two invitations to an exclusive book launch event in either Townsville, Mackay, Brisbane, Sydney or Byron Bay
10+ copies
Book Clubs
Live (or virtual) Book Club with the author
+ bonus unpublished chapter for every book purchased
-A private book club event with Alexis for you and your group.
BONUS Live Event: If your club is on the Gold Coast or in Byron Bay.
Valued at $1,500
-Get access to a never before published chapter ahead of the book’s release
50+ copies
Teams & Groups
Live (or virtual) 60 minute Real session for your group.
+ bonus unpublished chapter for every book purchased
-A live session with Alexis for you and your group, including practical workbooks and team exercises.
Valued at $3,500
-Get access to a never before published chapter ahead of the book’s release
100+ copies
Workplaces, Schools & Universities
Live (or virtual) half-day workshop + Q&A
+ bonus unpublished chapter for every book purchased
-The ultimate immersive experience for team or students.
Valued at $7,500
-Get access to a never before published chapter ahead of the book’s release
How to claim your pre-order bonus
Order your copy of Real before launch, and enter your details with receipt of order below. You’ll receive an invitation directly to one of our launch events, once announced, and our team will reach out directly to book any live sessions.
Meet Alexis Zahner
Hi, I’m Alexis, and I’m a tech addict. Social media to be precise.
I’ve spend the last 15 years of my career working across business psychology, marketing and communications, utilizing the very platforms I’m addicted to — to sell things to you. And despite an intimate knowledge of how persuasive marketing and attention hijacking is architecture to sell, I still succumbed to tech addiction myself. Ironic karma?
As a recovering millennial tech addict, I explore identity, attention and authenticity in a digital world that rewards performance over genuine presence. I’ve written my book Real: Reconnecting to Yourself in a World of Likes and Lies from a rare position of proximity: I’ve been shaped by social media in real time, professionally embedded in the industries that fuel it, and academically trained to understand its psychological consequences.
With a Master of Business Psychology and professional background spanning marketing, media, and business psychology, I now help others to understand the influence of social media and technology, and build better, more sustainable, relationships with it — both personally and professionally.
A contributing author to Fast Company, Big Think and Harvard Business Review, I write about about work-life, leadership and social media for major media outlets globally. Alongside this I host the leading Australian-based podcast Live+Work More Human with my brilliant co-host Sally Clarke.
My book Real: Reconnecting to Yourself in a World of Likes and Lies, blends lived experience, psychological research and cultural critique to ask a confronting question: when identity becomes content, metrics replace meaning, and connection drives consumerism—what does it take to feel real again?
Pre-order now via Amazon and Booktopia.
Order your copy of Real now
Pre-order Real: Reconnecting to Yourself in a World of Likes and Lies, released with Wiley Sept 30, 2026.
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