Almost everything today is digital. The internet is a place where just about anything is possible. Social media such as Facebook has exploded over the years. It began as a way for college students to stay connected and now anyone who is anyone has a Facebook (I’ve even made Facebook profiles for some of my pets). Something that stuck out to me from the movie “Generation Like” was the interlude of teens talking about how everyone wants to be liked, and everyone wants to be popular. If this is the apocalypse and everyone is a social media zombie. People, (especially young people) are obsessed with achieving validation from others, and with the invention of social media it has gotten increasingly worse which results in horrible self esteem issues. Social media began with the intentions of professional development, there is still a large statistic of people that use social media strictly for professional marketing as we saw in the movie. When they mentioned how the social media phenomenon has made consumers into marketers it was like an “aha” moment for me. Many people probably don’t realize the power of their likes and shares and the commerce behind it all. I imagine that modern day marketers are rolling in piles of cash and laughing all the way to the bank because literally everyone does their job for them, they just have to plant the seed and watch it grow. What I disagree with is the abuse of social media. People (quite literally) whore themselves in order to receive popularity which earns them money. I think the term viral should be discussed in terms of social media. When something has gone viral its because some sort of content has infected everyone that has viewed, reached, liked, and shared that particular content. Now lets take a moment to think about that; when viral is a term used to describe something positive there’s an issue with society. Whomever coined the term “viral” (in relation to internet sensations) must have secretly known that the “viral” content was actually an contagion to society.
When they interviewed the teen singer it was interesting how he just seemed to smile and nod as the media expert made decisions to put popular social media stars into his videos in order to get more likes. Wouldn’t you think that a portion of the likes you’re receiving are not credible for his part of the content (which should be the focus). If you’re trying to make it as an artist I would like to think that you want people to focus on your talent rather then a miscellaneous social media celebrity; however the strategic approach that his media manager had is also credible in its own way. In simple terms his media manager was simply adding subliminal imagery so that if people were to like or share the video (not even for the music or the purpose of the video) then it would induce a domino-like effect of spreading the virus to as many viewers as possible.
Something that I was surprised to not see was any type of ethics in terms of social media and what the “like generation” are exposed to. The like generation is addicted to social media and other digital technologies. ADHD is on the rise along with the degradation of social interactions between human beings. Young people care more about their appearance on social networks rather then in real like situations. We have been programmed to be prepared for taking pictures and going to interesting and fun locations not just for the experience but for the interest of people who are following or friends with them on social medias. It’s like a weird mental disorder that young people have; for example if I’m dressed up for some sort of occasion or if I’m doing something I find interesting or think people would find interesting I immediately have an urge to take pictures or post statuses in order to appear like an interesting person to all people who have signed up to stalk my life. Privacy has just about gone extinct.
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