How did we manage to live our lives before social media?
-
Loading... - michael mia
- 31 Oct 2022
- 68 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
The demands imposed on anyone in the public eye has made it almost obligatory for them (or someone representing them) to be on social media.
These days, politicians, and heads of state tweet their most important announcements rather than issue official press releases – heck, even the Pope has a Twitter page, complete with his own handle (@Pontifex). If a hashtag gets enough traction, it starts trending and it becomes The main topic of conversation, but because “everyone” is on Twitter, there is no sense of perspective which is dictated by the gravity of the story. The Ukraine war can easily be overshadowed by something one of the Kardashians did – because when everything is “important”, then nothing is important, and great tragedy ends up being put on an equal footing with frivolity. The news you are fed depends on what stories you click on – which is why public opinion on controversial topics has divided us even more, as we prefer to sit firmly in our bubbles without opening our minds to another point of view.
The speed and ease with which news travels not only has changed what is considered ‘news’ but has also changed the way we access and consume our entertainment especially since most celebrities use social media to publicise their latest work, giving them an instant connection with their fans. This week, Spotify announced that Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ became their most-streamed album in a single day and she broke the record for the most streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history. Similarly, the streaming platform Netflix has everyone in the world simultaneously talking about its latest hit mini-series “From Scratch” which is based on a memoir of the same name. They are shared cultural experiences in real time, globalising the world into a village like it has never been before.
But social media is also the great equaliser because it is not just reserved for VIPs. To misquote the famous show… “Everyone’s a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here.” Never in the history of mankind have so many people taken so many self-portraits, snapping selfies everywhere they go and uploading them on Insta, thus becoming their own paparazzi. If one is not careful (and many are not) this habit can also gobble you up in what seems like an insatiable desire for non-stop interaction. As any social influencer who does this for a living will tell you, the target is to attract more and more followers and that requires the constant creation of the type of content which generates hype.
One of the best descriptions of social media came from a recent interview in The Guardian with actor Bill Nighy (probably most known for his role in Love, Actually)… “Social media is exactly what I don’t want. I don’t want to enumerate my friends. I’m working on less contact, not more. Young people today must act as their own publicist. Edit and curate and broadcast their own experience. That’s tough. And if you are inexperienced and it gets combative … no wonder people become unhappy.” Read More…
