Made “by” social media or “in” social media
I was watching David Letterman back on his Netflix show with guests from all over. His comeback started with Obama last season but Kim Karadisan stars in his second season. I thought why would he present her and who is she to be a character I should fire up my mind and listen to her stories. Kim Kardashian is a celebrity of nothing a person who born to the right family with the right network. What did she struggle for in her life journey that I can relate to. All these thoughts swirl in my mind until my sink is clear.
What I noticed in our daily life that we are in a celebrity era indeed. Everyone with a phone and a camera can become a celebrity. You can become an endorser to a brand because your race matches the brand’s target segment. Your abs or bottom has the right form other social peers would envy you for it; it qualifies as a celebrity feature. It struck me that Kim is the perfect if not “the” perfect exemplar to start the second season with. Since the last four years in the USA, the presidency is lead by a celebrity. The 45th USA president, Donald Trump, is a celebrity runs the country with his Twitter account.
Through the interview, she started to speak about her income compared to her husband.
Letterman asked her
“who makes more money”.
She paused while glancing at the audience towards her husband and answered
“we earn the same amount”.
Paraphrased.
For sure the conversation strikes a large debate was her talk about launching a brand online. The mechanisms of the online medium appeared alien to Letterman. He is after all passed his 70’s year-old mark or around this life milestone. The amount of money dazzled him. One could be a millionaire from an online business only through a social media platform. I see the gap is large between those age groups and their understanding of the social actors. she started to show him some tips and tricks in a cutout scene when he made fun of himself as well.
All these thoughts revolved in my head when I read a piece of a news article by the Swedish police’s Facebook page. The police ask page visitors to reveal the producers of a deadly social media branded alcoholic beverage. They showed a picture of a police officer emptying several bottles of the bear. I wonder if the online users are as ignorant as the police about who is distributing the branded alcoholic beverage. Why don’t the police order it themselves and reach out to the source? Could the police lag behind on the social media business literacy? I questioned myself, could that be another promotional stunt. I don’t know if it is possible to sell any product online without having the right permits to do so? Right!! . You must have a permit to sell anything seems to disappear on social media commerce. There is a tradition to certify products as a quality statement and safety. Today, I can sell my none functioning machine online which could harm someone. I could even drop-ship a product from a foreign country, with producers’ self-declared certification, to my kids.
It is not all doom and gloom when it comes to social media. Seems like the meditation industry aiming at demonize the social media industry. While I browse the exhibitions at one of the leading photography museums in Stockholm, I noticed a book in the hand of my yoga enthusiast date. The book titled “leave the phone and go to nature” or that is the title I remember. I notice to see this book sold in the same way a social media book would do. The book still has a website and operates through the online realm. There are all types of social media links on the contact list for the book. Is it always the answer in creating team vs team a with vs against narrative. I don’t know if it makes sense but I felt the social media is this new enemy to trending industries such as yoga and meditation. it is a business opportunity always to distant yourself from your competitor.
I know the article so far seems messy but social media is a network of interwoven topics. ….. wait a second social media is messy because it is a close representation of our social lives. It is a mess and should be a mess somehow. A reflection to our own complex network, a place where we do business, voice our thoughts and build our lives. We live on the digital realm thus we started to notice the imperfection in a documented manner. The documented social interaction idea is not new to the human imagination.
The nuance is our exposure to the reality and sheer amount of our own imperfections.
Today we interact with the idea of our documented social life interaction. Not so long ago various religions discussed the idea of documenting our daily life; if not all our thoughts and intentions. It is a way to scare us into a moralistic life with others. some religious thoughts went far to draw a picture of a judging panel scenery. . Other religions imagined the documented life whiteness by everyone. it was not only judgement but an exposed moment. fear of knowing the intentions or the hidden deeds. I argue we are now seeing this in our algorithms or public shaming.
Social media is not an enemy; social media is a “media”, a way to document us without any makeup. We can’t escape to nature because we can’t escape ourselves. Our flawed morals or flawed goals motivates our daily interactions and intentions. We are the problem, not the tool we hold in our hands. We are not made “by” social media” but made “in” social media. We will have to find a way to understand that we should look inside instead of outside to correct this chaos. If we delete social media we won’t change tomorrow. we are buying more, cheating, lying, discriminating, killing the weak and scamming the ignorant.
we will not stop measuring people influence by characteristics. not today
