Feeding One's Ego Through Social Media

Illustration by John Holcroft

How many 'likes' does one need to feel fulfilled and satisfied? British artist, John Holcroft, nicely summarizes society's current magnetism towards social media in this one illustration. Nowadays people of all ages, especially the younger generation, are drawn to Facebook, Twitter, etc...because these mediums provide them with opportunities that were never available before. This includes forming some type of connection with their favorite celebrities, and to some extent becoming a celebrity themselves. For instance, individuals will go to YouTube to post videos, knowing that they will get some type of views, and hopefully become famous one day. Justin Bieber is a prime example of how a young Canadian kid on YouTube can get scouted for his singing talent. However, do these individuals realize what is happening behind their screen?

The documentary, "Generation Like" exposes how teenagers has migrated to the web for cultural interactions, and this movement has started the game of 'cat-and-mouse.' In the past, corporations have used various marketing techniques to catch their audiences' attention, ranging from hiring celebrities to endorse their products to buying up time slots on television so they can air their commercials. In contrast, social media users, especially teenagers, are now being seek to advertise for these same corporations. As a result social currency, such as "likes" and "retweets" has become a thing in the monetary world. Social currency helps social media users buy branding, money, and fans.

These monetary values might be important to some users, however, it seems like it is the validation of their presence that is significant to them. Receiving the "100 likes" substantiates that their post reached at least 100 people, and of that 100 people, they share the same interest. In our current society, the worth of validation has inflated. No longer do people feel satisfied with "100 likes" or "100 followers," but reaching that next "100" is the goal, which forms a endless circle. In a way social media has become a 'drug' since it is so addictive. People want to get that same 'happy' feeling again and again, and the only way to do this is by posting more. So going back to our main question, how many "likes" does one need to feel fulfilled or satisfied? People still seek empowerment from social media, but moreover they want to receive the instant gratification they will obtain by posting on social media.

The New Age of Company Branding

       In the Frontline Documentary "Generation Like," the film discusses a new type of way for companies to "brand" their products. As said by Mara Einstein, branding is an attempt by companies to "create loyalty among its customers."(p.71) The ultimate goal of branding products is so the brand "becomes part of popular culture." (p.71) In the past, the branding of products had to be done by the companies through commercials, billboards, and other means of trying of show their product to the masses. The rise of "generation like" has shifted more of the responsibility of spreading the brand to the consumer. In today's Internet, the consumer spreads the brand's message through the use of "likes" and "sharing." In the documentary, a film called "The Hunger Games" used unpaid social media users to spread the message about the upcoming movie. This new way of advertising brands works because people trust other people more than companies and having your friends endorse a product makes you more likely to buy that product (as well as tell your other friends about it).

       Another central goal of branding is to creating a specific identity. People choose specific brands to create their own identity. These brands define us in society (and we want them to define us). The brands a person wears tells us about their wealth, family, religion, and many other things. Today, it is one of the central ways we define people. Social media has allowed us to expand how we identify ourselves. We create an online identity by "liking" and "sharing" brands online. One's "likes" are identified for all to see, and is a prime way companies target specific customers. "Liking" an Oreo with gay pride colors as the center combines the use of social media and brands to define us. Branding and the use of social media compliment each other, as both try to put people inside a community of like-minded people, hopefully creating a long-lasting following for both the brand and for the person. 

Our New Technological Identity

We commonly associate ourselves with our religion and we find it part of our identity or soul, so I'm curious to know if by losing our identity to technology (i.e; cell phones, laptops) that we as a society as a result are becoming less religious.  In the times of our forefathers, many activities and forms of entertainment were religion-centric, with many of the stories and a great amount of literature being religious myths that were taken from the holy books such as the bible and then expanded upon by the present day culture.  In today's society, religion doesn't have as big of an impact as it did in past years.  Today, people are consumed with watching television, playing on their computers, or utilizing social media so it asks the question: are we losing our religious identities to technology?
This is a difficult question to answer, and to do so, one must define an identity.  In the simplest terms, your identity is who you are as a person, your beliefs, your passions, your personality.  So in theory, it would be expected that technology could enhance your sense of identity by being connected to people with similar beliefs that would have never been connected before.  But in actuality, people become so intertwined with their celebrity gossip or hunger games fandom that that stop being present in the actual world, choosing instead to live in a virtual world.  For that reason, I believe that people are actually losing their identities, making religion less of a factor in their life.  With losing their identity, people slowly start to lose the components of their identity that make them who they are, including their religious beliefs.

The Religion of Brands

            As Mara Einstein writes, “Brands are not just perceptions about a product or service, they are also bits and pieces of our identity. “ Through the products we use, the things we buy, and the organizations we choose to support we find meaning and identity. One of the major functions of religion is to create a sense of identity. Through our purchasing habits, we are able to tailor our own sense of identity. As Generation Like showed, social media serves as a way for people to tailor their identity even further. In Tyler Oakley’s videos, he emphasizes the brands he loves. Through his vocal love of One Direction or Taco Bell’s Doritos

Locos Taco, Tyler uses brands to create an identity for himself.

            It’s not uncommon to like One Direction or Taco Bell. Close to 40 million people like One Direction on Facebook, and 10 million like Taco Bell. While liking these brands creates a sense of identity, they also form communities. Social media gives One Direction fans a place to interact with other fans and discuss what is important to them. These communities also give fans a place to prove their devotion. Through social media Ceili was able to be a part of the community of Hunger Games fans, but it also allowed her to prove her dedication to the brand. Social media allow users to create identities, form communities, and prove their dedication to the brands they love. In many ways these brands have replaced religion for their followers.

The Power of a Follower

Barack Obama follows me on Twitter. Yes, the 44th President of the United States follows me on Twitter. It's a verified account and everything. He has followed me since I signed up for the social media site in 2008. Back then, I was a lonely, awkward middle schooler who was way too obsessed with famous people for my own good. So I made an account on the up and coming website Twitter in order to keep up with their lives. Needless to say, I was surprised when I got the notification saying @BarackObama started following me. I doubt the POTUS was charmed and inspired by my pointless tweets, rather his social media team saw my account as some sort of benefit to his social media presence. Nevertheless, I told everyone I knew that the President himself follows me.

Even though I know Barack is not personally looking over every one of my stupid tweets, but it is still a source of pride for me. In this day and age, it is so easy to feel unimportant. There is such a constant stream of information and events to which everyone has access that many people feel insignificant underneath all that is happening. Our images of ourselves are dictated by the images we are constantly surrounded by: photoshopped and branded images of models and famous people representing everything we should hope to be. We feel we are not good enough, that we are lacking something. As a result, we get lost in self-consciousness, wishing we were someone else or someone more important. Social media is the easiest way for us to make our mark on society: anyone can do it, all you need is internet access. Social media allows us to create an image of ourselves that is similar to how society tells us we should be. It's empowering and fulfilling to gain new followers, get likes, receive friend requests, etc. It tells us we are important. The identities we have formed based on societal standards are worth something if people retweet us and like our posts. Participating in social media is participating in the new age religion of branding and the internet. We actively create new identities in the image of this religion and base so much of ourselves on the community there. Through this religious activity, we become empowered and confident in terms of today's society.

Barack Obama doesn't care what I have to say, and he won't respond to my DMs, but him following me is assurance that I'm being a good member of the church of social media.