In the documentary, Generation Like, author and FRONTLINE correspondent Douglas Rushkoff dives into the massive obsession of social media and how the “like” button that throws kids into an abyss of identity and connection correlates with corporations discovering a way to generate revenue off of likes, retweets, and followers. Chris Rojek, author of Cultural Studies, delves into how social media creates this social phenomenon through cultural hybridity, and how corporations use cultural genre and production to their advantage. According to Rojek, “before birth [humans] are culturally positioned” (Rojek Pg. 68). This means that humans’ practical approaches to life are coded before there is any choice in the matter. However, people
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10). Rojek uses an example from Reality TV that can be compared to the information that is uploaded onto an individual’s social media page. He points out that Reality TV shows such as The Osbournes is not like ‘real life’ because no matter how much they are acting normal or natural ‘on-screen’ their behavior is dictated in order to achieve an effects in the viewers watching at home (Rojek Pg. 15). In other words, they are acting how they want to be portrayed in front of millions, the key word being ‘act’. It is not genuine, it is a perception, and this is what social media empowers users to do. The documentary points out that social media gives kids a sense of empowerment, a voice that they most likely would not have if there was no interface that could be shared with millions. The empowerment comes from kids portraying their preferred image, a digital reflection of their perfect self, such as a profile picture or a short biography in their profile that shows no imperfections, only permitting their most positive attributes, their frontline. The comparison between Reality TV and social media is that they raise issues of the ‘reality’ that they are transmitting. This reality is able to be created because of cultural genre and the form it takes place in. …show more content…
10). A good question to ask when dealing with production is, “How is cultural form and cultural content being produced and by whom?” This helps explain a major theme behind the documentary Generation Like as cultural form is taking place through social media via user interfaces and vast amounts of content are continuously being pumped out not by the corporations, but by the consumers themselves. In the case of likes, retweets, and shares, the consumer becomes the marketer rather than the companies targeting the consumers. Essentially, the users of social media are doing the marketers job for them. The question may come to mind, “why are they doing this?” and a major reason is that people just want to be a part of the process. Likes, follows and retweets then become social currency turning into the ideology of the marketplace of what can be sold. A question of cultural production is, “what representations are being used to try and sell products?” The documentary provides an example of this with a show called the Trending 10 that uses trending topics that are being talked about on social media. So, the users of social media come up with the topics through social currency, and then the company makes a show about it sending it right back to the users
10). Rojek uses an example from Reality TV that can be compared to the information that is uploaded onto an individual’s social media page. He points out that Reality TV shows such as The Osbournes is not like ‘real life’ because no matter how much they are acting normal or natural ‘on-screen’ their behavior is dictated in order to achieve an effects in the viewers watching at home (Rojek Pg. 15). In other words, they are acting how they want to be portrayed in front of millions, the key word being ‘act’. It is not genuine, it is a perception, and this is what social media empowers users to do. The documentary points out that social media gives kids a sense of empowerment, a voice that they most likely would not have if there was no interface that could be shared with millions. The empowerment comes from kids portraying their preferred image, a digital reflection of their perfect self, such as a profile picture or a short biography in their profile that shows no imperfections, only permitting their most positive attributes, their frontline. The comparison between Reality TV and social media is that they raise issues of the ‘reality’ that they are transmitting. This reality is able to be created because of cultural genre and the form it takes place in. …show more content…
10). A good question to ask when dealing with production is, “How is cultural form and cultural content being produced and by whom?” This helps explain a major theme behind the documentary Generation Like as cultural form is taking place through social media via user interfaces and vast amounts of content are continuously being pumped out not by the corporations, but by the consumers themselves. In the case of likes, retweets, and shares, the consumer becomes the marketer rather than the companies targeting the consumers. Essentially, the users of social media are doing the marketers job for them. The question may come to mind, “why are they doing this?” and a major reason is that people just want to be a part of the process. Likes, follows and retweets then become social currency turning into the ideology of the marketplace of what can be sold. A question of cultural production is, “what representations are being used to try and sell products?” The documentary provides an example of this with a show called the Trending 10 that uses trending topics that are being talked about on social media. So, the users of social media come up with the topics through social currency, and then the company makes a show about it sending it right back to the users