The internet. We all know it, we've all used it, we're using it right now to even read this. It's shaped our lives as we know it, connecting more of us through a screen. Especially with COVID on, it's definitely helped us to keep in touch, and distract us from the outside world.
But it comes with more than just a way to escape.
When it comes to the modern youth, you see more of us creating social media pages for one aim in particular - popularity.
Whether you make videos on Youtube or Tiktok, stream on Twitch, or even try to post funny things on Instagram or Twitter, social media is the biggest place for people to become "famous" without going through the usual means. It's an odd sight to see when you recognise somebody from a meme that you share around often, but it can happen to anyone.
What makes it feel more surreal is just how normal the people who make these videos, post their opinions, or even post pictures. You see people that have made themselves well known in their area for things, and you think "what did they do to get recognised?" only to find out they make funny TikTok videos about their school life. It doesn't take much to be recognised nowadays either. Humour goes a long way, as well as noble causes. Anything that people can relate to, they'll be there to like and support (myself included).
But that's what makes the internet so weird and wacky. The fact that you have multiple platforms to be who you want, how you want, whenever you want to be. I've even tried to get onto this trend by making my own (albeit, a very haphazard) Youtube channel to vlog and play games. It's just a place where I can post what I'd wanna see when I'd want to. Whether that's good for the algorithm, the answer is no, but it gives me space to be creative, and to at least show off my creativity to other people.
Social media today is consumed by everyone, so taking time to stop and think about what you see can make a little difference to your day.
Hence, my little project.
Over time, I'll be analysing more and more about the social media around me. While my intake of media will be different to everyone else's, my goal is to put into perspective how trends keep going, how memes evolve, how everyone is consumed by the idea of wanting their own little corner of the internet (something I have dubbed recently as "The New American Dream"). It'd be something to put into perspective how we simply create our own entertainment on a different platform.
If you have any observations, feel free to let me know and I'll look into them further as well on all this. After all, multiple heads are better than one when it comes to the internet. It's the modern day throw down of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Let's at least get back to scrolling through social media for memes now
-R (7/11/2020)